Categories
~Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. Aeolian Harp aleatoric ambient DIY found sound inharmonic series metallic Musical Technique

Prepared Aeolian Harp – Steel Plate

IMG_2831

spectrum

The Prepared Aeolian Harp is going to be a series of modifications – like the 3rd bridge post. This modification was inspired by the harp picking up a tornado warning siren by sympathetic vibration. The reasoning here is that the steel plate offers more surface area and would be a more sensitive detector. To some extent this is correct. The harp has become very sensitive to foot steps even in the back of my home. (Those are just “thuds” and more from the large mass of the plate vs the pickups I suppose) and I saw and just heard in one spectral view a car motor. Since this is new there needs to be some optimization. The current file displayed here is almost entirely due to wind – on a day with very light (<5 mph) breezes coming from over my home to the back of the harp - the worst possible angle. So I am looking forward to the experience of having a windy day and a more favorable wind direction. Even at these mediocre conditions the harp pickups can be easily overloaded and I am recording with compression on (applied after this recording) to prevent spikes. The plate is about 6" x 18" and 32nd" and is mounted by weaving the plate into the existing strings.

One reply on “Prepared Aeolian Harp – Steel Plate”

Leave a Reply