Working Vulcan lyre at Instructibles.com

[Gepard]

Some folks from The RPF have been passing this around: a guy built a working acoustic version of Spock's lyre. I've seen some functional version before, but they've always been electronic and used electric guitar amps to make the sound. Be sure to listen to the MP3 of him playing it; I'm really surprised at how good it sounds, especially given the simple construction. (By the way, does anyone know who designed the lyre? Did they have any musical trianing such that the string legnths and body shape would actually work as an instrument?)

 

[Brutal Strudel]

That sounded really nice.

 

[Anticitizen]

Here's the electric one on YouTube. I want one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5vmrPGAGnk

 

[Redfern]

(By the way, does anyone know who designed the lyre? Did they have any musical training such that the string lengths and body shape would actually work as an instrument?)

The ever resourceful and multi talented Wah Chang. Here's the second page of a 2 page retrospective at HeroComm listed the lyre among the many other items he constructed for Trek...

http://www.herocomm.com/BeginHere/CreatorsStory2.htm

Whether or not it actually worked, it doesn't state, but near the bottom of the page there's a picture of his wife holding the lyre with seeming serious intent. It wouldn't surprise me if the harp could be really played.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Ronald Held]

Nice. Are there any for sale?

 

[M'Sharak]

That sounded really nice.

And in tune. Surprisingly good sound for the minimal planning he describes being involved in the process. I'd love to see what could be done by someone with some instrument-making know-how (though there's something more in his design than can be explained simply by intuition) and some solid maple for the frame and soundboard instead of plywood.

Gep, is the builder someone who's a member at The RPF, or is it simply something a member found and posted?

 

[Gepard]

Gep, is the builder someone who's a member at The RPF, or is it simply something a member found and posted?

So far as I know, it's just something someone there found.

 

[Stompy]

Mine is the playable version. It was made by a Guitar Shop in CA who had the license for awhile... no electrics and came with a tuning tool

 

[agent036]

Hey guys, i just found this forum conversation. I'm the guy who made the acoustic vulcan lyre on Instructables. One thing I didn't mention in the Instructables is that i actually have a bit of experience building and playing musical instruments, which is why it came out fairly well. I'm planning to make a run of these soon to sell if anyone is interested.

 

[Doug Otte]

(By the way, does anyone know who designed the lyre? Did they have any musical training such that the string lengths and body shape would actually work as an instrument?)

The ever resourceful and multi talented Wah Chang. Here's the second page of a 2 page retrospective at HeroComm listed the lyre among the many other items he constructed for Trek...

http://www.herocomm.com/BeginHere/CreatorsStory2.htm

Whether or not it actually worked, it doesn't state, but near the bottom of the page there's a picture of his wife holding the lyre with seeming serious intent. It wouldn't surprise me if the harp could be really played.

Sincerely,

Bill

The original may have worked, but we never heard it in the show. What we heard was always an electric guitar w/ some effects, correct?

Doug

 

[Captain Robert April]

The actual prop didn't work. It was just a prop, guys.

 

[agent036]

The actual prop didn't work. It was just a prop, guys.

That's true, the original prop had cotton strings. It was fairly well thought out in terms of design, but Chang wasn't a luthier.

Mine lacks the round "tailpiece" of the original prop in favor of a simple bar style tailpiece. While it isn't spot on to the original design I figure that Vulcan Lyres, like terrestrial instruments, have many different versions. My vision is of a sort of "folk" lyre, as ye olde Vulcans would have played.

 

[Surfin' Santa]

In “The Conscience of the King,” when Uhura sang “Beyond Antares” and accompanied herself on the Vulcan lyre, the sound was actually a harp and acoustic guitar — the latter played by Brazilian classical/jazz guitarist Laurindo Almeida.

The actual prop didn't work. It was just a prop, guys.

That's true, the original prop had cotton strings. It was fairly well thought out in terms of design, but Chang wasn't a luthier.

What does it matter what his religion was?

Seriously, I just learned a new word!