From Wood to Wonder:
The making of the seven-stringed Lyre.
From carefully chosen wood to the final string, each ancient Greek lyre is a testament to timeless reaserch and fine craftsmanship. This section unveils the journey of creation — where tradition, precision, and devotion converge to breathe life into an instrument that once echoed through the temples of antiquity.
From Study to Practice
Crafting technics developed through countless hours of reaserch.
Material Selection
Choosing the right materials for the Lyre.
A crusial element for sound quality.
Where Hands meet Ears
The joint effords of a Luthier and a Musician lead to todays fine results.
The luthier workshop “Palmos” has been active since 2011, focusing on the study and reconstruction of musical instruments that are exact replicas of ancient Greek ones, while also bringing them into the present as fully functional musical instruments capable of meeting the high expectations of modern musicians.
The study of historical sources—from texts of Ancient Greek mythology and scientific musical treatises, to the observation of visual depictions on pottery—provided us with the necessary information to build the first lyres. Based on these, we made the required modifications for the instruments to move beyond the stage of “museum reconstruction” and become contemporary musical instruments that any musician can use today.
Many studies and experiments were conducted before arriving at the final result. We analyzed shells of land and sea turtles found dead in nature, created replicas of shells from various types of wood, and tested many kinds of strings. Research into the depth and thickness of the soundbox often led us to dead ends, as the same materials and dimensions would frequently produce different results.
Research into the quality of materials almost always brought us to the same conclusion: Wood that grows on Greek soil (such as walnut, oak, chestnut, olive, mulberry, etc.), hides and horns from animals of our mountains, consistently gave the instruments an outward richness in sound—as if the lyre itself needed familiar, native materials in order to “speak” to us. All this effort led to the creation of instruments of high standards.
But was our research alone enough? The answer to that question came when our path crossed with that of Dr. Nikos Xanthoulis. The technical demands of a distinguished musician and researcher created new “challenges” that we now had to overcome as a team. The quality and spacing of the strings, the tension they exert, the instrument’s ergonomics, the materials and shape of the plectrums—all of these were crucial in achieving a sonic result (the primary goal) that far exceeded anything we had previously considered a benchmark.
Therefore, the theoretical aspect of our research, once it had surpassed the technical demands of quality craftsmanship, was able to meet the high standards set b Dr. Nikos Xanthoulis through his method on the ancient lyre. The outcome justified us all.
