Spock's Harp

GeneralFROSTY

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Im looking for some photographic reference and possibly some drawings or blueprints for Spock's Lute - the Vulcan musical instrument seen in the original series from time to time.
If I can find some suitable reference material I will eventually post an interest thread in the JY.
 
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Re: Spock's Lute

With the HD/Bluray versions out there are so many more opportunities for caps that show details were missed before.

Here's a cap of the lyre when the lights are hitting the surface just right to show some detail that could hint at how the lyre was made. As has been noted before, the lyre was non-playable. I would imagine they would have made this prop as easy as possible and making a separate lighter colored panel would seem overkill.

It appears the body was made from many pieces of wood glued up like a bread board and the "lighter wood panel" was simply a recessed area that was routered out. In the shot below you can make out the router marks (circular) which also are the same shape/size as the two details at the top of the recessed area. The rest of the effect was simply wood staining.

c43319t9380StarTrek_1x03_CharlieX_0569-Art219s228.jpg



I've made an enlargement of the instrument and adjusted the exposure and contrast a bit to bring out the router marks. It shows that a raised or inset panel of lighter wood is not screen accurate. Even though doing it that way makes a much better looking instrument. Makes it a bit easier for others to recreate though not having to go the extra step.

k53473g16493closeupm219i228.jpg



Also, as someone else noted awhile ago, the back of the lyre had a bit of detail that we almost never see. Check out the animation.

x28864gallery_543_8_1094465q228.gif
 
Re: Spock's Lute

Thanks for the info guys!
Is this something you think there would be an interest for???
 
As you may know, my father and I have been doing the runs of 'Dexter' slide boxes so he's pretty much got the expertise to do these.
Not sure how much he would sell them for, but we are both fans of the original series so we would do it with as much love and care as possible.
I'm certain it would only be a static display prop - and I think the original was not capable of playing music anyway.
I will have my father take a look at those blueprints - if there is anything anyone can add information-wise that you think may help, now is the time.
Thanks for the feedback.
 
As you may know, my father and I have been doing the runs of 'Dexter' slide boxes so he's pretty much got the expertise to do these.
Not sure how much he would sell them for, but we are both fans of the original series so we would do it with as much love and care as possible.
I'm certain it would only be a static display prop - and I think the original was not capable of playing music anyway.
I will have my father take a look at those blueprints - if there is anything anyone can add information-wise that you think may help, now is the time.
Thanks for the feedback.

It may not be immediately obvious, but the existing plans are somewhat
flawed. It took me a long while to work out a better template to make a harp/lyrette with a 24" neck and a 14" wide body.

I keep having problems with the neck so far but I have made an almost decent harp out of walnut. The wood is indeed expensive, but the harp is going to be playble when finished. It also took a long while to work out all of the woodworking techniques involved (routing the back is a major achievement), but I think the effort is worth it. My prototype harp to date really looks good! :)
 
Re: Spock's Lute

With the HD/Bluray versions out there are so many more opportunities for caps that show details were missed before.

Here's a cap of the lyre when the lights are hitting the surface just right to show some detail that could hint at how the lyre was made. As has been noted before, the lyre was non-playable. I would imagine they would have made this prop as easy as possible and making a separate lighter colored panel would seem overkill.

It appears the body was made from many pieces of wood glued up like a bread board and the "lighter wood panel" was simply a recessed area that was routered out. In the shot below you can make out the router marks (circular) which also are the same shape/size as the two details at the top of the recessed area. The rest of the effect was simply wood staining.



I've made an enlargement of the instrument and adjusted the exposure and contrast a bit to bring out the router marks. It shows that a raised or inset panel of lighter wood is not screen accurate. Even though doing it that way makes a much better looking instrument. Makes it a bit easier for others to recreate though not having to go the extra step.


Also, as someone else noted awhile ago, the back of the lyre had a bit of detail that we almost never see. Check out the animation.


I don't think so...

I do know for a fact that the earlier harps were just fiberglass props where the "strings" were real colored string looped around pegs at the neck-- and you can see that really pretty clearly if you look closely at some of the pictures.

But as to the material of the neck, it looks like the entire body and neck is some solid wood and there is some kind of brown leather or something similar over the neck to make it look like routed wood. In a picture where Uhura is holding the harp, it is much clearer how the leather or whatever is slightly peeled away from the body near the "butt-shapped" curves that are toward the top.

But one should also probably note that there are at least three different versions of the harp seen in the available pictures, each fairly different from each other in size, shape, and composition-- so there are no hard and fast rules. Harp creator, Wah Chang, made different versions; one even for his wife.

In the Trek Tech manual it is said that of all the 300 or so Vulcan lyrettes made, or surviving, the most "famous" ones had been made by three different luthiers. So that can explain a lot for people who wanna say that a certain version doesn't look authentic, heh heh.
 
Re: Spock's Lute

I don't think so...

I do know for a fact that the earlier harps were just fiberglass props where the "strings" were real colored string looped around pegs at the neck-- and you can see that really pretty clearly if you look closely at some of the pictures.

But as to the material of the neck, it looks like the entire body and neck is some solid wood and there is some kind of brown leather or something similar over the neck to make it look like routed wood. In a picture where Uhura is holding the harp, it is much clearer how the leather or whatever is slightly peeled away from the body near the "butt-shapped" curves that are toward the top.

But one should also probably note that there are at least three different versions of the harp seen in the available pictures, each fairly different from each other in size, shape, and composition-- so there are no hard and fast rules. Harp creator, Wah Chang, made different versions; one even for his wife.

In the Trek Tech manual it is said that of all the 300 or so Vulcan lyrettes made, or surviving, the most "famous" ones had been made by three different luthiers. So that can explain a lot for people who wanna say that a certain version doesn't look authentic, heh heh.



Puhleeze!

:rolleyes
 
"I do know for a fact that the earlier harps were just fiberglass props"

What? Please explain.

There's an article on Wah Chang, the creator of the Vulcan harp and several other Trek props (not to mention Outer Limits and many movie props), that explained that in the very early days the harp was just a fiberglass and string prop. And of course, any sound or music was dubbed in later.

But the harp became immensely poplular. Roddenberry had a guitar company to manufacture two dozen real, playable, Vulcan harps. Two of those went to the props department, one went to the Great Bird of the Galaxy himself (Roddenberry), and the remaining 21 harps went to whoever could afford them. These were of a different design from the original TV harp, but you can see (and hear) the harp in Star Trek V as the sound coming from it isn't modified or altered in any way.

Look at the top of the strings in this picture-- they are not only real string, but looped as well:
 
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