Karpathos lyra

The lyra of Karpathos and Kasos is pear-shaped, like other Greek lyras, but has small yet important differences. Its tuning, for example, is A–D–G (LA–RE–SOL). The A and G strings must be gut, while for the D a violin string is used. The soundboard must be made of Lebanese or Phoenician cedar, 3–3.5 mm thick, of even thickness and flat. It is not carved inside to form a brace, because with a maximum width of 17 cm it does not sink. A one-piece soundboard is preferred to one glued from two matching halves (bookmatched), because the old masters say this changes the sound. The distance from the nut to the bridge is 24.5 cm. The body is 3.7–4 cm deep and 16–17 cm wide. Lyras with a slightly deeper body, up to 4.5 cm, have been and still are made, but they sound deeper. The body is carved from a single piece of wood (pear, walnut, mulberry, rose, padauk, kelebek, askelin, amboura and others); cypress is considered the ideal wood.