Bowed Lyre Types
We make several types of bowed lyres . All instruments come with bow, bag, playing guide, tuning key and spare horsehair.
Standard Jouhikko. Three stringed Jouhikko, playing in D. Horsehair strings as standard, but nylon available at no extra charge. £140. Click HERE to listen to our standard Jouhikko, in a duet with a steel string Kantele. The Jouhikko starts by plucking the rythmn, and is then bowed.
Click here to find how to order.
Shown below is a standard jouhikko made for the West End production of the Lord of the Rings. This particular client specified violin fine tuners and geared tuning heads for ease of tuning.
Alto Jouhikko. A longer, lower pitched version of our standard Jouhikko, playing around A or Bb. See picture below, which shows this instrument with the 'Pine Tar' woodstain finish. Horsehair strings as standard, but nylon available at no extra charge. £160 Click HERE to listen to our Alto Jouhikko.
Click here to find how to order.
Read about the history of the Jouhikko here.
Shetland Gue. Our reconstruction of this mysterious lost instrument. Two stringed bowed lyre, simple construction, easy to play and tune. See picture below which shows this instrument with the 'Pine Tar' woodstain finish. Horsehair strings as standard, but nylon available at no extra charge. £120 Click here to find how to order. Sound Sample coming soon.
Read about the history of the Gue here.
Strakharpa/Talharpa/Tagelharpa. The four stringed bowed lyre from Swedish Estonia. Two melody strings, two drone strings. Picture soon. Horsehair strings as standard, but nylon available at no extra charge. £160 Click here to find how to order.
Crwth, coming soon...
Instruments in Stock
Sorry, no stock at present, but we can make something just for you!