Cymbala

:See also Carillon and Bell chime''
The cymbalum (plural ''cymbala'') was the name of two historical instruments, medieval European bells hung and struck with a hammer and Greek ''kymbalon'' cymbals. The two instruments may possibly be related, based on the same name being used for both and for the similar "cup-like shape." This relationship in not unique to European bells and cymbals; Persian bells ( zang) and cymbals ( sanj) share a similar word spread.

The singular ''cymbalum'' is a single chime bell, while ''cymbalum'' refers to a group of bells (a bell chime).

''Chimes'', which today are bells and bell sounds (such as clock chimes) derives from cymbala. The term is used for "stationary bells...less extensive than a carillon", such as tubular bells in an orchestra. Chimes is used for groups of bells hung in a "set location", with a "limited range" of tones that are struck. They may be large or small. In simple applications such as on a clock, chimes may be diatonic (two notes, set of two bells).

The word cymbalum would be transferred to the harpsichord as the ''clavicembalo'' (Italian) or '' cembalo'' (German). It also became an organ stop.

Medieval bell chimes

Illustrations from about the 10th to 15th century show performers playing sets of bells (cymbala) hung from a frame or overhead and played with a hammer. Images "usually show from four and eight bells", but also as many as 15. They were tuned diatonically to a C-based scale (to include B flat).

File:Cymbala and handbells, Bodleian Library MS. Laud Misc. 752.jpg, 12th-13th century, England. Musicians play the ''cymbala'' (set of small chime-bells) and ''cymbala'' cup-shaped cymbals, Bodleian Library MS. Laud Misc. 752

File:Bells from Harley ms 4951 folio 299v.jpg, 11th century, southern France. Chime bells wrung by clappers. Harley MS 4951, folio 299v.

File:Asaph playing chime bells, Pommersfeld Bible, Gräflich Schönbornsche Bibliothek, 334, fol. II 148.jpg, 1050-1100, Germany. English: Asaph playing chime bells, Pommersfeld Bible, Gräflich Schönbornsche Bibliothek, 334, fol. II 148

File:Roma, Bibl. Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 39, f. 44v sharpened cropped.jpg, 1050 A.D., Germany. King David playing psaltery with Aethan (with pipes), Idithun (with bell chimes), Heman (with lyre) and Asaph (with vielle/viol). Heidelberg Psalter, Roma, Bibl. Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 39, f. 44v

File:Cymbala players, from Le Roi David musicien, miniature pleine page Bible d'Étienne Harding, Ms.14, f.13v, sharpened.jpg, Early 12th century A.D., France. Cymbala players, from Le Roi David musicien, miniature pleine page Bible d'Étienne Harding, Ms.14, f.13v

File:Boethius 's Instutione Musica, Cambridge University Library Ii 3.12 fol 61v.jpg, Circa 1130 A.D. Top left, Boethius with monochord. Top right, Pythagoras with cymbala. Bottom left, Plato. Bottom right, Nicomachus. Boethius' Instutione Musica, Cambridge University Library Ii 3.12 fol 61v.

File:Musician playing monochord and cymbala, next to a pipe organ, from B.18, folio 1r, PSALTERIUM TRIPLEX, St John's College Cambridge.jpg, Early 12th century, France/England. Musician playing monochord and cymbala, next to a pipe organ, from B.18, folio 1r, PSALTERIUM TRIPLEX, St John's College Cambridge.

File:Kind David tuning harp while musicians play bells, detail from Glasgow University Library MS Hunter 229 (U.3.2), folio 21V.jpg, 1170 A.D., Scotland. Kind David tuning harp while musicians play bells, detail from Hunterian Psalter Glasgow University Library MS Hunter 229 (U.3.2), folio 21V.

File:St. Elizabeth’s Psalter, MS CXXXVII folio 149r, King David holding the rotte (lyre) and musicians playing chime bells, vielle, pipe organ and long horn.jpg, circa 1201-1208 A.D. King David holding the rotte lyre and musicians playing chime bells, vielle, pipe organ and long horn. St. Elizabeth’s Psalter, MS CXXXVII folio 149r.

File:Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex, page Bl-2 169R cropped.jpg, Circa 1280 A.D., Spain. Bells hung on indoor frame, designed to look like the arched roof of a Romanesque cathedral such as Westminster Abbey.

File:Jubal with chime bells (cymbala), from Champion of the dames (1541 manuscript) sharpened.jpg, Circa 1440 A.D., France. Jubal with chime bells (cymbala), from ''Champion of the dames''. Same style bell wrack as in Cantigas de Santa Maria image.

File:Bell chimes, from the 1461 manuscript Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 91.jpg, 1461, Germany. Bell chimes hung from rack that resembles a church.

File:Refectory Bell, German, 13th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cloister's Collection 2014.jpg, 13th century, Germany. Refectory bell. A single bell was a cymbalum.

File:Chronik um 1370 Cgm 5 Folio 18r tones adjusted.jpg, Germany circa 1370 A.D. Chime bells, from Chronik um 1370 Cgm 5 Folio 18r

File:David playing the cymbala (bell chime), by artist Pseudo-Jacquemart , circa1386, Psalter of Jean de Berry France Bourges, BNF (Francais 13091), folio 153r sharpened.jpg, Circa 1386, France. David playing chime bells.

File:Chimes and handbell, Die 24 Alten (The 24 Elders), Coburg State Library, Ms Cas 43.jpg, 1448, Germany. Elders of the Apocalypse play chimes (hung from a rod) and a handbell.

File:Clavichord, bells and psaltery by Perinetto da Benevento.jpg, After 1438, Italy. Clavichord, chime bells and psaltery.

Greek cymbals

:''See Krotala''

''Kymbolon'' (Greek) or ''cymbala'' (Latin) were cup shaped cymbals used in Greek and Roman culture to accompany religious "orgiastic" dance. They were played to induce ecstasy and related to the Cybele cult from Asia Minor. As Romans conquered in the east, they brought back musicians, and women could be seen dancing exotically in the streets and in taverns, accompanied by "crotala, cymbala, tympana, and foreign wind instruments."

The Greeks used words ( οξύβαφοι, ''oxyvaphi'') for vinegar lids or vinegar containers struck with a stick to connotate a musical instrument. The Romans did the same (''acetabula ''). Further, the words were used for bells or cymbals that had that bowl shape, worn and played by dancers (cymbals in the form of acetabula that are struck together while dancing: ''cymbala acitabula'').

In a 4th century mosaic from Mariamin (Byzantine Empire, specifically in Syria), multiple cymbals or bell-shaped and bell sounding instruments may be seen, which illustrate possibilities for origins. Included in the mosaic are ''crotala'' (bells or cymbals on forked sticks), struck to make them chime. Hand held or finger cymbals are seen in the mosaic as well; and on the table is an instrument that links metal food containers (and their bowl shape) to music.

Roman ''cymbala'' had concave centers and turned (flattened) rims. Although cup shaped, more rarely, the ''kymbolon'' might be flat, like a platter.

File:Woman playing cymbala (or kymbala), from the Mosaic of the Female Musicians, Mariamin.jpg, 4th century A.D., Byzantine Empire. Woman playing cymbala (or kymbala), from the Mosaic of the Female Musicians, Mariamin
File:Cymbala acitabula, dancer from the Byzantine Empire, House of Madaba (now in Jordan).jpg, 6th century A.D., Byzantine Empire, House of Madaba (now in Jordan). Dancer wearing ''cymbala acitabula'' (cymbala that have the same shape as acitabula vinegar bowls or lids).
File:Krotala player, from the Mosaic of the Female Musicians, Mariamin.jpg, 4th century A.D., Byzantine Empire. Krotala player, from the Mosaic of the Female Musicians, Mariamin. The crotala and cymbala were played by musicians in the same group.
File:Aeman holding clappers in the Charles the Bald Bible, illustrated by Master C.jpg, 9th century A.D., Carolingian Empire. Aeman playing crotals, showing a blending of ancient traditions in the medieval period; in the Carolingian Renaissance, the Roman ''cymbala'' cymbals were attached to "forked sticks" to make the crotals.
File:Maenads dancing in Dionysus's Procession from a 4th century mosiac in Augusta Traiana, Byzantine Empire, now Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.jpg, 4th century A.D. Mosaic from the city of Augusta Traiana showing maenads dancing with Dionysus, playing Krotalum and cymbalum (as finger cymbals) .
File:Tiaso (playing cymbala) dances with Dionysus, from a Roman villa at Agora, Argos, Greece, 5th century A.D.jpg, 5th century A.D., Roman villa at Agora, Argos, Greece. A dancer in the thiasus plays cymbala and dances with Dionysus.
File:Maenad playing cymbala dances with satyr carrying panpipes, from Seleucia Pieria, Hatay Archaeology Museum, Antakya, Turkey.jpg, 2nd-3rd century A.D., Seleucia Pieria. Maenad playing cymbala dances with satyr carrying syrinx (panpipes named for an Arcadian nymph pursued by Pan). Now at Hatay Archaeology Museum, Antakya, Turkey.
File:Chludov Miriam.jpg, Circa mid-ninth century A.D., Chludov Psalter. Byzantine art. Moses leads his people across the red sea while Miriam dances with cup-shaped cymbals.
File:Paris psaulter gr139 fol5v.jpg, 950-960 A.D., Byzantine Empire. Image from the Paris Psalter. A young woman dances with hand cymbals for David and Saul, another woman looking on.
File:Miriams Tanz.jpg, 14th century A.D., Bulgaria. Exodus 15:20 "Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing." Here the women use cymbals and a drum. Tomić Psalter.

References

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Greek musical instruments
Medieval musical instruments
Ancient Roman musical instruments