MUSE series

Instruments manufactured by Biagio and Lorenzo Panico.

Concept and design by Andrea Piccioni

A series of frame drums inspired by the "Muses" the divine inspirers of the arts in the ancient Hellenic tradition, entirely realized in Salento, ancient heart of Magna Graecia, with the collaboration of the famous maker Biagio Panico. A line of instruments of very high workmanship, cared for in every single detail and made in the noblest of woods: the Olive, difficult to work but possessing unique qualities, used in Italy for centuries for the construction of bagpipes, ciaramelle and castanets.

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The classical understanding of the Muses tripled their triad and established a set of nine goddesses, who embody the arts and inspire creation with their graces through remembered and improvised song and mime, writing, traditional music, and dance. It was not until Hellenistic times that the following systematic set of functions became associated with them, and even then some variation persisted both in their names and in their attributes:

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Calliope (epic poetry)

Clio (history)

Euterpe (double-pipes and music)

Thalia (comedy and pastoral poetry)

Melpomene (tragedy)

Terpsichore (dance)

Erato (love poetry and lyric poetry)

Polyhymnia (hymns and sacred poetry)

Urania (astronomy)