What instrument does Lyra REALLY play
I'm just putting down the results of my last research frenzy. I've been trying to find the exact instrument that Lyra's cutie-mark represents, partly because people often mistake it for other barely related instruments and partly because I'm a massive nerd.
Though, it's mostly the former.
Well first of all, it's not a harp, it's a lyre! No, they're not synonymous, they're entirely different instruments.
The harp has its strings attached directly into its hollow body, while the lyre has more in common with lutes, as its strings are attached to a bridge which transmits the vibrations.
Got it?! Good! Let's not harp on that any longer.
But of course, lyre is a very diverse family of instruments. Would you believe that this is also a lyre? Would Lyra be able to play that? Probably. But we're not here to talk about all the instruments that she could play (though you're free to discuss that), but to talk about what kind of lyre does her cutie-mark specifically represent.
Because it's one of those horseshoe shaped lyres (how fitting). The last time I made the same research, when I was writing my song Jammin' with Lyra (man that song was a pain in the ass), I somehow came to the conclusion, that Lyra's horseshoe shaped lyre has only seven strings.
But this time, I've found that such lyres don't actually exist. Well, not ones that are so streamlined looking. There are lyres that are horseshoe shaped, but not this simple. The iconic horseshoe shaped instrument, is just a simplified stereotypical representation.
So let's talk about the possible candidates.
First, you have the chelys lyre, said to have been invented by Hermes, using the shell of a tortoise for the hollow body.
Another lyre of ancient greek origin is the cithara, which does have that horseshoe shape, and is said to have seven strings. Though a more skillful citharode could use strings more than that. The cithara however is also said to be a virtuoso's instrument, because it requires a great deal of skill to play, what with all that extra stuff added onto the top. Which I don't doubt Lyra could deal with.
But lyres weren't exclusive to ancient greece. Many other cultures had their own lyres as well. Which leads us to the jewish lyre, or kinnor. It does have that horseshoe shape and it is played with a pick. And apparently the minimum number of kinnors to be played in the temple is nine, with no upper limit... Interesting.
It's also a jewish national symbol, which is interesting. I have seen greek Lyra and Irish Lyra, but I don't think I have seen a jewish Lyra before.
Now that I brought up the Irish, there's also a gallic lyre. It also has a horseshoe shape and it does commonly have only seven strings. It also lead me to the lyrist Atelier Skald, go check him out. In fact, the gallic and jewish lyres are the ones that resemble that simplified U shape the closest.
So those are the instruments I found, that are the closest to Lyra's cutie-mark. The chelys tortoise shell lyre, the more advanced cithara, the jewish lyre also known as kinnor and the gallic lyre. Which do you think it is? Do you perhaps have a better proposition? I probably overlooked a lot of things, so if something I said doesn't match up, then you should know that I'm just simply wrong and not a liar.
Perhaps Lyra herself could say a lot on the subject.
Big shoutout to Michael Levy, who's got an extensive work on many different types of lyres and a youtube channel where you can listen to his work.
I'll also be posting a song I wrote myself, for a seven string lyre.
Here's a download link to it until then.
Submitted August 02, 2018 at 11:09AM by JesterOfDestiny
via reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/mylittlepony/comments/94150b/what_instrument_does_lyra_really_play/?utm_source=ifttt
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