The Tympanon (France)

[Dick Glasgow]

Tympanon or Tympanon Frappé

Wikipedia has this to say about the Tympanon, in France:

The term “tympanon” car its origin of the Greek verb corresponding has the action to downwards strike top, and by extension, a vibrating cord.
Instrument of the family of the zithers on tables, the tympanon is appeared as a trapezoidal case.
A certain number of cords, sometimes joined together in various choruses, are tended on the sounding board.
The sound is produced by striking the cords using mailloches.

In France, this instrument connait an unquestionable vogue as of the medium of the XVII E century which reaches its apogee to the XVIII E century.
Instrument whose practice is widespread within the elites, in particular the nobility, the concerts of tympanon disappear with the Revolution, the instruments are seized and enter the collections of the national museums.

The pages of erudite music for tympanon are relatively rare although there is a manuscript of gallant airs of the XVIII E century kept at the department of the music of the BNF.

Wikipedia - Tympanon

Other interesting Tympanon sites:

Tympanon

The Tympanon

Quatuor Barbaroque

The Tympanon by David Munrow

Joueuse de Tympanon - automate

[isibeal]

Hey, here I come to tell you something about the Tympanon. Well, you know what? it appears that it has been quite forgotten here in France. Everything I learnt was from US and Great Britain. I don't know any French builder nor any music store selling tympanons.
I watched a group of artists playing baroque musique on TV. One plays tympanon so I tried to contact him but have no answer yet. Anyway, here is the link to they're web site:
www.barbaroque.net/instruments.htm

[Dick Glasgow]

Hey, thanks for the link Isibeal - I've added it to the list, above.

What a fascinating combination of instruments they use: -
TYMPANON, BANDONEON, ORGUE MECANIQUE & CONTREBASSE.

I really enjoyed listening to their sound clips too:

Violentango

Les 4 saisons

Till

Cheers
Dick

[isibeal]

Hey Dick, you know what? Gilles from the Quatuor Barbaroque sent me his answer today... His tympanon is:... an american hammered dulcimer!

[Dick Glasgow]

An American H-D eh - ah well, that's fair enough I suppose, although, wouldn't it have been great if he'd found an old French Tympanon instead, to play on! However, I don't know if such a thing even exists, but it would be interesting to find out. If it did of course, the chances are it wouldn't be up to touring with his band anyway.

In Ireland we had the same situation when Derek Bell of the Chieftains acquired a H-D & called it a "Tiompan" after the ancient Irish instrument.
It's interesting how the Irish word Tiompan is so close to the French word for the Hammered Dulcimer, isn't it! Hmmmmmmmm

Derek Bell as dulcimer player

The hammered dulcimer is well documented as having been played in Ireland in the eighteenth century and is even mentioned by James Joyce as an instrument he heard being played in the street. Derek Bell introduced a small cimbalom (a hammered dulcimer from Central and Eastern Europe), which he christened tiompan after the medieval Irish instrument.

Derek Bell

Tiompán (or hammered dulcimer)

There are only vague descriptions of this ancient instrument.
There are also many opposing theories on what the tiompán actually was, from a drum to a stringed instrument.
An old Gaelic dictionary that defines it as:

tiompán
nm. g.v. -ain; pl.+an, cymbal, tabor

What Derek calls a tiompán is a modern day hammered dulcimer.

The dulcimer is most likely the modern equivalent to the tiompán.

Thanks to Joseph Mulvanerty for the above tiompán information.

Derek Bell

[Nikita]

well, a big name discussion ! ;D
actually, in organology, I've read that "Psalterion" is a generic name for all plucked "table Harps" (that would include also harpsichord, strickly speaking), and Tympanon a generic name for all hit strings table harps. They call table harps all instrument with free strings laid on the sound table, in opposition to the harp where they are "in the air". But it's quite confusing anyway. David Kettlewell did a great job in trying to define exactly how to call all these instruments... personnally I like the fact it has so many names... maybe I like a little confusion ;D

[isibeal]

Gilles explained me that being a friend of Nick Blanton, they worked together years ago and Gilles discovered the Hammer Dulcimer this way. So when Nick proposed him to get one, he didn't refuse of course, I can understand! ;D

For those who don't know Nick: home.earthlink.net/~updf/nbi/

But this don't tell me what I wanted to know... Do we have in France any of ancient instrument?

When I began looking for tympanon, I found this: perso.orange.fr/jean-michel.deliers/tympanon.htm
The page is in French, hope you will easily translate.
So I have now to contact this person because it looks like it plays of tympanon.

I'll let you know...

[Dick Glasgow]

Well, who in their right mind could refuse an offer like that.

At least, now we know who made his Dulcimer!

When I began looking for tympanon, I found this: perso.orange.fr/jean-michel.deliers/tympanon.htm
The page is in French, hope you will easily translate.

Yes, thanks to good old Uncle Google, I have a link to the English version of that site:

The Tympanon by David Munrow

Good Luck on your quest!

Cheers
Dick

[isibeal]

Bonsoir Nikita,
Toujours dans ma recherche de tympanon, je suis arrivée sur ton site.... Ton instrument est splendide !!
Ne parlant pas l'allemand je me suis très peu aventurée sur les sites allemand et je ne connassais donc que les Hackbrett de Musima.
Je me suis toutefois posée une question : pourquoi avoir appelé ton site tympanon ?

[Nikita]

Salut Isibeal
Ah le choix du nom... simplement parce que mes collègues suisse-allemands cherchent à traduire Hackbrett quand ils parlent français, et que ça sonne mieux que "Planche à hacher" et aussi parce que d'une part le nom est joli, que mon atelier s'appelle comme ça, que c'est le nom français de notre bel instrument, que personne n'avait pris le nom, etc.... tout plein de raisons

[carkner]

Here's something interesting, a French-Canadian man who saw my Tsymbaly a few times at a jam session eventually said "yeah, but it's not meant for this kind of music, eh?" (Klezmer). When I assured him it was, he said he only knew it from "Old French music"!