Hi all -
Sorry for the delay in responding - work and fragile health of my father has been requiring my attention. Thanks again for all of the suggestions. I am going to the different options as time and budget allows.
Ken, so many sounds comes from these lyre's of different countries. I'm learning so much...thank you. I LOVE learning the history of anything, especially musical instruments. I'm sure you would play it differently as well. One Lyre I saw on youtube was as tall as the woman playing it. yep, only 5 or 6 strings. aloha, irene
Looks beautiful Ken, would love to hear the sound it makes.
All of the Anglo-Saxon Lyres were all-wood. No skin heads. The construction is always "carved body" with a separate soundboard inlet into the body. The hollow body extending part way up the arms.
I take back what I said about soundholes. I was looking at info about the Trossingen Lyre -- the most complete archeological find and elaborately decorated. I had forgotten that it had 8 or 10 small (1/8"?) soundholes spaced around the bridge position. But this was apparently the only AS lyre found with soundholes.
VERY interesting. This leaves much food for thought...and I've not even had breakfast!! Thank you for showing the tuning key. In the gravesites, were most of them all wood? or were some covered with a "skin" like some banjo's were? I'd be very interested to hear the sound of these. hummmmmmmmm. gonna look on youtube. aloha, irene
Nope -- no sound holes. Almost none of those found in burial sites in England or Germany had sound holes.
Here's a picture of the tuning key, based on the original found in the gravesite. Unlike keys for autoharp pins, you apply the rotation in-line with the peg, pushing in as you turn. I would think you could make a similar key for any wooden peg instrument.
I used Tung Oil as a finish for the Lyre. I like it a lot more than urethane or other "varnishes".
GREAT POST and I'm smiling while reading all of them. When I lived in Hawaii so many years ago, I'd travel to the elementary schools by request and show and tell of the instruments I had. One of the first times I held it up and asked the children if they knew what this was(my dulcimer) ...........one cute little Hawaiian guy said, "I think it's a squashed guitar". One dulcimer that I rescued from a shop on the Big Island, it was written up in the DPN....I was told that this dulcimer was used as yard art and then taken to the dump. I restored her, and have named her, "Lilly from the dump." This last dulcimer that I've just finished #25....I did some different things to the lower sound hole...and used a viola floating bridge...my she's loud...sounds more like a banjo...so she's named SUSANNA. I've been reading all day APPALACHIAN DULCIMER TRADITIONS by Ralph Lee Smith. Totally enjoying reading by the fire while the high outside was 15....Thanks for mentioning this book on this site!! Got it used on ebay. aloha, irene
Ken, this really is a beautiful instrument. AS I look at all the pictures again, I don't see a sound hole. and interesting how you tell of the wrench that tunes the pegs. I wish I could see a picture of that too. When I first worked with Myrtle wood....looked like packing crate material...but putting on a varnish........wheeeeeeee. Maybe I'll get someone to send me some Myrtle wood. You're and inspiration. aloha, irene
Supposedly builders and their instruments start to look alike.
Oh no, wait. That's dogs and their owners.
Sadly most of my husband's banjos don't have much that burns.😎
Yeah.... good lookin' instrument; builder -- not so much
Very nice Ken! I really like the pic of you proudly holding it. :)
Patricia and Wayne are the coolest kids in school! 
😎 Thanks for listening and your support Dusty!
Patricia and Wayne are the coolest kids in school!
ahhhhh, way cool. If you look on this photo, next to the banjo above it is a lyre. And that is what I use it for as well. I just chord it and sing a song. When I show my Lyre to friends, I'll say, "this is a Lyre, and I'm telling you the truth." I know, bad joke, but I have fun with it. aloha, irene
Ken, you did it! Fabulous job on that lyre. (The pegs look good too)!
Hope to hear you play it sometime.
Nice work, Ken.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Thanks for your warm comments and we very much appreciate your ongoing support. :-)
Irene -- of course I play it! It's tuned "pentatonic+" -- do, re, me, sol, la, do'. The instrument is from the 8th century -- back when there really were no sing-and-play "songs. There were chants - Church chants, chanted audio-books like the sagas, Beowulf, the Poetic Edda, etc. The Lyre was used for dramatic flourishes in a story, as well as a mnemonic device so that the skald/bard could remember where -- in hundreds or thousands of verses -- he was at any given point in the tale.
I loved working with Myrtle wood when we lived in Ashland, Oregon. this is an interesting instrument. Do you know how to play it? aloha, irene
Just a followup to my previous "getting started with this Lyre" post. The Myrtle wood turned out to have some fabulous 'tiger stripe' effect in it. The Port Orford Cedar is a great wood for doing the kolrose decoration on. I have it tuned D3, E3, F#3, A4, B4, C4 with acoustic guitar nylon 2nd & 3rd strings.
John Knopf made the tuning pegs for me -- great job, and the tuning wrench he made to fit them, following the plans, works perfectly.
I hope it doesn't get so cold you're forced to burn a mountain dulcimer! If you have a hammered dulcimer, it will burn longer. ;)
According to an old time cowboy I know, the reason they didn't name their horses was "You never name something you may have to eat". This is a very cold winter so I do not name anything I may have to burn.
Hearts of the Dulcimer Podcast - Episode 32
The Legendary Howie Mitchell
In this episode, we present the stories and music of Howie Mitchell. An innovator of dulcimer building and playing in the 1950s and 60s, Howie is credited with spreading the idea of the 6 and half fret, the DAD Mixolydian tuning, and the chord melody style of playing dulcimer starting in the late 1950s. All three of these ideas caught on in the dulcimer world and for many players is the standard way of playing dulcimer.
Hearts of the Dulcimer Podcast can be found on most podcast apps.
Here's the link to Hearts of the Dulcimer on iTunes: http://bit.ly/hotdpodcast
Don't use a podcast app or iTunes? You can listen to all the podcast episodes directly on our website: http://dulcimuse.com/podcast
We also have a resource page for every episode, where you can find photos, videos, and song lists. Here's the resource page for this episode: http://dulcimuse.com/podcast/resource/032.html
Move the string back again to the other set of notches. It may be that you just didn't have the string seated properly the first time.
Thanks everyone for the responses! The bobbin is a bit longer than my usual noter, so it took a little getting used to especially on the higher frets. All in all a successful experiment!
Dave, check the slot depth on the nut first and then the bridge..........you might try a slightly heavier string or do what I have done when the string is just twanging on a fret........put a small piece of a flat tooth pick under the nut, right under the the edge closest to the twanging string.........then try it........do you have and adjustable or moveable bridge? Sounds like the string is vibrating in the slot a bit too much to me.
Hi Dave, you posted this thread in the For Sale forum, so I moved it here instead.
I hope someone will help you with your buzz issue!
Help please. I play with three strings, leaving the outermost double melody string off. I just put new strings on it. When I start tuning the inside melody string, and once I reach the note C just below D, I get a twang/buzz sound from there right on up to the correct D note. Sounds so sour. When I move the same string to the outside notches the sound isn’t there, and rings true. Any ideas?
You're welcome, Robin. I remember you being there. This will be my fourth. Haven't missed one yet.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Thanks, Ken! When I got to the Hindman fest in '15, I loved it!
Thanks. Lisa. I found a few minutes to sit, so I worked on it. 
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
