In MUSIC related news, I’ve acquired 2 new Lyres a few months back as: a 13thC Norwegian Kravik Lyre, and one that is designed from a depiction of “Gunnar in the Snake Pit Playing the Lyre With His Feet”, a carving on a 12thC Stave Church door from Hydelstad in Norway. I am calling that one the “Gunnar” Lyre. It is purely conjecture on the part of the instrument maker, and in fact I played and BROKE this same Lyre several years ago. The maker made it as an experiment, to see if if couple even be done since nothing like it exists in reality, that we know of, unless it is still buried in the ground. The original carving is very likely some kind of artistic license on the part of the artist, who may have never even seen an actual Lyre. Anyway, the maker gave it to me to play and find any flaws in the design. I did, before I’d even finished tuning it, when the entire tail-piece loudly ripped off like a zip-strip. It now has a leather tail-piece and so far so good.
I’m also working on some new Scandinavian ballad research etc and will be posting new songs/videos before too long. Some may be originals with period lyrics, as the original tunes are lost, and some will be extant songs. As with much of the other tunes I’ve recorded, many are mere conjecture when it comes to age, being that while the Norse well prolific at writing down poetry (albeit a couple hundred years after the Viking Age), they were not so good at noting their music. I TRY to find the oldest versions I’m able to, but often the tunes are no older than the early 1800, at least in so far as I can prove. Failing that, I’ll write my own tunes, based on research of music of the time period and appropriate to the subject matter.
With Covid19 raging across our nations, and people staying home (or at least they SHOULD be), there are not a lot of Norse music venue options out there for a poor little Viking-y girl right now. Both my Mom (who I live with) and myself fall into the very vulnerable category when it comes to Covid19 so we generally only go OUT into the public if we have to, to go grocery shopping and the like. We mask and glove up (as everyone SHOULD) and take as much precaution as we can. I do go to my office at the museum a few times a week, but there are never more than 4 people in the office at any time, and we are appropriately spaced. I also tend to go late in the day so I’m often the only one there which is good… and quiet.
With all the public spaces being closed or limited, even as we continue into Phase 3 of reopening (here in Canada at least), and with promise more closures coming in the future as we head into a 2nd wave of this virus (TY to all the stupid people who refuse to follow rules set out by the experts even if people’s lives literally depend on it because they did the Googles and FREEDOM!!!), it means that there are not a lot of venues open to a lonely Norse Singer at the moment.
So, I am working at setting up a studio “space” in my room. It is SMALL so don’t expect much. I’ve ordered a nice, appropriate backdrop and stands to hold it up so it maybe feels a LITTLE less bedroomy, a little more Norse-y. For the time being I’ll still likely just be using the on-board mic from the video camera as I’ve done before, but one day I’ll look at getting something better. Lights are also on the wish list, but they can certainly wait.
So that’s where I’m at right now. Stay tuned for more exciting, nerdy, Norse-y music!