cymbalennium
| Format | CD |
| Country | USA |
| Recorded | 2000 |
| Issued | 2000 |
| Label | Artist General |
| Cat no. | - |
| Playing time | 77:27 |
| Reviewer | Simen Viig Østensen |
| MICHAEL MASLEY cymbalennium |
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Michael Masley is a new name for me, as much else from the US these days is, but the composer and musician actually has four albums behind him already, the first came in 1995 and was called Mystery Repeats Itself
The three others are co-projects where All Strings Considered from 2000 consists of dulcimer duets with Jamie Janover.
In the booklet we are promised that the music contains no synthesizers, and that digital delay is used only in a few drum loops, the source of which is a "Phenix" drum, apparently a hotel ash tray.
What seems to be Masleys speciality is strange instruments, often ethnic, such as "nyckelharpe" (from Sweden), Hungarian zither, Chakrahatchi and "Lakota Slide" (reconfigured flutes originally used by Indians), and steel drums. In the main seat we find the cymbalomen, a Hungarian version of the dulcimer, which again has its roots in the Persian instrument santour (approx 2,500 BC).
And the music? Of course it bears the mark of traditional music, but it is also disconnected from all tradition and carried close to a form of ethnic, eastern ambient without getting tiresome, which far too often happens to ambient music.
At first you may experience the music somewhat stereotyped (based on the fact that one instrument carries most of the compositions), but this is a matter of letting the music get a chance to sink deeply into your ears an evening with nothing else to do, and then letting yourself be fascinated by a very different musical world than the one you normally move within.
For me, however, it was in parts an ordeal to be exposed to the endless soundscapes of the dulcimer which delicate Norwegian ears may perceive as "sound torture" over a longer period. You will have to eat slowly, bite by bite, and not swallow it all in one big portion. The music may either drive you mad and into rather expensive therapy, or it may be a gigantic ear opener.
© 2001 Tarkus Magazine