The recreation of prehistoric musical practices is not easy.
This art not only allows the discovery missing sounds, but also an understanding of the close relationship between society and music. In recent years, thanks to the joint efforts of specialists and enthusiasts, new light has been shed on these old instrumental practises, which had been largely distorted since the 19th century.
Aware of the cultural heritage of the ancient world's great civilisations, i have chosen to limit my studies to western europe, mainly dealing with the most relevant features, without forgetting the oriental contributions. With so many disciplines interlinked, the exchange of informations is vital. This is why this work is only possible in conjunction with professionals from complementary fields.
The first and most important step is to gather all available and accessible sources, such as iconographic, philological (the study of texts), epigraphic (the study of inscriptions) and archaeological discoveries. We can't do anything without this information, which is vital to the reconstruction of archaeological sound.
On ne saurait faire l'impasse sur des informations jugées essentielles, nécessaires à un travail de reconstitution archéo-sonore.
After carefully classifying and prioritizing the data, it is compared with the textual informations, this step is essential to the validity of the reconstruction. Valuable informations was documented by witnesses from different eras such as : Diodorus Siculus, Pliny the Elder, Al-Urmawi, Henri de Zwolle, Jérome de Moravie, etc.
However, although it is necessary to utilise the written sources, it is also important to view these texts with some skepticism, indiscriminate criticism would be ineffective. This research is done in a detailed manner that is consistent with organological, social and geographical realities.
De plus, afin d'éviter d'interpréter un instrument qui n'en est pas un à l'origine, ou encore de se méprendre quant à son utilisation réelle, il est important de le classer par catégories et d'offrir ainsi une terminologie précise (Cordophones, Aérophones, etc.).
Furthermore, in order to avoid misinterpreting an instrument, or to misunderstand about its use, it is important to categorise and offer precise terminology.
Not having all the keys in which the instruments were made, it is sometimes useful to use the ethno-organology (the understanding the musical instrument in its manufacture, its play, it's history, the cultural use of music, etc.) this allows us to clarify many mysteries with analogy.
To undertake this business and restore the accuracy and skill of the craftsmen of the past, next step is to develop a plan of implementation using logical plots and harmonious proportions, in use since antiquity.
Finally, I have chosen in my work to propose instruments that are aligned with an era and respondent to some musical, temporal and organological codes, and to submit a free personal interpretation without falsely feeding a fanciful imagination.
Because we can't find some archaeological remains of these musical instruments, it does not mean that they did not exist, only through experimentation can we judge the credibility of these hypothesis.
Indeed, some perishable materials used to create instruments, such as horn, bone, Elderwood, have disappeared if they were not placed in a proper storage medium.
To conclude, this work intends to propose ways of thinking where ancient musical instruments and musical practices are still little known.
