Lyra (carillon)
The lyre , also known as the military lyre , is a metallophone used by the marching bands ; its outer contours resemble a lyre such as the Greek lyre, and the sound it produces is similar to a glockenspiel . Instead of strings 25 to 27 , however, the lyre has horizontal metal bars attached to a rod, which are struck with a hard rubber, wooden, brass or plastic mallet. Bass lyres are usually equipped with 22 sound bars. The use of the lyre goes back to the bell tree .
There are diatonic and chromatic lyres with a range of one and a half to two octaves in the tunings C, C flat and B.
The designs range from simply designed tubular frame lyre to elaborately crafted and heavier choir lyre in which the ends of the frame on the right and left are worked as lion heads. The horse tails hanging at both ends of the frame are a reminder of the great influence of Turkish Janissary music on German military music. On the upper end of the lyre there is usually an eagle that can be screwed on. Lyra designs with thinner frames are available especially for children.
Her high mood is very assertive and has a particularly radiant effect in harmony with piccolo flutes .
literature
- James Blades: Bell-lyra . In: Grove Music Online , 2001
