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CRETAN LYRA: This instrument is usually made of mulberry wood and carved to become the sound-box of the instrument. The top of the lyra is made of cedar wood. It has threesingle strings and it can be tuned up a-e-a or a-d-a. It can be played with a bow. The player does not tap on the strings but touches them with his nail from the side. There are many kinds of lyras in Crete, and they come with different bows. In Asia Minor and many islands there are lyras with four strings, that can be tuned exactly like the violin e-a-d-g. There are also many kinds of lyras in Thrace-Macedonia that are made in different sizes
as well as in the shape of a pear (Achladolyre)

LUTE: This is a stringed instrument with a small body and a long neck. It measures approximately 96.5cm in length, and the body is 37crn in width. In particular, the length of the body is approximately 48cm; the length of the neck is 34.5cm, and the tuning head (karavolo) is 15-17cm. The width of the top is approximately 34.5cm, and the width of the sleeve (maniki) in the upper side is 4.5cm and 5.5cm in the lower side. The depth of the body (skafi) is 16cm. The top of the lute (kapaki) is made of Swedish white wood, without any knots, and the body of kelembeki leaves, of white color for the white lutes and of black color for the darker colored ones. The lute has 4 strings, a-g-d-c, which are tuned one octave higher than the other. The tasta are carved on the neck of the lute to produce the tones and the semitones. The lute is played with a plume (ftero). It is mainly an instrument of accompaniment, so it provides the tune of the song. There are different names for this instrument in various parts of Greece: Lavouto, Lagouto. Certain historians claim that the lute was introduced to Europe from the Spanish, who took it from the Arabs.
Its name (laouto) comes from the two double strings that it had years ago, LA and OUT, that is c. There is also an 8-stringed lute (doubles d-a-f-c); and later on, more double strings were added at the lower g and the g at the higher side, that is g-d-a-fc-
g.

TABOUR: The tabour is made from the wood of the walnut tree (kelembeki), and measures 1.30m in length. It has three double strings, exactly like the bouzouki, and there are many ways to tune it. There are two types of tabour; in the first, the performer uses a pick (vena) to play; while in the other, he uses a bow.

Its neck (tastiera) is not divided into semitones, but it has berdedes that separate the scale into commas. The tuning knots that hold the strings are wooden. The strings are usually made of animal gut or plastic wire. The tabour produces a very deep sound due to the length of the strings, as well as a very sweet sound.

OUTI: The outi (in Arabic, Ud, Al Ud, or Oud) means a wooden instrument, and it belongs to the family of lutes. It was originally made from a single piece of wood, without a neck. In the 9th century it had 5 double strings, and later on-to this day-it still has 5 double strings. At the beginning, the outi was played with the fingers, later with a pick (pena) or a goose feather. Its 5 double strings are tuned by the use of taftophonia, a-g-d-a or g-d-a-e-d. The dimensions of the average outi are: length 87cm; 20cm of this length is the head of the instrument with the tuning knots, and the width of the body is 37cm. The outi is a solo instrument and, as in the case of the guitar, the player can accompany himself by usually tapping the lower strings at a pace. The outi is a blind instrument (tiflo), meaning that its neck (tastiera) is not divided into semitones (tasta). That is why it is so difficult to learn how to play it. The outi can convey the popular styles accurately.

NEY: One of the oldest forms of flute is the ney, the endblown flute played in slightly varying forms from Morocco to Pakistan. The word is Farsi for reed, and indeed the nay is made in its traditional form from the Arundo Donax plant. The differing internodal pattern of the Arundo Donax is used in a specific fashion to make ney. Some modern makers have experimented with some success with replacing the reed by a metal pipe or a PVC pipe; however good-sounding, though, the finest sound comes from a well made natural cane ney.The name "ney" is used by Turks and Persians; many Arabs pronounce the word as Nai; thus we can distinguish between the Turkish, Arab and Persian forms of the instruments.
 

Bendir ( abendair, abendaïr ). Origin: North Africa, close to tambourine, riqq ( Arabic Egyptian tambourine )

It is a wooden circle-shaped frame ( diameter from 15 up to 20 inches ), on which a goat skin is stretched . The Bendir is halfway between the tambourine and the snare drum. It is a one side percussion. Some bendirs have three threads stretched on the skin, in order to increase the resonance of the skin and send out a sound similar to a snare drum.  

DARABUKKA:

The goblet drum of the Middle East and North Africa is known by a number of names including dumbek, darabukka , derbocka, and dumbelek.  It is found made from clay, wood or metal and comes in a number of sizes.  All have a single head usually of goat skin, and are traditionally played under the arm.  It has become a very popular drum in World Music in the West second only to the djembe.  There are a wide variety of techniques used to play this drum, that are dependant on the material the drum is made from and the region it comes from.  Musical lore says that the instrument is called a dumbek because of the two main sounds of the instrument: the dum, or the deep tone from the centre of the drum and the bek, the tone produced from striking the rim.