Luthieros is the perfect example of bringing together ancient musical traditions with contemporary innovative know-how and entrepreneurship. The rigorous study of ancient sources, amphorae paintings, and archeological artifacts paved the way for ‘Luthieros’ project to begin. The findings of this study have proved their superior acoustic quality for ancient musical instruments such as the lyre. The originals were built entirely from materials available in antiquity, such as tortoise shell for the resonator, bone for the plectrum, leather for the soundboard, metal for the tailpiece, animal guts for the strings, wood for the arms and bridge, and so on. Today with the use of cutting-edge 3D technologies for rapid prototyping, such as 3D scanning of actual tortoise shells and 3D modeling design for the rest of the instrument new more advanced and innovative models are devised. At the conclusion of the “prototyping” phase, the first fully working models of the ancient Greek lyres, one of the “chelys” type and one of the “barbiton” type, are constructed. With the first integrated models of ancient Greek lyres completed, the Laboratory of Electronic Media of the Department of Journalism & Mass Media (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) recorded the instruments and conducted sound analysis tests to identify their characteristics. After establishing the melodic quality of the initial models of ancient lyres, the final step was to complete them: the development of various ancient Greek lyras (for beginners, advanced, etc.) and their final completing, soon before being delivered to musicians and music lovers!

The Challenge:
Familiarise musicians, music entrepreneurs and music lovers by bringing to light a revived version of the ancient Greek lyre and its sounds and create music. The “Lyre 2.0 Project” was developed from a MSc thesis. From the very start, it received a lot of attention and endorsements in both academic and entrepreneurship conferences.

Target Groups/Clients:
Musicians, culture professionals, educators, music teachers, composers, collectors.

Solutions:
A reinvented version of the ancient Greek lyre that was only seen in depictions in ancient Greek clay pottery (there is no saved version of the actual instrument).

Innovation:
The use of AI and 3D printing for developing the prototype and all the instruments thereafter, as well as the use of exclusively natural materials such as wood (maple etc.), natural glues, animal bones, and leather. The instruments create unique sounds and they are also fully operable for both playing and composing music.

Impact:
The workshop has produced many versions of the original prototype to cater for the various needs of contemporary musicians. SEIKILO is the cultural space where everything happens (exhibition of the instruments, testing, small concerts, but also wine tasting, singing and dancing all around the culture and the sounds of the lyre)

Contact person:
Theodore Koumartzis
Composer, Musician, and Communications Manager

Website: www.luthieros.com 

There is a programme series with online courses provided by the lyre academy and Lina Palera a lyre musician and collaborator