ancient_musical_instruments

Due to the rise of astrology, we checked how zodiac signs buy instruments. Let’s go ⤵️

♈ Aries — demands a carnyx NOW. Changes mind in 5 min. Wants everything at once.

♉ Ta**us — researches for months, strokes every lyre, buys the first one they saw.

♊ Gemini — orders a cravi-lyre, then calls twice to change the order.

♋ Cancer — wants it packed «like a baby.» Sends photo of lyre under a blanket.

♌ Leo — demands the best & most expensive. Buys budget gusli, calls it exclusive.

♍ Virgo — brings printed specs. Checks every peg and string. Leaves calm.

♎ Libra — 90 min choosing lyre vs cravi-lyre. Buys both to avoid offending anyone.

♏ Scorpio — listens in silence. Nods. Pays. We have no idea why.

♐ Sagittarius — orders delivery to another city, train leaves in 20 min. Courier makes it.

♑ Capricorn — arrives at 3:00 PM sharp. Pays by invoice. Signs in duplicate.

♒ Aquarius — asks about birch origin & eco-certificate. Buys regular ones — «more honest.»

♓ Pisces — pays for talharpa, disappears. «Oh, did we really order it?»

It’s a joke, but kinda true, right? 😂

The Moscow Museum of Music has a rich collection of folk instruments. However, there’s one catch: almost nothing remains of ancient Russian musical instruments. Even the gudok (a type of string instrument) did not survive into the 20th century in its original form. All scholars have are fragments from archaeological excavations.

Therefore, in the museum, you won’t see the original gusli or symyks (bowed lyres) in their pristine state, but rather their reconstructions. The photos in the carousel are works by master craftsman N.L. Krivonos (from the 1970s). Many researchers dispute these reconstructions. So what’s displayed in the cases is not so much ancient Rus’, but rather the history of our modern perceptions of ancient Rus’.

By the way, even the balalaika, as we know it today, only acquired its current form in the 19th century.

💡 Since we have no precise, “authorized” idea of what real instruments looked like a thousand years ago, this opens up vast scope for imagination and interpretation in reconstructions by different craftsmen.

In our workshop, you can buy our own reconstruction of the smyk (bowed lyre) and the Novgorod gusli, assembled based on reconstructions of archaeological finds from Veliky Novgorod.