Ayr

The ayr was a Tehir necked stringed instrument. It was small and pear-shaped. Unlike many other plucked stringed instruments, it did not have a fretted neck.

The ayr had a pear-shaped sound box, a peg box bent back at a 45-90 degree angle from the neck, five pairs of strings paired in courses of two (except the lowest string which was usually just a single string), a short neck, at least one sound hole, a bridge, and keys for tuning the strings.

Each pair of strings was tuned by the same key, creating a distinctive sound. The pairs of strings were tuned in unison, like the pairs of strings on a mandolin. The bridge and the strings were attached to the instrument in a similar fashion to the classical guitar, i.e. knotted at the bridge.

The strings of the ayr were always made of gut and the bridge and neck of the instrument were often inlaid with small pieces of ivory or bone. Otherwise, the ayr was usually void of ornamentation or decoration. The ayr was never to be painted, carved or the wood otherwise disturbed for fear of changing the faint, haunting sound it produced.

The ayr was famous for its easy improvisation, unlike other instruments which either require accompaniment or are too complex to play.

Ayrs In-Game

A bone-inlaid hawthorn ayr, a master quality instrument, was sold at auction at Velathae during the Ebon Gate festival of 5106.

At that same event, the shop called Haunting Sounds sold a small white ash ayr, a pear-shaped yew ayr, a pale mistwood ayr and a bone-inlaid ironwood ayr, as well as a pale crystal ayr pin, a spectral instrument.