The Crow Hill Company releases Lyre, a FREE ancient stringed instrument

Lyre is the latest addition to the Crow Hill Company’s increasingly impressive Vaults series. 

If you’re new around here, Vaults is a collection of outstanding (sometimes weird and wonderful) instruments, free to download for six months upon their release.

Six months after release, instruments move into the paid category and are available for £3, with all profits going to the Love Music charity.

The company’s recent releases include Harmonic Piano and Vintage String Synth.

The lyre, or lyre harp, is an ancient stringed instrument that has been around for thousands of years, and according to The Crow Hill Company, it’s evil!

To be honest, when I think of the lyre, I picture a field of medieval re-enactors or a Celtic poetry circle, and neither of those things is too scary.

But I’m a sucker for instruments with a story, and the idea that Nero played some sort of lyre as Rome burned is more than enough for me; maybe it is a little bit evil.

If you picture a handheld harp, you almost know how Lyre is going to sound immediately.

It’s delicate but crisp, and it’s bright but incredibly melancholic. The Lyre isn’t as glass-like as a harp, and it has plenty of bite if you dig in.

The Crow Hill Company has, as expected, done a great job accentuating the lyre’s character and adding a few little quirks.

Some of those quirks come from the built-in FX; the two large dials are Tremolo and Expression, and the four small dials are polyrhythmic delays and reverb.

Tremolo is an excellent way to fill space when scoring by letting a note or chord ring out rather than overcrowding an area.

You can use this sound in various ways, whether it’s picking melodies that instantly sound 1000 years old or sparingly using strummed patterns to add texture to a track. However, the polyrhythmic delays give it another twist, and with a few notes, you can create a bed of harmonic and melodic movement that sounds great with darker chords and some dissonance.

The Crow Hill Company describes Lyre as having an “ancient Roman feel with a touch of Japanese Koto bendyness,” and therein lies another quirk.

Digging into it a little harder, you get this more percussive twang with a little bend, and that slight pitch drift is the perfect accent for a little cinematic tension.

Lyre might not be an everyday sound, like some previous Vaults releases, but it’s a great addition to your collection, especially if you’re composing for a game or video.