Barbiton: Greece musical instrument

The barbiton is an ancient stringed musical instrument that is known to be from the Greek and roman classics related to the lyre. The barbat that are sometimes called the barbiton is an unrelated musical instrument derived from Persian world. The Greek musical instrument was a bass version of the Kithara and belonged to the family of zither instruments, but in the medieval times, the same name of the instrument was used to refer to different musical instrument that was a version of the lute.

source of picture: commons.wikimedia.org

Theocritus, the Sicilian poet, calls this musical instrument an instrument of many strings, i.e. more than seven strings that was by the Hallenes considered to be a perfect number of strings for the musical instrument, and matched the number of strings customary in the kithara.

Pollux calls the musical instrument, an instrument producing deep sound. The strings of the instrument were two times as long as those of the pectis and sounded an octave lower. 

Anacreon sings that his musical instrument only gives out erotic tones.

Although in use in the Asia Minor, Sicily and Greece, it is proof that the barbiton never won itself a place in the affection of the Greeks of Hellas; the musical instrument was regarded as a barbarian musical instrument affected by those only whose tastes in matters of art were unorthodox. The musical instrument had been discarded in the days of Aristotle, but show again under the romans. Aristotle said that this string musical instrument was not for educational purpose but just for pleasure.

Often Sappho is also portrayed playing the musical instrument that has longer strings and lower pitch. It is closely linked with the poet Alcaeus and the island of Lesbos, the birth place of Sappho, where the instrument is known as barmos. The melodies from this musical instrument was said to be the lyre for drinking parties and is taken to be an invention of Terpander. The word kithara was always used for the kithara and the lyre.

In spite of few meagre scrap of the authentic existing information concderning this somewhat elusive musical instrument, it is very possible to identify the barbiton as it was known among the people of Greece and the romans. From the Greek writers we found out that it was a musical instrument having some feature in common with the lyre and the kithara that warranted comparison and classification with it.

The later unfamiliar musical instrument is said by the Persians and the Arabs as a type of rebab or lute or the chelys-lyre. The musical instrument was first introduced to Europe through Asia Minor by way of Greece and centuries later the instrument found its way into Spain by the moors, amongst whom it was in the 14^th century known as al-barbet.

There is a stringed musical instrument that has not been identified by name, of which there are at least four different representations in sculpture that combines the characteristics of both rebab and the lyre, having the vaulted back and simultaneous narrowing to form a neck that are typical of the rebab, and the stringing of a lyre. In outline, it resembles the larger version of the lute with a wide neck and the seven strings of the lyre of the best period or nine, following the descent of the lyre.

At some period that is yet to be confirmed, the barbat approximated to the form of large lute. A musical instrument known as barbiton was known in early section of the 16^th century and during the 17^th century. It was a kind of bass lute, but only one neck that is bent back at right angles to form the head of the instrument.

The barbat was a version of the rebab, a mass musical instrument, differing only in size and number of strings. This is quite in accordance with what is known of the nomenclature of the musical instruments among the Persians and the Arabs, with whom a slight deviation in the carving of a musical instrument called for a new name.

The sounds of the musical instrument are being digitally recreated by the Ancient Instrument Timbre/Sound Reconstruction Application ASTRA project, which use physical modeling synthesis to simulate the sound of the musical instrument. The ASTRA uses grid computing to model sounds on hundreds of computers throughout Europe simultaneously because of the complexity of the process.

The musical instrument is a part of the Lost Sound Orchestra, together with other old musical instruments that ASTRA have reconstructed their sounds, including the epigonion, the salpinx, the aulos and the syrinx.