Musical Instruments
of Crete
Alterations
There are three main alterations in music, the sharp (#), the recession (b), and the undo (♮).
Dieses means sharpening the pitch by one semitone. Recession indicates weighting of the phthong by one sine, and cancellation cancels (undoes) the current alteration.
Asci
Part of the classical musical instruments through which the air pressure is controlled.
It acts as an air reservoir preventing unwanted interruptions (pauses) of the sound from occurring when the performer takes a breath.
By compressing the sac, the performer forces air to pass through the lumens to produce sound.
The types of musical instruments that exist in Greece are the tsabouna and the bagpipe. For the construction of the bag, goat skin and rarely sheep skin is usually used.
Avlos (Ascomandouras)
Wind musical instrument in the shape of a straight tube.
It is open at both ends and along its surface there are a certain number of holes. The number of holes varies according to the tradition of each region.
For the construction of the Cretan ascomandura, usually, five holes are drilled in each lumen.
Bourgara
The bass string of the Cretan lyre.
Gerakokouduna
The spherical bells mounted on the wooden rod of the bow of the Cretan lyre.
With the movement of the bow they sound offering a rhythmic accompaniment to the melody of the lyre.
Glissando
The ascending or descending transition from one wing to another.
This transition is made by joining all the phongs that mediate between the two extremes.
It is a similar term to portamento.
The difference between them is that in portamento the intermediate notes are not emphasized and the transition is smoother, while in glissando the intermediate notes are distinct.
In stringed instruments, glissando is achieved by dragging the finger along the string.
Glossidi
Means of sound production of wind instruments. It is made of thin reed, metal or plastic.
It is placed in the slot through which the air passes to the rest of the body of the instrument.
With the passage of air, the reed vibrates and through the vibrations that are transmitted inside the instrument, the sound is produced.
The percussive or single reed is used on the clarinet, saxophone, etc. It is the type used in the ascomandura flutes.
The double reed is used on the oboe, bassoon, etc.
Bow
Flexible wooden rod, which, in some cases, has a slight slope to the side of the bristles (1780, Tourte’s bow) or is curved with an upward slope. At both ends of the rod there is a special mechanism in which the hairs of the bow are applied and held.
The bow hairs are horsetail and in some cases synthetic.
At the bottom of the bow there is a special key (or screw) which is used to stretch and relax the hairs.
Resin is applied to the bristles to have better friction with the strings and to delay their wear.
The lower part of the bow is called the base and the upper nose.
The rod used to be made exclusively of wood, today carbon fiber is also used.
The bow is used to play stringed bowed instruments such as the violin, viola, cello, lyre, etc.
Doxari of Cretan lira
A curved wooden rod to which the hairs, which are from a horse’s (usually male) tail, fit at the ends. Resin or (rarely) frankincense is smeared on the bristles so that there is better friction with the strings and to delay their wear.
On the wooden rod are passed the hawk bells which sound with the movement of the bow and offer a rhythmic accompaniment to the melody of the lyre.
Nowadays, the traditional bow has been replaced by that of the violin.
Streets (musicians)
Musical scales used in Greek traditional music according to which the intervals between notes are formed.
Some of the streets are Minore, Usak, Niavent, Majore, etc. .
Free way
One of the musical modes (see “Modes”).
Minor scale
Musical scale which is divided into two types, Harmonic and Melodic minor.
The Harmonic minor has the keying of the associated major scale and an additional sharpening on its adductor.
The intervals created are T-H-T-T-H-TP-H
(T= tone, H= semitone, TP= trisemitone)
The Melodic minor has the instrumentation of the related major scale and in the ascent carries a sharpening on the adductor and the sixth degree. During the descent, these sharpenings are canceled.
Mouthpiece
It is called the part of some wind musical instruments which is in contact with the mouth or lips of the performer, through which the air is channeled from which the sound is produced.
The mouthpiece of the ascomandura is a cylindrical or conical tube made of reed, wood or vulture bone. At the end of the mouthpiece, located inside the bag, there is a valve that prevents the loss of air.
Semitone
In academic Western-European music, a semitone is defined as the shortest distance between two notes. There are also shorter distances between the notes, the quarter notes.
Ionic way
One of the musical modes (see “Modes”).
Rider
The bridge is found on stringed instruments and is the piece of wood to which the strings are attached and through which the vibrations are transmitted to the speaker of the instrument.
On the upper surface of the bridge there are the same number of notches as the strings on the respective stringed instrument.
On strings played with a bow, the rider is curved to allow the player to play each string separately, without touching the rest of the strings when he does not wish to do so.
Lute reeds
They have the same function as the lute frets. They are placed on the lid of the lute and are made of common reed or plastic.
The musical interval that each reed separates from the immediately following and the immediately preceding one, is a semitone, just as it is true for berdets.
Lid
The wooden surface of some instruments placed on the boat.
In some cases it is straight and in others it has a slight curvature.
One or more holes are drilled on the lid, depending on the type of instrument and the construction pattern followed by the instrument maker.
The bridge, the string and the lower part of the fingerboard are placed on the lid. In some instruments, such as the violin, the lower jaw is also placed.
Caravolas
The upper part of the lute.
It is also called head, cochlea, tail, headboard, etc.
It is placed at the end of the “arm” (see “neck”).
In which the “keys” are placed on its surface.
Head
The upper part of the lyre. It is made of one piece of wood together with the boat and the hand.
On the head are the “keys”, usually wooden.
With the additions received by the lyre, its original flat head was replaced by the spiral-shaped head that is also found on the violin.
Keys
They are called the components through which the strings of musical instruments are tuned, that is, they are stretched or relaxed until the desired pitch can be produced from their vibration.
The keys are placed on the head part of stringed musical instruments and in some cases, there are additional smaller keys which are placed on the “string-stand”.
Smaller keys offer more precision in tuning.
In the Cretan lyre, the keys are also called twisters and were originally perpendicular to the surface of its head.
Later they were replaced with those of the mandolin.
On the lute, the keys are also called twisters. Nowadays, mandolin-type keys are used for the lute as well as for the lyre.
Collage
A wooden part which is placed in the lower part of the boat of some stringed instruments and helps to hold the strings.
It has the same function as the sides.
The difference between them is that the sides are placed on the stern doujias while the collage is placed on the bottom of the boat, i.e. at the point where the doujias merge (join).
Neck/ Hand
Also called arm and arm.
It is the part, in some stringed instruments such as the lute and lyre, in which the palm of the player’s (usually) left hand is placed.
The performer positions his hand appropriately to allow his fingers to touch the fingerboard and play the strings easily.
At the top of the arm is the head.
The lower point of the arm is connected to the speaker of the instrument.
Craftsman
Used on the lute.
It is a marker that sticks between the fourth and fifth frets and acts as a reference point for tuning.
By pressing each string where the master is, the note of the next heavier string, one octave higher, is produced. Through chord progression the performer can tune all the strings of the lute.
Eyes
They are called matias and boukes. They are the two hemispherical holes that are opened in the lid of the Cretan lyre.
Major scale (Major)
A musical scale that has the following succession of intervals: T-T-H-T-T-T-H.
Where T= tone and H = sine.
Mesaki
The middle string of the Cretan lyre.
Minor scale
One of the musical paths (see “Paths”).
Frets
The fixed or movable partitions on the surface of the fingerboard of some stringed instruments that define where the string must be pressed by the player’s finger to produce the desired pitch.
Each berdes is separated from the immediately following and immediately preceding one by the interval of one sine.
The frets of the lute are mobile and can be moved appropriately to form the correct spatial relationships between them. The lute has eleven frets.
Nerve
Nerve or pride is the elongated rod which is placed along the central inner part of the lid.
Douga
Curved wooden strip.
The doujias are used to make the “boat” of some stringed instruments such as the lute and the bouzouki.
Tail
The special extension of the lyre which is located at the lowest point of its vessel.
The strings of the lyre were tied to the tail before the stringer was used.
Pen/key
It is the object used to play certain stringed instruments such as the guitar, the lute, the bouzouki.
The performer uses the pen to strike the strings so that they vibrate properly and sound is produced.
The size of the pen varies according to the instrument for which it is intended.
The materials used for its construction are usually plastic, metal and earlier wood or animal bones.
Skin
It is placed at the base of the lute, at the point where the lid joins the vessel.
It prevents the performer’s sweat from wearing down the lute cap.
Plate (1)
Thin strip of wood (ebony or other hardwood) that covers the entire surface of the lute hand and comes straight to its lid.
Plate (2)/terces
It is placed on the lid of the lute, at the height where the strings are struck by the nib.
It is a thin sheet of plastic or wood that prevents the wood of the cap from being worn by the nib during playing.
Headrest/top rider
It’s the thing that keeps the strings straight and raises them a bit so they don’t touch the fretboard.
It is placed at the upper part of the arm (hand, neck) where the screw ends, on the surface of the fingerboard.
It is parallel to the frets. It is used in various stringed instruments, such as the lute, the lyre, the violin, etc.
Rodanza (rosette)
The surface located in the center hole, in the middle of the lid of the lute.
Skáfi/Skáfos
One-piece section with the neck, head and tail of the lyre.
The lid is placed on the vessel and glued.
In the lute, the boat is made of strings which are tied and held in place by the use of sides and collar. The boat of the lute is a separate part of the instrument from its arm. The hand of the lute is placed on the vessel after its construction is completed.
For the ascomandura, the term “vessels” refers to the part of the instrument in which the two pipes (mandures) are placed.
Twisters
See “keys”
Nice chord
A string used to amplify the sound of a stringed instrument.
It is not played directly but pulsates through the vibration of the fundamental string.
It is usually tuned to the same note as the basic (fundamental, main) string or one octave lower.
Formerly used on the Cretan lyre, placed below each of the main strings.
Device for producing sound. (ascomandura)
It is a grooved base inside which are placed two reed “flutes” with a single striking “tongue”.
The grooved base ends in a “funnel”.
It is open at the front, allowing the performer to play the “flutes” inside. Its back side is closed except for its upper part which is inside the “ascus” and in which the tongues of the two chambers are located.
Keyboard/Language
The part of some stringed instruments that is in the region of the arm, on the surface where the strings are passed.
On the fingerboard, the performer presses or pushes, as in the Cretan lyre, the strings with his fingers so that when they vibrate, they produce a certain pitch.
On the fretboard are the frets of some stringed instruments.
In fretless instruments, i.e. instruments that do not have frets, this area is also called the fingerboard.
Fourth increased
Musical interval consisting of three tones (six semitones).
Fourth clean
Musical interval consisting of two tones and a semitone (five semitones).
Tone
Musical space.
A tone consists of two semitones.
Trilla (tr)
Musical grooming.
Rapid alternation between a note and its immediately sharper, which is repeated for as long as is defined by the parameters of each point of a musical text (eg C-Do-C-Do).
Ways
Musical scales that are based on different types of music such as Jazz and Greek music, according to these scales the intervals between the notes are formed.
The modes are Ionic, Doric, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian.
Crucible
It is also called a bell.
The tapered portion into which the fluted base of an ascomandura terminates.
The funnel or bell is seen in various wind instruments such as the trumpet, the horn, the trombone, etc.
String
Means of sound production of certain musical instruments. It is a thread-like body made of animal gut or metal wire.
To produce sound, the strings are vibrated mainly with the use of a bow, a key and through a nymph.
Nowadays metal strings are mainly used.
In special cases, such as in the case of historically documented musical performance, gut strings are used.
There are also nylon and steel strings used in classical and electric guitars respectively.
To produce certain sounds of modern music, other means of vibrating the strings than the traditional ones may be used.
Comb (Stringer/Stringer/Stringer)
The lower part of some stringed musical instruments through which the lower ends of the strings pass.
It is located low in the center of the instrument panel.
It has the same number of holes as the strings of each instrument.
In some instruments, such as the violin, there are small keys on the strings which are used to make more precise corrections to the tuning of the strings, which cannot be achieved using the keys on the head surface of the instruments.
Psyche (pole, donkey)
A piece of wood in the form of a post that is placed inside the soundboard of various stringed instruments such as the violin.
The soul vertically connects the inside of the lid to the inside of the vessel.
In the Cretan lyre, the upper edge of the soul does not touch the inside of the cap but the foot of the rider’s base which is on the side of the sharpest string.
The soul assists the instrument so that the rider can withstand the pressure of the strings. Thus, the vibrations of the strings are transmitted to the entire body of the instrument.
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*Πληροφορίες από συνεντεύξεις κατά τη διάρκεια των επιτόπιων ερευνών.