>Only think I know for certain about stringed-instrument-making: You don't
>have to use only brass strings for even modern instruments - guitars,
>violins and others use nylon as a replacement for gut strings.
This I am aware of. The people I helped before used nylon as a modern,
affordable equivelant to catgut and quite a few harps sold today do use
nylon.
There are very few examples of Irish lyres (sorry Celtic-types, the
triangular frame harp was introduced by Anglo-Scandinavians. Irish "harps"
much like the rest of the Indo-European types were origianlly lyres and had
four sides.) using bronze strings though I think this was a bit later than
the period I am wanting to use.
Of the Sutton Hoo lyre, there is absolutely no mention of the existance
of metal string remnants in the burial, something I think would have
happened if indeed metal was used given the lyre was stuffed in a
beaver-skin bag which was likewise stuffed in a cauldron. In a book about
such old instruments, Canon Galpin said the tension marks left on the
existing tuning pegs gave the impressions of marks consistent with gut, not
metal.
Second item I don't know for sure; it is a rumor but
>came from a source I consider reliable about music as well as other things:
>Brian Beru (ancient king of Ireland, in case anyone has not heard of him)
>owned a harp strung with white brass. When archeologists dug it up out of
>the bog where it had been for about 900 (this number I really am NOT sure
>about - somebody please correct me!) years, the sound board was bowed about
>20 degrees out of true - reproduction instrument makers spent (at least)
>several years trying to reproduce the bow, until they discovered that it
>had
>originally been flat, and was bowed becasue of tension of the brass
>strings,
>still taut (I didn't hear, or think to ask, if it was still in tune). So
>if
>you can find out what kind of wood was used, maybe you can still use metal
>strings.
Actually that harp now belongs to the Guinness Company and is displayed
in their headquarters. It is not for sure whether or not it was really
Brian Boru's harp or not. If it was, he most likely got it from one of his
Christian Scandinavian friends. I think it is still displayed with the bow
in it.
We know for sure the Sutton Hoo was mostly oak with some maple, for the
soundboard I believe. The tuning peg piece and the bottom piece were joined
to the arms via tongue and mortice joint which, from experience, hold the
tension well for nylon and metal strings.
The other problem is really nailing down what the soundboard was like.
We have no evidence of a sound hole and the reproduction of the Sutton Hoo
lyre in the British Museum was based on psaltry picture which do not show
any. However, the pictures were not necessarily drawn to be exact in
detail. Without a sound hole, the sound would be rather muted, something
which I do not think would travel well in a hall during the 7th century. (
These may have been for personal use only anyway. An Icelandic saga
apparently mentions harps used which were big enough for a grown man to
stand. It would certainly help in large halls.) The only example I can
possibly see showing a sound hole is a relief carving on a Norwegian church
depicting Gunnarr (of the Volsunga saga) playing a lyre with his toes as he
was put an adder pit to face his death. This lyre has as 8-like shape and
shows a hole. ( More useless info: While this was depicted as a lyre, else
where on the reflief carving, a frame harp is depicted.)
A 13th century Welsh "Crwyd" seems to be an evolved form of the English
lyre. It has the same shape and the same number of strings (six from actual
finds, but psalters show as much as ten to twelve on their depictions) but
has a fingerboard under four of the string with two droning strings to the
side. On the soundboard, there are two sound holes. It would be easy to
say these were already part of the construction tradition.
The modern versions I helped make (note: I have yet to make one) have
used sound holes or were bolstered by steel strings which are simply louder
though they do not sound as good to me.
Another possibilty would be a tradition which showed up around the 11th
- 12th centuries in plucked psalters and hammered dulicmers which involved,
instead of one or two large sound holes, patterns of smaller holes,
sometimes making designs.
I do know, on depictions of 11th - 12th century English frame,
"triangular", harps, the harps are clearly drawn with sound holes on the
side of the soundbox.
Anyway, I may just make a display of harps through the periods for
Germanic Harps.
Sorry to take up so much space.
Cyniríc Cyniwarding
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