Strange shape and unconventional materials aside, Leonardo constructed the lyre to have a more resonating sound than other instruments of that time.

Then pushing 30 and ready to move to the big city, he hoped to dazzle the duke into being his patron - and a ticket out of his sleepy hometown, Florence. The duke, a lover of both horses and music, was impressed, and hired Leonardo to work under him for the next 17 years.

Although the silver lyre was the only musical instrument that Leonardo constructed during his lifetime, he sketched out plans for dozens more which have subsequently influenced music through the ages.

The exhibit "Leonardo y la música (Da Vinci unplugged)," currently at the San Ildefonso Museum in Mexico City´s Historic Center, gives the public a sampling of this archetypal Renaissance Man´s taste for music, music theory and instrument design.

Throughout his life, Leonardo kept annotated journals with depictions of his observations and ideas. All the text of these 13,000 pages of different studies is written backwards. Some say he used this "mirror writing" in order to keep his notes private, but it may have been his left-handedness and dyslexia that spurred this seemingly eclectic behavior.

The original copies of these notebooks are in various major museum collections all over the world, such as Paris´ Louvre and London´s British Library, while Bill Gates is the only private owner of one of these manuscripts. The Madrid Codices I (1492-1497) and II (1503-1505) were discovered in that city´s Biblioteca Nacional in 1965 and among the notes are his thoughts on musical theories as well as detailed sketches for different instruments.

At the start of the exhibit, exact replicas of the Madrid Codices are displayed perched among the branches of a traditional Mexican "tree of life," and the public is given access to them through an interactive CD-ROM.

Originally shown at Madrid´s Biblioteca Nacional, the exhibit has begun an international tour. It was just in Morelia in the state of Morelos, before arriving in Mexico City.

Curator Alfredo Melgar spent years organizing and interpreting the plans Leonardo had made for musical instruments. Melgar said that though most of the plans were very clever, there were plenty that didn´t work. He contracted six world-class luthiers from Spain, Italy and Japan to construct 20 instruments in the style and using the materials that they would have been made during Renaissance times.

The paper organ Leonardo designed with a two-way bellows that produces sound regardless of whether it is taking in or expelling air is another of the famous instruments built by Spanish luthier Joachín Lois on display.

He also devised the viola organista, the first known plan for a bowed keyboard instrument, here built by Japanese luthier Akio Obuchi. This harpsichord-shaped instrument has pedals that are pumped to keep horsehair-covered wheels spinning - like a car engine´s fanbelt - perpendicular to its catgut strings. As the musician presses the keys, these strings are pushed toward the moving bow to produce different notes.

He also dreamt up a drum with a sliding door in its side to change its tone, a mechanical rattle made from a clay vase and a flute with just two long slots instead of multiple holes to allow for gradual gliding between the notes.

Each construction is accompanied by a copy of the drawing it is based on and a short explanation in both Spanish and English giving historical context and a bit of musical theory.

Guides are available to walk you through the exhibit, demonstrating how some of the different instruments are played. The public is invited to play a few of them that illustrate Leonardo´s hypotheses on sound and how sound waves travel. By striking metal tubes of different sizes, one can prove his theory that larger tubes will make deeper sounds. Leonardo´s dyslexia shows up again in his writings, as he noted in his journal that narrower tubes make a deeper sound, which is clearly false.

This hands-on element to the exhibit makes it especially accessible to children, but equally enjoyable for adults.

Throughout the duration of the exhibit there will be performances at the museum and other venues throughout the city where musicians will play pieces from Leonardo´s time on copies of the odd silver-plated lyre, the paper organ and the viola organista.

The museum will also offer workshops, conferences and other events related to Leonardo and his musical instruments.

MORE INFO

The Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso is on Justo Sierra 16 in Mexico City's Historic Center. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. General admission is 35 pesos, 17.50 for students and seniors.

Throughout the month of October, the San Ildefonso museum will host tours, talks and activities related to the exhibit Leonardo da Vinci and Music.

You can take a guided tour of the exhibit free with entrance to the museum. The guide will show you haw the different instruments work. Tuesdays through Fridays at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., weekends every hour from11 a.m . to 2 p.m. and again at 4:30 p.m.

There are also free guided tours of the building and the murals at 1 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays.

The museum will free host talks and round table discussions about Leonardo da Vinci on the weekends as well as courses for teachers and different workshops for students.

Tel. 5789-2505 for more info about courses and tours.