Are there more liars or lyres in the world? We know what a liar sounds like. What does a lyre sound like?

I saw the photo in the dictionary when I looked it up to learn about its history. I have never heard one though. Have you? Is it harplike in sound? Thank you for your reply. Does anyone actually play one to earn a living?

I've not heard one played but simply by looking at it you realise its nature.

I don't know if there are professional lyre players as such but there may well be professional musicians who include the lyre in their instrument collections and repetoires.

Its  name is the root of the word "lyrical", I learnt co-incidentally yesterday.

I remember when she was very young one of my sisters had a harp-like instrument as a Christmas present. It consisted of a triangular sounding-box with 8 strings stretched across it, and had a quiet but sweet sound. I think it came with some simple music-sheets cut to fit between the bridges, and rather than conventional notation the ruled stave had one line for each string, printed on which was a series of large spots to show the order rather like a Join-The-Dots pattern.  

I should have guessed...lyre and lyrical. Makes sense. I've heard the harp played of course and it is so ethereal...other worldly. It seems to come from an ancient time. Ah. I wonder what the first musical instrument was? I'll Google it and then ask. Imagine ancient homo saps creating something to please the senses? I wonder who the first poet was or actor or dancer or writer? What was or were the catalysts/inspiration since there were none to copycat? Thank you for your reply Durdle. Do you think it was a lyre your sister received then? :) This post was edited by RosieG at July 12, 2021 3:08 AM MDT

The oldest musical instrument known is a small pipe or whistle, made from a bone.

The instrument my sister had wasn't a lyre. I'm not really sure what that was called, but a lyre is a very disctinctive instrument consiting of two elongated-S shaped sides facing out from each other, forming an open frame, with the strings between them.

We'll never know the origins of music, poetry etc because these were probably invented by many different societies quite independently from each other.

Something that French archaeologists have realised quite recently is that some of the finest prehistoric cave-art in what are now France and Spain, is in chambers with fairly reverberant acoustics that greatly enhance singing or playing simple pipes in them. It is very likely that this was by choice, not co-incidence; and caves tend to be anechoic rather than reverberant.

Thank you for your informative reply Durdle and also for the new word. ANECHOIC. I looked it up. Echo-free. A low degree of reverberation. I could never investigate caves though. Or work in a coal mine. Claustrophobic. Though I'd love to be able to explore them but I wonder if I were stuck in one would I adjust/acclimate or go mad? I don't want to test it but I'm going to ask. Thank you for the informative reply Durdle. I appreciate that you go out of your to share what you know. :) This post was edited by RosieG at July 14, 2021 5:35 AM MDT