BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON ThE MEGALYRA CONCEPT

I was born in Portland, Oregon in Nay 1917 and so that is Totem-Pole Country where the Native Americans made totem-poles long before the white men came. When designing the Megalyra (;roup of instruments I got a strange idea -- could we modernize this notion by figuring out what a Mondrian or Kandinsky Totem.Pole would look like? (Summer of 1935 when I lived in San Francisco, I saw those abstract paintings and sculptures.) By the Sixties, the new Sound Sculpture Movement was making waves and it all came back to me-and wonder of wonders1l was invited in, later showing Megalyra Instruments at art galleries and museums.

Now stir the Color Code idea (used by many industries and of course electronics) into the Mix and instead of mere abstract colors on the instruments, make those hues MEAN SOMETHING. in this case, fret-lines for two different musical scales in contrasting colors, thus a Comparison Chart under the strings on BOTH SIDES of the instrument in the case of the Hobnailed Newel Posts and Kosmolyra, on all FOUR SIDES.

Why be dull, drab, and dreary when this age features all the bright colors? The Megalyra Group also introduces new SOUNDS-new notes between the old ones -- xenharmonics, microtones, alternative tunings -- no matter what you call them -- the time has now arrived for us to progress beyond the piano and its twelve pitches per octave, so new colors instead of just black and white keys.

COMPATIBILITY, however, is essential! The old twelve-tone scale has to be on the instruments so that regular musicians know where they are and can play the pieces they know. The comparison-chart scheme above presents one or more new scales without imposing them on you at the first touch. You can grow into them rather than be forced to jump in "sink or swim." You can start the new instruments with sheet music you already have for some similar instrument.

The Hawaiian or steel or slide guitar idea is a century old now, and most of that time has been limited to trivial musical styles. One of my motives in introducing the Megalyra Group of Instruments was to lend it depth, power, and dignity. The Totem-Pole idea above suggested the Megalyra Contrabass be made 6 to 8 feet Long (or tall when stood erect) and borrow the pipe-organ~s multiple-pitch-level scheme. The result is a kind of Tuned Thunder! This should be complemented with a generously-proportioned speaker-box to sound out the lower tones. Harmony and treble parts are taken care of with the middle-sized members of the group, bearing several chords to satisfy the performer's requirements.

We mentioned the Native American "Indians;" what about the music of far-off India and the Mysterious East? The DRONE INSTRUMENT, long and slender, with a built-in Sitar Buzz, takes care of that. Not just one drone, but several, allowing a change of tonic. Megalyra Instruments are not mass-produced clones from some huge soul-less factory, but rather to be made in small custom shops for the individual special needs. Following the general practice of coining names from the Greek for internationality, MEGA means big and LYRA of course is the lyre of legend. Whatever your Language, this name should fit in.

The Megalyra Contrabass is for heavier and more serious kinds of music as well as the popular styles to which the steel guitar has been restricted for so long! Other members of the group take care of lighter styles; that's why they have been introduced as a Group or Family of instruments.

Further information on Instruments of the Megalyra Group will be obtainable from Ivor Darreg, 3612 Polk Avenue, San Diego CA 92104. Phone (619) 284-7075. Demonstration tapes based on Ivor Darreg)5 improvisations and overdubs are available now. Other performances on the several instruments will be taped later.

Ivor Darreg has used the term MEGALYRA as a trade mark for certain instruments since 1976.