How hard is this to learn? I've been looking for an instrument to learn for a while now which isn't too complex and is fairly portable, the lyre seems like it could be great!
@cabbage0dusk The instrument that fits that description today is the ukulele, but if you are into re-enactment or like medieval or ancient music then the Lyre is super easy to learn to strum chords and play with(see my video playing guide). It has a very limited range of music though that can be a springboard to some or a limitation.
@michaeljking really:-) first time I heard it. absolutely awesome sound, didn`t know that it`s sound was so clear:-)) only two question: does it get fastly offtuned? and can it be played with struming (hardlike, with a pick or something)?
OK guys - 6 strings is by NO MEANS limiting. The person playing is not exactly playing it correctly. Traditionally, they used their hands in that gap. Also, this lyre is probably an Alamanni Warrior harp (again, not exactly Saxon, but it will do :) ). Go to 'ancientmusic(dot)uk(dot)co', click "instruments", and then "strings". Corwen will be there to give you further instructions.
I cannot blame you for not knowing how it was played - few do (Corwen doesn't).
@schwarzfalk That's lovely 17th century harp music you have to bear tehwas lyre was never really meant for melodic playing, it was to accompany singing or reciting poetry, It may have been plucked like my example here but i do feel it was mainly strummed with a plectrum, courser to our ears, rhythmic,,very simple, an instrument that could be passed around and anyone play...
@michaeljking so how many strings minimum are needed for "melodic playing" ?
(in a shop nearby they sell lyres with *metal* strings which gives them a crystalline sound, like a harp. I'm assuming a metallic sound means it is meant for melodic playing, right ?)
nice, i love the sound, gonna check out how to make one, gotta do something with my freetime being unemployed, taking care of and cooking for my parents still leaves me with a lot of freetime. maybe i can sell them at fleemarkets for additional income, it would help very much.
I have recently built a 6 string electric lyre (not to be confused with my previous lyre guitars etc.) and tried it out on stage. One of the things that interests me about this instrument is that it offers chords in a wide variety of intonations and temperaments just by retuning strings (with guitar I have to make necks with different fret patterns). I intend to use this lyre in place of rhythm guitar in recordings. Can you suggest an instrument to take the place of bass guitar please?
Thank you very much and sorry for accidentally posting the same question more than once. I think the Obukano looks good. The main issue I think, is whether the unplayed strings need to be damped like when playing a bass guitar. I would also like to say that I am very impressed with your work and very grateful to you for drawing my attention to the Kantele and giving me so much information about the lyre.
The playing is lovely, too. I've been meaning to ask about the video entitled "Anglo Saxon Lyre 2". I've never heard a technique like that before. Would they have really played it like that?
@jamberrysong The Block and strumming technique is still used in places where lyres are played today, its a technique that is found in all places on comparative instruments, for example Baltic or finnish kantele! All the bridges fro lyre are very narrow, too close spacing for plucking near the bridge, the plucked tone is pleasant enough with gut strings, perhaps less so with horsehair, or not as loud but strum the strings and the instrument becomes vibrant and loud with either strings.
Not bought, but the horsehair can be twisted into very thick low tensioned strings, Bowed Lyre (Jouhikko) players do this, Also re-enactment Kantele players. The gut strings are available from teh early music shop, or aquila
These instruments were mainly for accompaniment, given the close string spacing at the bridge and the pictoral evidence the lyre was mainly strummed while the other hand blocked out the chords, Lyres are still played like this as in ancient times in africa and asia, and the same techniques used on closely related instruments like baltic kanteles and modern autoharps.
I got Mikael's CD and I'm now working on my THIRD lyre. He should have included some sort of warning about this... I have a Trossingen and a Cologne lyre, and have hollowed out a Sutton Hoo.
Sadly, I'm no musician and can tune a pickup faster than a lyre. My musician friends pick the lyres up, tinker with it and make beautiful music. I pick it up the next day and ... oh dear. I blame the nylon strings.
Nylon strings are usually pretty stable tuning wise, even with wooden friction pegs, I tend to use zither pins for my student lyres as this combination is completely stable giving the player more time to focus on playing. (Nylgut and flourocarbon strings sound much much better than plain nylon BTW) In the USA the pentatonic tuning is more popular, In The UK Diatonic, there is a Tenth century reference that gives a CDEFGA scale(diatonic) which works really well on the cologne lyre.
For I come from East Anglia with a lyre on my knee." I sang that during my last lyre-building class, and everyone threw shavings at me.
"Sounds like a banjo."
OK, I'll have to hear this to believe it. Banjos have a fretted fingerboard and a skin resonator (unlike my maple soundboards). I can play a lyre; not much to it. But if you're a hammerclaw pickin' player, you're way outta my league. Someday we'll have to do a set together.
The modern day guitar ancestors such as the Roman Cithara and the Arab Oud existed hundreds of years before this instrument, in such places as spain, italy and northern africa.
Beautiful. I can actually envision sitting in the meadhall and listening to a scop. I think music can really help one connect with the past, and this video does just that.
it is a very easy instrument to play, only 6 notes if you are plucking, with a small number of chords that can be fingered and strummed, that's why it lasted so long, nearly anyone could play it and sing a song, Its downfall was the introduction of the multi stringed "harp" that was adopted by the regal courts and taken up by the bards. lyres are still found in northern africa today.
My husband just made me a lyre. It's the first instrument he's made, and I'm quite impressed!! I'll have a video up of it within the next week or two. I'll let you know, so you can see what you inspired! :-D
Metal strings are not used on anglo saxon lyres, though some re-enactors fit guitar strings in lieu of gut or horsehair. I do supply a modern synthetic string for lyres, but you can also purchase gut or synthetic gut from the early music shop
with this instrument YOU are your teacher, the basic block and strum techniques are easy to pick up but then you are on your own really.
Its easier than a guitar or harp, its the sort of instrument that back in its day could be handede around the table and most people could strum an few chords and sing something
Such a lovely sound! I've been looking into learning an instrument, and because I can't help myself from going for the least known thing, I'm really digging the lyre as a choice. Might try and get a cheapy one of ebay just to see, although I wish I could own something like this!
You can build a Lyre quite simply if you want an instrument just to experiment with, I supply plans of my instruments (for which you need a pillar/bench drill at least and determination!!!)but there are simple plans on the net for download, checkout the forum for Anglo Saxon lyres
I put my playing guide online on youtube, the techniques are all there, but what is missing at the moment is a song list, there is little/or nothing from the period, but there is a growing number of lyre enthusiasts on the Lyre forum who are discussing creating a new repertoire, you are welcome to join!!
The Lyre is a copy of the Sutton Hoo British museum Lyre, the tuning is GABCDE, this scale was written down in the 10th century by hucbold, and is still found on kanteles in the baltic region played in a very similer way as the lyre today.
Amazing!Tell me more about the lyre,and if there are any bits of authentic fragments of Anglo Saxon melodies around.Is the lyre tuned GABCDE?How did you derive this tuning?
I was looking for such a video. Thank you!
BellamyCatherine 4 weeks ago
How hard is this to learn? I've been looking for an instrument to learn for a while now which isn't too complex and is fairly portable, the lyre seems like it could be great!
cabbage0dusk 1 month ago
@cabbage0dusk The instrument that fits that description today is the ukulele, but if you are into re-enactment or like medieval or ancient music then the Lyre is super easy to learn to strum chords and play with(see my video playing guide). It has a very limited range of music though that can be a springboard to some or a limitation.
michaeljking 1 month ago 3
@michaeljking what kind of strings is that?? trying to learn about tradisional strings.. is it nylon or animalguts?
ImTheFlyWhiteGuy 1 month ago
@ImTheFlyWhiteGuy This example is real animal gut strings.
michaeljking 1 month ago
@michaeljking really:-) first time I heard it. absolutely awesome sound, didn`t know that it`s sound was so clear:-)) only two question: does it get fastly offtuned? and can it be played with struming (hardlike, with a pick or something)?
ImTheFlyWhiteGuy 1 month ago
@ImTheFlyWhiteGuy We have some instrumens here in Norway that is very alike. what is it`s origins? where does this perticulare instrumet coming from?
ImTheFlyWhiteGuy 1 month ago
@michaeljking
Did you make the strings?
HalomOvered 1 month ago
what's the tuning on that?
trollgoal 3 months ago
@trollgoal Its G a b c d e, see my lyre tuning video ;)
michaeljking 3 months ago
I got here from Skyrim? :P
bostonsocks17 4 months ago 6
@bostonsocks17 will try that soon I hope......
michaeljking 4 months ago 2
SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAXTTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALEEEEEEEEEEEE.
That was the first thing to pop in my head?
Vaxidontal 7 months ago
nice, i'm slight jealous of you playing it! keep up the posts!
kingjefffree 8 months ago
This is beautiful. What song is this?
Kento617 8 months ago
Have you tried to play the song "Gently As She Goes" yet?
gyrrakavian 9 months ago
Plucking hell!
rudeydudey05 1 year ago
Wait, aren't lyres strummed?
bluehaze1029 1 year ago
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IamTheFallenOne1 1 year ago
What kind of strings do you use? Also, where could I find some? Thanks
johnsshipp 1 year ago
@johnsshipp gut strings on this example from the early music shop, Bradford, UK.....I also supply Fluorocarbon string sets
michaeljking 1 year ago
@michaeljking thanks, I've been thinking of building one and I've located all the materiels except for strings.
johnsshipp 1 year ago
OK guys - 6 strings is by NO MEANS limiting. The person playing is not exactly playing it correctly. Traditionally, they used their hands in that gap. Also, this lyre is probably an Alamanni Warrior harp (again, not exactly Saxon, but it will do :) ). Go to 'ancientmusic(dot)uk(dot)co', click "instruments", and then "strings". Corwen will be there to give you further instructions.
I cannot blame you for not knowing how it was played - few do (Corwen doesn't).
celticbattleaxe 1 year ago
I wish somebody would make a reasonable Vulcan lyre/lyrette for sale. That would be too cool!
DoctorOrion1 1 year ago
nice but the 6 strings SEVERELY limits the tunes that can be played
for instance can u play something even close to this song ? => GFUrT0ildug
(paste the code at the end of the url "v=" to watch this video)
schwarzfalk 1 year ago
@schwarzfalk That's lovely 17th century harp music you have to bear tehwas lyre was never really meant for melodic playing, it was to accompany singing or reciting poetry, It may have been plucked like my example here but i do feel it was mainly strummed with a plectrum, courser to our ears, rhythmic,,very simple, an instrument that could be passed around and anyone play...
michaeljking 1 year ago
@michaeljking so how many strings minimum are needed for "melodic playing" ?
(in a shop nearby they sell lyres with *metal* strings which gives them a crystalline sound, like a harp. I'm assuming a metallic sound means it is meant for melodic playing, right ?)
schwarzfalk 1 year ago
nice, i love the sound, gonna check out how to make one, gotta do something with my freetime being unemployed, taking care of and cooking for my parents still leaves me with a lot of freetime. maybe i can sell them at fleemarkets for additional income, it would help very much.
Drmofothegreat 1 year ago
I have recently built a 6 string electric lyre (not to be confused with my previous lyre guitars etc.) and tried it out on stage. One of the things that interests me about this instrument is that it offers chords in a wide variety of intonations and temperaments just by retuning strings (with guitar I have to make necks with different fret patterns). I intend to use this lyre in place of rhythm guitar in recordings. Can you suggest an instrument to take the place of bass guitar please?
MarkAllanBarnes 1 year ago
@MarkAllanBarnes Aftrican Lyres are very simple and large...you may find inspiration there.....
michaeljking 1 year ago
Thank you very much and sorry for accidentally posting the same question more than once. I think the Obukano looks good. The main issue I think, is whether the unplayed strings need to be damped like when playing a bass guitar. I would also like to say that I am very impressed with your work and very grateful to you for drawing my attention to the Kantele and giving me so much information about the lyre.
MarkAllanBarnes 1 year ago
@MarkAllanBarnes with an electric instrument....probably..... Thankyou, you are welcome!!
michaeljking 1 year ago
@MarkAllanBarnes Basoon, you know the large wind instrument that sounds completely awesome?
GenericName86 1 year ago
Very interesting - I went to Sutton Hoo a few years back
BeorhtFrognostic 1 year ago
Wow . Can a person get one of these they are so cool thanks for sharing .
tammiegoal 1 year ago
BEAUTY !!!!!!!
SCENARIOBABY 1 year ago
What tuning do you use?
rg56765y 1 year ago
Wow, love your playing, and love the instrument. I like the delicacy and the gentleness of it. Nice job.
AwesomeChina 1 year ago
@AwesomeChina Many thanks!
michaeljking 1 year ago
Nicely done
linktronics 1 year ago
You have the most beautiful hands.
The playing is lovely, too. I've been meaning to ask about the video entitled "Anglo Saxon Lyre 2". I've never heard a technique like that before. Would they have really played it like that?
jamberrysong 1 year ago
@jamberrysong The Block and strumming technique is still used in places where lyres are played today, its a technique that is found in all places on comparative instruments, for example Baltic or finnish kantele! All the bridges fro lyre are very narrow, too close spacing for plucking near the bridge, the plucked tone is pleasant enough with gut strings, perhaps less so with horsehair, or not as loud but strum the strings and the instrument becomes vibrant and loud with either strings.
michaeljking 1 year ago
Sounds amazing, any chance you're releasing a cd?
thiswonderfullife 1 year ago
sounds similar to Greek :)))
awesome ..
chauchidze 2 years ago
can you only play a few tunesw on it then???? only 6 strings and no fretting?
kiss904 2 years ago
MIchaeljking, what was the strings made of, that were used by the germanics?
OZDE3 2 years ago
Horsehair and gut are the most likely materials
michaeljking 2 years ago
Okay, thanks, is it possible to aquire those kinds of strings nowadays (maybe not gut, but horsehair)?
OZDE3 2 years ago
Not bought, but the horsehair can be twisted into very thick low tensioned strings, Bowed Lyre (Jouhikko) players do this, Also re-enactment Kantele players. The gut strings are available from teh early music shop, or aquila
michaeljking 2 years ago
sehr stark^^
respekt
eliasweltende 2 years ago
Awesome: now that's what I call a gleewood!
Aeschylus 2 years ago 3
i saw one of these on clash of the gods. it was the story of orpheus and i had to look this up.
lugnaz987 2 years ago
Did the ancients stop the strings is some way?
zbaby82 2 years ago
These instruments were mainly for accompaniment, given the close string spacing at the bridge and the pictoral evidence the lyre was mainly strummed while the other hand blocked out the chords, Lyres are still played like this as in ancient times in africa and asia, and the same techniques used on closely related instruments like baltic kanteles and modern autoharps.
michaeljking 2 years ago
I got Mikael's CD and I'm now working on my THIRD lyre. He should have included some sort of warning about this... I have a Trossingen and a Cologne lyre, and have hollowed out a Sutton Hoo.
Sadly, I'm no musician and can tune a pickup faster than a lyre. My musician friends pick the lyres up, tinker with it and make beautiful music. I pick it up the next day and ... oh dear. I blame the nylon strings.
Is there some sort of standard tuning?
a0e0roberts 2 years ago
Nylon strings are usually pretty stable tuning wise, even with wooden friction pegs, I tend to use zither pins for my student lyres as this combination is completely stable giving the player more time to focus on playing. (Nylgut and flourocarbon strings sound much much better than plain nylon BTW) In the USA the pentatonic tuning is more popular, In The UK Diatonic, there is a Tenth century reference that gives a CDEFGA scale(diatonic) which works really well on the cologne lyre.
michaeljking 2 years ago
no wondder this hilbilly saxon from the new world loves banjos they sound markedly similair
lvcivs11 2 years ago
"HillbillykySaxon"
"Oh, Sue Saxon, Sue Saxon don't you cry!
For I come from East Anglia with a lyre on my knee." I sang that during my last lyre-building class, and everyone threw shavings at me.
"Sounds like a banjo."
OK, I'll have to hear this to believe it. Banjos have a fretted fingerboard and a skin resonator (unlike my maple soundboards). I can play a lyre; not much to it. But if you're a hammerclaw pickin' player, you're way outta my league. Someday we'll have to do a set together.
a0e0roberts 2 years ago 2
@lvcivs11
lol the banjo has nothing to do it.
This was a kind of primitive instrument.
The modern day guitar ancestors such as the Roman Cithara and the Arab Oud existed hundreds of years before this instrument, in such places as spain, italy and northern africa.
SplittingTheAnvil 1 year ago
Beautiful! Shield Sheifson approves!
davitogrubba 2 years ago
Beautiful. I can actually envision sitting in the meadhall and listening to a scop. I think music can really help one connect with the past, and this video does just that.
rellman 2 years ago
:):)
anglaismoyen 2 years ago
You make it look so easy!
TheTuberRose 3 years ago
it is a very easy instrument to play, only 6 notes if you are plucking, with a small number of chords that can be fingered and strummed, that's why it lasted so long, nearly anyone could play it and sing a song, Its downfall was the introduction of the multi stringed "harp" that was adopted by the regal courts and taken up by the bards. lyres are still found in northern africa today.
michaeljking 3 years ago
My husband just made me a lyre. It's the first instrument he's made, and I'm quite impressed!! I'll have a video up of it within the next week or two. I'll let you know, so you can see what you inspired! :-D
TheTuberRose 3 years ago
yeah they're called krars?
i think
bckyrdboogie 2 years ago
anglos saxon Lyre music is Beautiful
EnglandWatcher 3 years ago 3
This is pretty. Who would have thought the Saxons capable of pretty music?
janster200 3 years ago
Hey buddy, Saxons kick ass!
Loremeister 3 years ago 9
Where would you purchase the string's?, Surely they rust, Correct?
XVeriandomNess 3 years ago
Metal strings are not used on anglo saxon lyres, though some re-enactors fit guitar strings in lieu of gut or horsehair. I do supply a modern synthetic string for lyres, but you can also purchase gut or synthetic gut from the early music shop
michaeljking 3 years ago
the lowest note is the same as a third string on a guitar, G a b c d e
michaeljking 3 years ago
What a lovely sound. . . What do you tune the strings to?
journeymanwriter 3 years ago
with this instrument YOU are your teacher, the basic block and strum techniques are easy to pick up but then you are on your own really.
Its easier than a guitar or harp, its the sort of instrument that back in its day could be handede around the table and most people could strum an few chords and sing something
michaeljking 3 years ago
Wow, that is a really beautiful sound.. I'd love to learn to play the lyre, but is it very hard? i can't see there being many teachers in the area..
cabbage0dusk 3 years ago
Such a lovely sound! I've been looking into learning an instrument, and because I can't help myself from going for the least known thing, I'm really digging the lyre as a choice. Might try and get a cheapy one of ebay just to see, although I wish I could own something like this!
ficklefiend 3 years ago
You can build a Lyre quite simply if you want an instrument just to experiment with, I supply plans of my instruments (for which you need a pillar/bench drill at least and determination!!!)but there are simple plans on the net for download, checkout the forum for Anglo Saxon lyres
michaeljking 3 years ago
Yeah, I saw your CDs for sale. I'll keep them in mind if I find a way to access some tools!
ficklefiend 3 years ago
afina!
quienttedijo2 3 years ago
What a beautifull instrument. I recently built a lyre in my workshop. Are there any books or manuals on how to play a lyre?
danrob8 4 years ago
I put my playing guide online on youtube, the techniques are all there, but what is missing at the moment is a song list, there is little/or nothing from the period, but there is a growing number of lyre enthusiasts on the Lyre forum who are discussing creating a new repertoire, you are welcome to join!!
michaeljking 4 years ago
where can i get thios
ghostinthefog 4 years ago
I make accurate replicas but you can of course make your own!! If your interested I have put 7 plans on cd with a making lyre ebook
michaeljking 4 years ago
Would that be an English Liar as well?
no5eyparker 5 years ago
its LYRE, not liar. ( just letting you know )
dork343 4 years ago
The Lyre is a copy of the Sutton Hoo British museum Lyre, the tuning is GABCDE, this scale was written down in the 10th century by hucbold, and is still found on kanteles in the baltic region played in a very similer way as the lyre today.
michaeljking 5 years ago
thanks for posting. The music of this age doesn't compare to this kind of stuff.
have you ever listened to the chinese guqin?
mowshetung 4 years ago
Amazing!Tell me more about the lyre,and if there are any bits of authentic fragments of Anglo Saxon melodies around.Is the lyre tuned GABCDE?How did you derive this tuning?
Klezfiddle1 5 years ago