EXCERPT:
The contemporary "concert" Hungarian version of the cimbalom was created by the aforementioned master Vencel József Schund in the 1870s in Budapest. The body of this instrument, which has a range of four octaves, has the shape of a trapezoid with sides of 140 and 95 centimetres long, on which strings are stretched. The whole is set on feet measuring about 70 centimetres. The instrument produces a distinctive and loud sound, which is produced by hitting metal strings with wooden sticks. The original, smaller and mobile version of the cimbalom from the sixteenth century, known as the kiscimbalom, is still used in the Balkans, Switzerland, Romania, Belarus and the western part of Hungary. This instrument is made almost entirely of pine wood, with a small addition of maple. In contrast to the concert version of Schunda, these cimbaloms are limited in use by professional musicians and usually do not have any metal stiffeners, which results in susceptibility to body deformation.
