Donner 10-String Mahogany Lyre Harp Beginners Kit, Classic Greece, DLH-002

I'm very happy with my 10-string lyre. It is very easy to play, in a half hour I could play through a couple of songs. I like the sound of the steel strings. The tuning instructions I received were not good and I broke a string the first time I tuned it. But fortunately it came with a spare set of strings so I replaced it and continued on. The lowest string should be tuned to C4. The strings do go a little flat pretty quick, but it's hardly noticeable. It would be important to tune it often if you are playing along with other instruments. It's very relaxing to play and I'm really enjoying it. I was reading Psalm 33 in the Bible recently and it mentions the 10 string lyre. That's why I decided to get one and see if I could play it. The video is me playing Jesus loves me and it only took a few minutes to learn.

I love my Donner 10 string lyre harp. It looks beautiful. The tunability of this harp was hard, but it could have just been the weather. It took longer to keep it tuned than the other lyre I have. The sound quality is wonderful. It is very comfortable to hold and play. It came with a tuning tool, picks, extra strings, and even a cloth to clean the strings after each use, (not all of them do). I really love the case it came with too. I believe it is well worth they money!

So I didn't actually consider this when I was making the purchase, but tuning a lyre is actually not a common thing and the internet doesn't have many resources for it. I instead had to pick a range that I liked, and then just tune it by ear, which worked fine, but I ended up breaking THREE STRINGS just to get it to work.You have to be super delecate with the process and even then, the taught strings will cause large detuning over time. I accept that this is mostly my fault due to inexperience with the instrument, but at the same time, buyers need to keep in mind that this does not come tuned and is fairly difficult to get right.

Although this is a beautiful instrument, not to mention was it a bargain for the great case, tuner, and extra set of strings that comes with it. However while reading the instructions i found something odd with just how tight the instructions say to go. In the small instruction book you are told to tighten the strings slowly and gently tune up to the notes to a level of 4 and5. for example the instructions ask the user to tune the strings from left to right as E4,F4,G4,A4,B4, C5,D5,E5,F4 and G5. Not only are these cords far too tight on the Donner Lyre, but no matter how gentle or slow you go with tuning, it snaps the strings it comes with. At first i thought it was my own fault this was occurring. so i was so thankful for the product coming with an extra set of strings. however once again, no matter how lightly or slowly I went to tune the strings as asked in the instructions, the wires would snap. I have brought this lyre to multiple music stores, however even professionals are telling me that the instructions I am meant to follow are far too tight to not snap any string. And although this is a beautiful piece of work, I am extremely disappointed in the instructions.We as a buyer and player are suppose to be able to trust and follow tuning instructions as advised by the company it is mad to get the best out of our instruments, not to destroy them.

I don't usually write reviews, but this...Absolute piece of junk.1. Three strings broke (one of them twice) while attempting to tune it to the scale recommend in the manual.2. String were low quality.3. Area where the string had to be fed through at the bottom of the instrument required curving the string into a fishhook shape just to get the string to pass through the hole.4. Anchors/balls did not seat like they show in the photo.5. One of the tuning pegs was twisted so deep into the wood, that tuning the instrument split the wood.6. When lucky enough to tune the string, strings immediately when out of tune.7. The manual was written so poorly and offered so little information it was not even worth the effort of including.8. No information about the gauge of the strings was included, making it an expensive guessing to game to figure out what strings to replace it with when the all of the poor quality original strings broke.

Realistically finding a lyre to purchase in a decent price range is not easy to say the least. This Lyre by Donner, is a great value for the price. While it has some flaws which I'll state below, the pros darn outweigh the cons. I purchased it roughly 2 weeks ago and have had a bit of time with it. Here are my overall thoughts:Cons:- Tuning is difficult. The slightest turns DRASTICALLY change the pitch. If you barely tweak it you can jump an entire note. Once in tune, it tends to stay in tune, but left for a couple days and you'll need to return it.-Audio projection is low. The overall volume of the instrument is quite. I found by placing it on my desk I was able to get a more amplified sound.Pros:-The quality of the overall build is good. It looks incredibly nice for the price, looks like a cherry veneer on the one I obtained.-It is a very uncommon instrument for most people to have lying around. It can add a ton of variety to your music making. I have found great results recording it through a large diaphragm condenser mic and layering tree reverb on it. Gives a very ethereal feeling.-The value can't be overstated enough. I purchased it at 65$ and it's well worth that.I can't say this would be for everyone, but anyone into collecting uncommon instruments, music production, or any kind of RP, might find a good purpose for it.

Maybe they should stick to accessories. I bout a piano sustaining pedal from this brand awhile back and I was happy with it, so I thought I would be just as happy with my harp. The size was great! However, besides the looks and display of it, my expectations fell very short with quality.I finally sat down to tune my harp today, hoping to be able to play it after. I had the most difficult time; it took me 1 hour to tune just 2 strings! They kept falling out of tune when I tried to move on to tune the others. It was not my tuner either since I tried several others. I tuned a guitar perfectly before with no trouble within 10 minutes, so I was baffled that my harp wasn't tuning for some reason. I finally finished the second string and moved onto the third... then suddenly-SNAP!Yup, you guessed it, the entire string snapped from the top! Big disappointments! I lost all patience after that, having wasted almost 2 hours of my time and just put it away. I'm hoping to get a refund so I can eventually buy a much better-quality lyre harp, if not I will never buy from this company again.

(: love it

It comes with one extra set of string.Easy to use and tune. Do not need any additional toolNot too heavy, not too light.The bag is very useful because it is hard to find a suitable bag for that.

Lo strumento ha una linea elegante ed è costruito con legno di qualità. Naturalmente le piccole dimensioni non consentono di ottenere un alto volume, ma il suono è accettabile se le corde vengono pizzicate con le unghie o con il plettro. L'accordatura richiede piccolissimi movimenti, molto controllati e va rivista ogni volta che si suona questa piccola Lyra. Consiglio l'accordatura in DO (C), a partire da DO4 (C4) per la corda più bassa e finendo con MI5 (E5) per la corda più acuta. Suoni più corposi, maggiori volumi e maggiore ricchezza di armonici si possono ottenere con strumenti con cassa armonica di maggiore volume e corde più lunghe. A mio avviso è uno strumento carino, ma non aspettatevi il suono di un'Arpa, di un Santoor Indiano o di un o di un Guzheng Cinese.

I like it right away buy had trouble with tuning one string so I decided to send it back

Beautiful looking and good quality!Half the strings broke when trying to tune it but it came with replacements that are holding up nicely.

Tuning is maddening. I broke the first string twice and I think I destroyed the first string holder even by being as gentle as possible.