Chris Nogy's Medieval
instrument Projects
WHAT EXACTLY IS A GERMANIC LYRE YOU ASK?

Vertical harps with 2 arms also known as lyre harps or "lyres" began appearing
in ancient Sumaria by 2800 BC. Some of the oldest carvings of harps were
discovered in Phoenicia with marble harp statuettes found dating back to 3,000
- 2,300 BC. The development of the lyre harp in Greece also coincided with the
development of mathematical musical scales. After those centuries of obscurity
in the historical record, the lyre precursor to the triangular Medieval harp
reappeared in Western European civilization. In the fourth century AD, monk
vocalizations predating Gregorian chanting were used in worship services in the
Christian Church. The harp became a preferred instrument for accompaniment
for the monks' voices. The harp was one of the few instruments allowed in the
early church where the horn, drum and rattles were considered the devil's
instruments. During the fifth century, the Papal Music School was established in
Ireland where the lyre harp was taught. Fragments of a six-stringed lyre were
found in the 7th-century burial ship unearthed at Suffolk in England. The
remains of several Germanic lyres, dating from the fifth through the tenth
century, have been found in Saxon and Frankish graves in Germany and England.
There are few craftsmen today that still build
these historic instruments. And even fewer as
knowledgeable and skilled as Mr Nogy! Here's
a little bit about this project;
This is the second Trossingen style lyre to come out of
the shop.  It is sort of a parody, the middle step between
the actual reproduction that Fionn built and the way-out
full electric Fender-style solid body that is the next
project.  But just because it is silly, doesn't mean it has to
be built badly.  I followed closely the work that Fionn did
on hers, and with a few modifications necessary to hide
the electronics, built mine from what she learned on her
project.  The parts are all made out of the correct
materials, the soundboard is properly shaped, it is pretty
much a good replica except that I increased it's overall
thickness by about 3/16 inch to accommodate the
volume and tone potentiometers.
Here is the basic hollowed corpus
with the pickup set laid out for sizing.
 I had it made a bit big, but you can
specify how you would like it wired.  
The guys at JJB Electronics are very
helpful.  These are very responsive
and sensitive pickups - before
deciding how to do the installation on
this lyre I attached these pickups to
the soundboards of several of my
other finished lyres, and the sound is
terrific from them.
The soundboard is cut and profiled,
waiting to be glued on.  Neat thing
about hide glue, if I need to fix
something later, I can remove the
soundboard without damage.  
That's cool.  Not the holes where
the original beechwood pegs went
through the soundboard of the lyre
- this is how I am hiding the tone
and volume knobs - they will be
these dowels.  A small dot of 5
minute epoxy on the button
pickups (just a tiny bit - it will hold)
under the soundboard at the feet of
the bridge and it's ready to be
joined
The business end of the lyre.  
Maple tailpiece, willow bridge,
the cheapest black nylon Ernie
Ball ball end guitar treble sets
I could buy.  The soundboard
'dowels' (actually the volume
and tone controls) are made of
beechwood.  The tailpiece has
been drilled for ball end or
tie-in strings.  The tailgut puts
just a bit of pressure on the
volume knob - keeps it in place.
OK, the final product.  Hand made tablet weave
strap, the body stained with dark brown Briwax,
the bridge and tailpiece left natural for contrast.  
Really an instrument I am proud of.The
instrument is completely playable, jacked into an
amp.  It has a pretty cool sound, and with the
cable comes a variety of optional effects boxes.  I
have already played it through my sound board in
my computer, through my old Fender TKO 80 bass
amp, and through my little smokey Supro pocket
amp - it is cool through all 3.  This was definitely a
really cool project, and very worthwhile. So far this
has been a very neat escape - many of my more
authenticity driven friends are dismayed, but most
of the local music crowd is very enthusiastic about
the pair of electric instruments I am building.  I
am even getting discounts from a few of the local
music stores, with the promise of course that they
get to play around with the instruments.  Perhaps
this will open up a little bit of a new performance
venue - there are many little battery operated belt
amps (I use a Supro - a bit overdriven and
distorted, granted, but fun until I find one of the
little pocket marshal stacks for cheap) and with
hidden cable (I am covering mine in a lucet woven
silk cord 'sleeve' and hiding my amp in a custom
leather belt pouch) there are some venues that
were previously impractical for an instrument like
this - such as outdoor SCA events and actually
playing with other instruments - not a period thing
to do, but fun with the right folks.
This is just one of many cool
instruments built by Mr. Nogy.
Click here to go to his website
and check them all out!
Thanks
Chris!