The Cimbalo Cromatico
Description
Built in 2003 by Tony Chinnery, based on an original instrument by Carlo Grimaldi, 1697, currently located at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg. 2007, Markus Krebs developed a 24-keys-per-octave-keyboard for this instrument in collaboration with Johannes Keller. The conventional and the extended keyboard can easily be exchanged.
With the enharmonic keyboard installed, the instrument has only one 8'-register, using both rows of jacks. The 24 keys per octave are organised in one single manual. The lower (white) keys are arranged in a conventional diatonic layout. All upper (black) keys are split into three parts. There is an additional key between b and c and between e and f respectively. The keyboard has a range for four and a half octaves, GG to d'''.
The true inner-outer case is made of Italian cypress, the soundboard is made of spruce. All strings are made of brass.
The instrument usually uses a subset of 31edo, in most cases an equivalent of a meantone chain of fifths ranging from g flat to a double sharp. Other tuning systems are easily applicable, as long as the strings are not strained too much.
Photos
Activities
The most recent posts involving the Cimbalo Cromatico: