MADminis: Zorba the Greeks!
A couple more Madrid classic characters! These guys can be found often in and around the centre playing these instruments (Cimbalom?). They always draw a crowd and I tend to stop and watch for a bit and chuck in some cash for their kitty. The title is a reference to a song they seem to play each time I see them. Great stuff and somewhat unique!
I used to know these two old ladies who were twins. One of their husbands made them dulcimers and they basically taught themselves to play. It was a amazing how well they played together for never having taken a lesson. This picture reminds me of those two old ladies. -@bozz
That's a great story and thanks for sharing! I would love to have seen them play (my grandmother and her sister were twins, so I could imagine them as the ladies you mention :)). I'll definitely have to give it a go one day!
Ohh I wish you had filmed what they were playing, I'll need to google what kind of sound makes that instrument, looks really weird! Thanks for sharing!
Yeah, next time I'll try and catch them on camera. Certainly a cool instrument and they seem to have fun playing it!
We have guys like this playing instruments at the street too. But never had I seen this instrument you mentioned. Cimbalom? I had to google it. 😉 Ours over here usually just play guitar and a simple microphone to sing along. Often people also will give them some tips.
I actually Googled "xylophone with strings" as I didn't know myself! 'Cimbalom' came up as well as 'hammered dulcimer' plus another commenter mentioned 'dulcimer' so I'm not entirely sure. Looks fun though ;).
Yeah, you get the usual street performers but then a few that are a bit different. I'm always compelled to stop for a bit when I see these guys…