SAXON LYRE

The instrument in this video is an electroacoustic replica of the 6th century Saxon lyre discovered in the ancient burial sites at Sutton Hoo, in Suffolk, England. The proportions of the instrument are the same as the ancient lyre but, like an electric guitar, it is solid and requires an amplifier and speaker in order to be heard properly. It has been provided with a piezoelectric pickup installed under the instrument’s bridge. This lyre has six nylon strings and uses zither pins for tuning (the original would probably have been strung with gut and had pegs-and-holes for tuning). It is tuned as follows (from low to high): G - A - B - C - D - D#. One of the many advantages of an electroacoustic instrument for a modern electronic musician is that it can be used easily with a variety of electronic effects. This song is played by running the lyre through two Lexicon MPX1 FX processors (something the ancient musicians could never have imagined) and using a simple A/B footswitch to alternate seamlessly between devices while playing. Although the possibilities are endless, I used only two programs for this piece. Another big advantage of an electroacoustic instrument for singers who accompany themselves is that the sound of the instrument and the voice can be kept completely separate so you have greater control of the vocal/instrumental mix. (I used a Sennheiser headset to record my voice in this video). The words to this song are an adaptation of the 10th century Saxon poem called THE WANDERER. The original is in Old English which only scholars understand and the literal translation is awkward and unsingable. I have tried to take the essence of the poem and adapt it for modern ears. It tells of a man from what the Saxons called “Middle Earth“ whose family, leaders (called “thanes“) and entire village have been wiped out in some kind of war. He has been on the run for some time and dreams of a world that is gone. He does speak of God in the poem but the interesting thing is we do not know if he means the God of the relatively new religion of Christianity, or the God of the “old religion“. My original adaptation of this song was much longer than what is in this video. In order to keep the whole thing under 5 minutes I had to cut out quite a bit of it. The Saxon lyre can be played in several ways. It can be used like a harp with both hands plucking the strings from either side, or it can be strummed like a guitar using one hand to block the strings you do not want to hear, while the other hand strikes them using either the fingernails, or a pick of some sort. A variety of harmonics are also available, although I did not use any in this piece. *The words, music and video of this song are all original and are the sole property of the performer.