Long-Lost Ancient Greek Instrument 'Recreated' by Computers
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The long-lost sounds of the epigonion, the salpinx and the kithara could be about to form the strangest musical group yet, thanks to the world's largest physics project.
The epigonion, a harp-like musical instrument, was last played in Ancient Greece. But computer scientists have resurrected its sound as part of a project to conjure up an orchestra of long-lost instruments.
They don't know exactly what it looked like but they have used historical sources to re-create what it would have sounded like.
"It is a really interesting sound, metallic, crisp and bright," said Domenico Vicinanza, a Cambridge-based engineer who worked with the Italian project Astra. "It fits perfectly in Middle Ages and baroque music ensembles, melding wonderfully with strings and woodwinds."
• Click here to read the rest of this story in the Times of London.
• Click here to listen to what the epigonion may have sounded like.
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