Title: On digitising the Greek music tradition: simulation of the Cretan lyre for mobile devices

Authors: Dimitrios Margounakis; Georgios Tsotakos; Andreas Floros

Addresses: School of Science and Technology, Hellenic Open University, Greece ' School of Science and Technology, Hellenic Open University, Greece ' Department of Audio and Visual Arts, Ionian University, Corfu, Greece

Abstract: In this paper, an application, which simulates the Greek traditional musical instrument 'Cretan lyre' in mobile devices and is the first of its kind, is presented. This instrument was selected on the grounds that it is quite interesting in terms of its playing technique and there has never been a similar attempt to do so to date. Moreover, music in Cretan tradition has been in the spotlight and intrigued a lot of people, not only those originating from Crete. The cretanlyra.app constitutes a recreational and educational application that features a presentation of the Cretan lyre and offers the user the capability of simulated playing, using the same gestures as an actual musician would. The user is instructed by the application so that they will familiarise themselves with playing some well-known melodies of the Cretan tradition. In addition, they can combine the lute sound with playing the lyre.

Keywords: computer music; mobile musical instruments; musical instrument simulation; Android apps; mobile devices.

DOI: 10.1504/IJART.2020.108610

International Journal of Arts and Technology, 2020 Vol.12 No.2, pp.103 - 117

Received: 03 Oct 2018
Accepted: 09 Jul 2019
Published online: 21 Jul 2020 *

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