The cimbalom is a musical instrument played with mallets wrapped in cloth, which are used for striking strings attached onto a wooden, usually trapezoidal, resonance box. The cimbalom can be coated with black varnish and decorated with shades of red, green and gold. These instruments were mostly built by self-taught peasants who played them but some were factory-made. The cimbalom is played while strapped around the player’s neck if played when walking, or when placed on a table in front of the player.
The Collection of musical instruments includes two cimbaloms – one is placed on the table in front of the player and the other has four wooden legs. The cimbalom marked with the inventory number (Et 22095) consists of a trapeze-shaped wooden body made of maple wood. The instrument is put up on four legs in a way that the two of them at the front are shorter and the other two at the back are longer. The mallets (bateki) are made of walnut wood and their heads are wrapped in cotton. The Museum purchased the instrument in 1932 in Pribislavec near Čakovec.
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