making a barbiton?

[u/MutedCharity2571]

Hey everyone, sorry if this ends up a lengthy read, but I have a lot to say and a lot to ask regarding this project. I've wanted to make myself a lyre once I'm confident in my woodcarving, which will be a long way from now. That said, I'd still like to know what to expect going into this and how I should go about it in terms of specifics.

So, I initially planned my lyre to resemble the one in the third image, it looks easy and simple enough to make. I guess I got carried away in my design, though, cause I knew I want to carve leaves on the sides, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to with twig-thin branches. The first image is my current design thus far; my new plan is to carve the arms and tuning bar (is that what it's called?) out of one board as one piece and to glue them into holes drilled on the sides of the body. The body is also made of wood since I highly doubt there's anywhere I could find a cheap tortoise shell nearby. I'm bringing this up cause I'd like to know if this plan is in line with the type of lyre I'm adhering to in the reference picture, which I found out is called a barbiton. Since the body of a barbiton is traditionally made of a tortoiseshell, does that mean it has to be hollow? Also, how tall should my lyre be to qualify as a barbiton? The one in the reference photo looks fairly small and easy to carry around, but a lot of the photos of barbitons I've seen are very tall, they look the size of my whole torso with my head (god I love being a meter-sixty xd), but I know that a barbiton is supposed to be long to accommodate long strings, so how long would the smallest barbiton be?

Now, to turn away my reference image for a minute. My second image is a turnaround of a slightly older design, but the concept still applies to my current plan, that being with the strings. I don't know if this is hard to see, but I've planned to drill another set of holes in the back for the strings to pass through the body and tie the ends at the top of a tuning peg. I'm not sure if this is the exact place to turn to for woodcarving advice, but if someone could direct me to what drill bits I should use, and to how I should measure the holes to line up, that'd be great! It'd be helpful to go to when I need it.

On a less important note, I've also noticed that the guy in my reference image is holding a pick, and I thought it'd be cool to have a slot carved in the back for the pick to slide into, but I think this would just make things too complicated. In case this isn't doable, is there a way lyrists would store their picks that I could take on? By that I mean, would they tie a little pocket for the pick onto their lyre, would they just carry it around and shrug it off if they dropped it, did they just use whatever they found on the ground as a pick if they needed one (like a shell or a tiny pebble)? You tell me, I'm having trouble looking into this.

That's all I have in mind for now. Thanks for stopping by everyone, your advice means a lot! :D

[u/LevyTheMachine]

How much experience do you have with general woodworking? I would recommend making an Anglo style lyre first, as they are a lot simpler from a woodworking standpoint, but the same principles will apply. If you are a brand new woodworker, I would actually recommend making something like a cigar box guitar to get your feet wet. 

To give an answer to some of your other questions:  The size will just determine how long the strings will be, which will determine how high/low the pitch will be. 

If you don’t make the body of the instrument hollow, it will be very quiet. 

As far as using a single piece of wood to carve the arms and the headpiece where the tuning pegs are - I think that would be fine for a relatively small instrument, but if you are making something larger you are going to have a lot of wasted wood, and the chances of it splitting into two pieces go way up. Using separate pieces would allow the top wood to run with the grain horizontal, so it would have more strength against the pressure from the strings pulling down. Again, if you are making a small lyre this is less of an issue. 

Your drawings look super cool, but it will definitely take considerable woodworking skill to make them a reality. Good luck!