Makes me think of how the 6th ode in The Odes of Solomon begins: ”As the wind moves through the lyre, making the strings speak, so the spirit of the Lord speaks throughout my limbs, making me speak by his love. (Nuhra translation)
No music is as heavenly as that made by an aoelian harp. It is a beautiful occurence of nature,but it has a spiritual parallel. The harp is nothing but a wooden box with strings attached in harmony,waiting to be touched by the unseen fingers of the wandering wind. As breath of heaven floats over the strings,notes that are nearly divine float upon the air, as if a choir of angles were wondering about and touching the strings. Just beautiful! Thank you
@@savannahastings6807 Streams in the Desert? I am reading it too and came here for the same reason! @Harfenspieler the original source of the quote is from Days of Heaven Upon Earth by Rev. A. B. Simpson, 1897.
I was inspired to find this, because today I found a nice place to place my lap harp and suddenly the wind caught my notes and resonated them. As if God and the angels came down to have a turn. It really eased my soul and I took my time to let the wind play as it wanted to. A Divine duet!
That's the beauty of it - you can simply immerse yourself in the sound. Have you tried tuning to different scales, like pentatonic, when the wind blows through the strings of your harp?
@@harfenspieler You know? I have not yet, in fact Im only just easing to harp after having a lyre. Im not really financially well off, but the lyre and harp off amazon have brought me so much pleasure and joy to play on. Im curious about scales and tunings. I tune by nature once I've set my instruments up at there standard. I always drop my lyre a whole step because it sounds much warmer with the metal strings. But as Im not trained on notation, I really have no clue what that tuning is. On the harp itself i may just fiddle around as Ive been playing it clean.
I love the idea behind this instrument! I know what's happening here, but I'm surprised it's so loud. Wind is an example of "Pink noise". Noise is lots of frequencies being heard all at the same time; maybe hundreds of thousands, maybe millions. You can't pick out any notes, because there are so many. It just sounds like...noise! The aeolian harp plays only certain frequencies. Those frequencies are in the sound of the wind, so it resonates them in the strings.
The pink noise is essentially a bow on each string. Each string only wants to play a tonic plus harmonics, those harmonics, which are picked up by other strings and vise versa. Now I want to hear the result of different tunings.
@@MelindaGreen That's a point. I didn't think of the harmonics being triggered. Yeah, different tunings would be great to hear. The strings could even be tuned to a chord, where some notes are doubled up, & slightly detuned. When a string is physically bowed, it produces a different kind of sound wave. There's something you can use on an electric guitar, called an E-bow. I've never used one. It vibrates a guitar string, without touching it, using electromagnetism.
@@EarlOfMaladyCrescent I'd even like to hear what happens if all the strings are tuned to the same note (practically impossible, I know). 12 string guitars and the higher end of pianos have doubled strings, so we know it sounds nice. But mainly, I wonder about tuning to various chords and even scales other than the standard 12 tones. So many questions!
@@MelindaGreen That's a good idea! Quarter tones can create some very interesting sounds. I suppose if all the strings were tuned to one note, they'd all resonate at the same time and give a very rich chorus type sound. I know there's an instrument where all the strings are the same length, (I think it's a koto). There's one movable fret for every string and you use them to (tune) the strings to whatever scale you want to play in. Maybe that instrument could create that one note sound, played by the wind.
+DB Pooper I noticed elsewhere on UA-cam they have videos of rain/thunder as 3-10 hour videos. I'd love something like this too. But... I'm not in Ireland any more. I was there two different years and never heard or read about this. So we likely passed within a short distance of it?? (mostly in Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Cliffs of Mohr, Belfast, Giant's Causeway, Meath.). This is sooo cool !!
+DB Pooper I noticed elsewhere on UA-cam they have videos of rain/thunder as 3-10 hour videos. I'd love something like this too. But... I'm not in Ireland any more. I was there two different years and never heard or read about this. So we likely passed within a short distance of it?? (mostly in Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Cliffs of Mohr, Belfast, Giant's Causeway, Meath.). This is sooo cool !!
In Melbourne Australia it is common for industrial buildings to have wires tensioned across the roofs to stop birds landing. In a brisk breeze the wires act just like Aeolian harps.
@@harfenspieler Just random. The object is to obstruct the birds landing. The sound is just a unintentional by product. Cool sound though and it begs the question whether tuning the strings of an aeolian harp is even necessary.
If anyone is interested in hearing additional (and longer) Aeolian Harp recordings look for the CD "Windsongs: The Sound of the Aeolian Harp" put out by the Musical Heritage Society. It may or may not still be in print. It's a must hear.
@@harfenspieler Ordnance Survey Map 16 near Dalharrold Farm grid reference 6705 3805 approx, wind harp sculpture erected in memory to a Mrs Mackay 19 century lady from near Rosal( Highland Clearances) by the Mackay family who own the Naver Forestry I often mountain bike cycle on the forestry trails from my home in Thurso Caithness the music the harp plays is very science fiction ish!
I've only recently discovered what an Aeolian Harp actually is! Amazing sound - ethereal and eerie. It casts certain pieces of classical music in a different light (e.g. Chopin op25/1)
+albin9000 - when i first went into the internet in 2009 i found a livestream of a wind harp somewhere - i lost the connection, but if you keep looking, maybe you find it also... btw. i dream of building my own windharp - at the end of my garden, towards the open fields, there is a place, where almost always some breeze is blowing, hmmm - one day... :-) greetings from germany
Calming otherworldly music...If I was there sitting in a comfy couch, looking at the sea, sipping a good drink, munching some pizza and chocolate ice cream...okay a bit much (clearly an obese person's dream)...it would be heavenly. Well, seems like the wind plays a better music than the ocean (the morske orgulje in Zadar Beach, Croatia).
all of earth sings..we don't hear but there is the most magnificeby symphony playing all the time..we life inside it..i live at coast ..wake up as the first bird makes a sound and go listen to how everything..birds .waves .trees .all .harmonises in a splait second. and I listen to the morning song of earth..no sound of card here . its earth singing AT us...and we never tune in to listen
+peter talgaard65 - what a beautiful comment! a long time ago i once had the chance to literally listen to the trees singing, and it was of overwhelming beauty! it sounded in fact a bit similar to the sounds you can hear in this recording, only much richer, and the tones were much longer, plus they came from everywhere, of course, from every tree and every bush - i spoke about this experience only very few times, because people would take me for crazy - you are the first one who seems to have encountered a similar experience - i am very thankful, i greet you (btw. i spent my childhood years in the moor and my youth years at the coast)
+Raiden Young It would just become a regular harp. The sound is produced by the wind in the same way a player would produce sound. if someone were to go up and lay their hand over the string, the string would be muted.
Any harp will do this. Just take care it doesn't get blown over. I played harp and sang at a graveside service and the wind participated every so often. A traditional wind harp or Aeolian harp is rectangular, often placed on the sill of a double hung window. All twelve strings are tuned to the same note and the rising and falling of wind velocity brings out different notes in the harmonic series above the fundamental tuning, American transcendental writers wrote about wind harps.
Thanks for your comment - I'm impressed about how many different types of wind harps there are. Just had the effect again when playing out in the open on a wedding the other day, it was very windy and people were instantly mesmerised by the sound... :)
If there is no reference bass note, those two scales would sound the same. You'd have to tune the instrument to a non-modal scale, e. g. a pentatonic scale, or harmonic/melodic minor, to get a different sound from a wind harp. A chromatic 12-tone scale would also work, but sounds very eerie to my ears.
@@privateinformation784The traditional rectangular wind harp is generally tuned to one fundamental note. The changing velocity of the wind divides the vibrating nodes on the strings, producing various notes of the harmonic series. The intervals are closer as they ascend, and by the third octave go into the "harmonic scale". so the wind can play melodies on the single note all strings are tuned to. It is amazing, because the motion of the strings is barely visible, while the music can be quite loud.
What is the main difference in terms of construction between a conventional harp and an aeolian harp? Are they essentially the same instrument but just used in a different way?
Any harp can be used as an aeolian harp by putting it into the wind at a certain angle (string plane perpendicular to the wind). You can use different tunings, such as pentatonic, for varying the sound. There are also dedicated, specialsed wind harps that are mostly optimised to endure moisture and other weather conditions. Some of them have their string tension kept with weights, so that no tuning is necessary.
Harfenspieler I was wondering if you could offer a critique on my idea.. I'm considering building a portable Aeolian Harp which would be in the form of a helmet - An Aeolian Helmet. I want to design this so that when the user walks or maybe cycles, it will create enough wind flow to activate the harp and create an all round and intimate sensory experience. What is the minimum length that I could make this harp? Would a small harp be very high pitched? Would it require a lower wind flow or higher wind flow compared to larger harps?
Govind Sidhu , very interesting concept. Small string length means high pitch, but you can increase the string diameter and composition to compensate that effect, up to a point. I don't know how such a device would look like or behave, but it's certainly worth looking into. :)
+Dee Ef Sea just a note to add to Harfenspieler's comment. the fatter the string and/or the tighter a string is pulled, the less likely wind will be able to make it vibrate. Same for short strings. The shorter it is the more difficult it will be for just wind to vibrate it.
+Dee Ef Sea Don't confuse Aeolian mode or scale with Aeolian harp. An aeolian hars is simply a stringed instrument that is played by the wind and is named for Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of the wind. A traditional harp, played by plucking strings, is not tuned to Aeolian mode.
I used piezo pickups inside the harp, that way the wind could not make any distracting noises. Recorded using a 2-channel audio interface by Metric Halo, and a MacBook Pro. Smaller setups are possible, too. There is a longer description further down in the comments :)
Dear harfenspieler , I'm from South India Can I use this music as a sound score for my shortfilm please ? I hope the author was you , so I could mention your name at the video itself. Can I use it ? Thank you
This is excellent. I was wondering, are you planning on undertaking any more of these recordings in the near future? I'm currently in Limerick Institute of Technology and working on my final year project. It's called 'Elements' and its essentially an ambient EP which is inspired by three of natures elements: air, water and earth. I've been recording some interesting things, like underwater recordings and for the air element of the track I built a basic wind harp and although I am getting some interesting sound out of it, it's not a patch on this. Now, perhaps it's the environment but may also be the strings? All my strings are the same guage. They are 0.45 nylon fishing line. Perhaps they need to be different guages? I also can see from your video, that I must place the contact mic INSIDE the body! But getting sidetracked haha, if you were ever recording like this again I'd love to help out or take part in the session and get some of these recordings for my own projects if you were okay with that? Anyway, great video, thanks for sharing!
I used piezo pickups inside the harp. Recorded using a 2-channel audio interface by Metric Halo, and a MacBook Pro. There is a longer description further down in the comments :)
I tried to reproduce it using a home eletric fan but nothing happend… :-( How was it tuned? Could you record it tuned to a pentatonic tuning, say C, D, E#, F, G, A, B#?
But would YOU tune the harp to a pentatonic scale, record it and post it as a favour? ;-) I'd like to use it in a personal project, obviously with your authorization and credits…
This particular harp was made by German luthier Frank Sievert, please see www.sievert-harps.de/index_e.html for details. Depending on your location, there may more - or fewer - instrument makers in your area, but fortunately smaller harps are not as rare as they used to be. :-)
Great, thanks. I produce World Music-driven Downtempo Trip Hop stuff. It probably won't be a video for the moment but I'll post a link to the track when its ready. Lovely harp playing in your other videos! I much prefer to gather samples then to use robotic-sounding MIDI samplers.
Beautiful harp, beautiful setting! :-) My 'harps' all sound like UFOs and aliens! I have a set of guitar strings, though and your video encourages me to make something out of them a bit more 'tuned'!
Ini sama seperti guangan layangan di bali dan kincir angin di bali ada juga bambu di bali yang mengeluarkan suara merdu tapi jika ada karta besar seperti melaspas yaitu karta agung ngenteg lingih lainya salam damai kalau layangan bulan ini rareangon musim layangan
@@harfenspieler During the come up I heard it in the background along with indescribable noise. About a minute later I blasted off and do not remember much. I do remember the harp sound though.
Thanks for your comment, I'm quite sure that sounds like this are polarising - beautiful for some, haunting for others. Perhaps it was even used in psychological warfare in former times… I can't always listen to it, it drags me in and I don't get any work done! ;)
+harfenspieler - the sound of a windharp always brings back a dear childhood memory - we lived in a house out in the moor, where the wind got quite strong very often, especially in autumn of course - well, there were wires coming from a pylon directly to the house, fixed to four porcellain isolators (?) - i used to sleep in a room next to the point, where they were fixed - i often had wind "lullabies" from these wires, because they were a sort of big wind harp - but the sounds were much deeper than the music here, and i heard strange things like "alien" choirs a.s.o. - i remember well, that it was often haunting and strange, but never threatening - i loved it... :-) greetings from germany
+paulatriedes I promise that the harp was in tune. Personally I think, like most art, it's neither necessary nor unnecessary, in the sense that the wind was streaming through the harp without any intention - not even to entertain. I do hope you find harmony and enjoyment in other, human-played harp music. : )
Here's another, longer wind harp video for you:
ua-cam.com/video/pFBKgCk_Uzg/v-deo.html
Thus is boring. Nature shouldn't be allowed to play instruments
Makes me think of how the 6th ode in The Odes of Solomon begins: ”As the wind moves through the lyre,
making the strings speak,
so the spirit of the Lord speaks throughout my limbs,
making me speak by his love.
(Nuhra translation)
That's really beautiful, thanks for the reference!
Beautiful praise YAHWEH
🥹🥹🥹🥹❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
No music is as heavenly as that made by an aoelian harp. It is a beautiful occurence of nature,but it has a spiritual parallel. The harp is nothing but a wooden box with strings attached in harmony,waiting to be touched by the unseen fingers of the wandering wind. As breath of heaven floats over the strings,notes that are nearly divine float upon the air, as if a choir of angles were wondering about and touching the strings. Just beautiful! Thank you
Thank you very much for tuning in - I can't think of a better way to describe the aeolean harp sounds. (I might quote you with your permission!) 😌
Lol what a weirdo
@@InformationPollution shouldnt you be out stomping on puppies????
Literally just read this devotional today and was looking to see what this thing was. Thank you for your comment
@@savannahastings6807 Streams in the Desert? I am reading it too and came here for the same reason! @Harfenspieler the original source of the quote is from Days of Heaven Upon Earth by Rev. A. B. Simpson, 1897.
The first time I played harp outdoors and this happened I was totally entranced as were those around me who heard this ethereal sound
I was inspired to find this, because today I found a nice place to place my lap harp and suddenly the wind caught my notes and resonated them. As if God and the angels came down to have a turn. It really eased my soul and I took my time to let the wind play as it wanted to. A Divine duet!
That's the beauty of it - you can simply immerse yourself in the sound. Have you tried tuning to different scales, like pentatonic, when the wind blows through the strings of your harp?
@@harfenspieler You know? I have not yet, in fact Im only just easing to harp after having a lyre. Im not really financially well off, but the lyre and harp off amazon have brought me so much pleasure and joy to play on.
Im curious about scales and tunings. I tune by nature once I've set my instruments up at there standard. I always drop my lyre a whole step because it sounds much warmer with the metal strings. But as Im not trained on notation, I really have no clue what that tuning is. On the harp itself i may just fiddle around as Ive been playing it clean.
This must be one of the most beautiful sounds that I´ve heard in my life.
I'm glad you came by to listen, thanks for your comment!
@@harfenspieler thank you!
The sound is quite loud and can be heard over a distance of, say, 100 or 200 m. The microphone helped to isolate the harp sound from the wind noises.
I love the idea behind this instrument! I know what's happening here, but I'm surprised it's so loud. Wind is an example of "Pink noise". Noise is lots of frequencies being heard all at the same time; maybe hundreds of thousands, maybe millions. You can't pick out any notes, because there are so many. It just sounds like...noise! The aeolian harp plays only certain frequencies. Those frequencies are in the sound of the wind, so it resonates them in the strings.
The pink noise is essentially a bow on each string. Each string only wants to play a tonic plus harmonics, those harmonics, which are picked up by other strings and vise versa. Now I want to hear the result of different tunings.
@@MelindaGreen That's a point. I didn't think of the harmonics being triggered. Yeah, different tunings would be great to hear. The strings could even be tuned to a chord, where some notes are doubled up, & slightly detuned.
When a string is physically bowed, it produces a different kind of sound wave. There's something you can use on an electric guitar, called an E-bow. I've never used one. It vibrates a guitar string, without touching it, using electromagnetism.
@@EarlOfMaladyCrescent I'd even like to hear what happens if all the strings are tuned to the same note (practically impossible, I know). 12 string guitars and the higher end of pianos have doubled strings, so we know it sounds nice. But mainly, I wonder about tuning to various chords and even scales other than the standard 12 tones. So many questions!
@@MelindaGreen That's a good idea! Quarter tones can create some very interesting sounds. I suppose if all the strings were tuned to one note, they'd all resonate at the same time and give a very rich chorus type sound.
I know there's an instrument where all the strings are the same length, (I think it's a koto). There's one movable fret for every string and you use them to (tune) the strings to whatever scale you want to play in. Maybe that instrument could create that one note sound, played by the wind.
It’s because of vortices I think
I wish this video was a little longer. Say, about sixteen hours or so. I'd have it on all day.
+DB Pooper Yes, you and me both, it's so beautiful
+Jeri Carter et al., I do have about one or two hour's worth of raw recordings, I'll see what I can do. :)
+Harfenspieler Yes, plz:)
+DB Pooper I noticed elsewhere on UA-cam they have videos of rain/thunder as 3-10 hour videos. I'd love something like this too. But... I'm not in Ireland any more. I was there two different years and never heard or read about this. So we likely passed within a short distance of it?? (mostly in Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Cliffs of Mohr, Belfast, Giant's Causeway, Meath.). This is sooo cool !!
+DB Pooper I noticed elsewhere on UA-cam they have videos of rain/thunder as 3-10 hour videos. I'd love something like this too. But... I'm not in Ireland any more. I was there two different years and never heard or read about this. So we likely passed within a short distance of it?? (mostly in Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Cliffs of Mohr, Belfast, Giant's Causeway, Meath.). This is sooo cool !!
In Melbourne Australia it is common for industrial buildings to have wires tensioned across the roofs to stop birds landing.
In a brisk breeze the wires act just like Aeolian harps.
I wonder if those wires are tuned, or just whirring at random?
@@harfenspieler Just random. The object is to obstruct the birds landing. The sound is just a unintentional by product.
Cool sound though and it begs the question whether tuning the strings of an aeolian harp is even necessary.
@@paulg3336 Thanks very much for the insight!
I’m learning etude op 25 no. 1, so I thought I’d listen to an actual aeolian harp.
The etude is prettier to me, and I stopped learning it for now because I can’t keep focused on one piece for very long. YOU SIGHT READ IT???!!!
@@imacomplexity Wow, I see some advanced techniques here 😁
Same
@Jörmungandr wtf?
I have so many words to say how beautiful this video is at present. Aerolian harp music is absolutely a great art!
im crying,, this is the best typo i've ever seen
@@ollythecrab7086 typo..?
@@stanleyjiang2244 Aerolian instead of aeolian
nature's touch is sublime.
This is the sound that has people turn their heads with widened eyes of awe..
… and it never gets old!
It's the wind breathing and conveying it's beautiful mind.
And I want to say wow!
And on the coast?! Very good choice!
Iris Iris lay off the LSD. The wind has no brain, it is just a part of nature
If anyone is interested in hearing additional (and longer) Aeolian Harp recordings look for the CD "Windsongs: The Sound of the Aeolian Harp" put out by the Musical Heritage Society. It may or may not still be in print. It's a must hear.
Thanks mate!
There's a CD with this title on iTunes (Roger Winfield).
the most beautiful sound i heard
Absolutely charming, and gorgeously spellbinding,,,,where are the welsh witches,and fairies??,,,,,,
This is the best wind harp sound I've found
Thank you! It was important to me to capture the harp sound rather than the wind sound. 😊
Angels praising God ❤️
very calming
Relationship between science and nature being seamless💝
there is a wind harp erected at Rosal/naver forest Sutherland Highlands
The more, the merrier! Thanks for the hint, I must definitely go there one day to see it.
@@harfenspieler Ordnance Survey Map 16 near Dalharrold Farm grid reference 6705 3805 approx, wind harp sculpture erected in memory to a Mrs Mackay 19 century lady from near Rosal( Highland Clearances) by the Mackay family who own the Naver Forestry I often mountain bike cycle on the forestry trails from my home in Thurso Caithness the music the harp plays is very science fiction ish!
Grid Reference ought to read 6805 3805 near the B873 road from Bettyhill to Altnaharra/ Tongue road junction
@@hughcaves3108 Thanks so much! 😊
I love this. Thank you!
Very glad you like it!
Goosebumps good; both sound and scenery.. thanks for sharing
Thanks for listening! The wind has many stories to tell...
@@harfenspieler indeed, o and I had forgotten to subscribe, but did now.. happy day/night
Thanks for subscribing, there's more to come (like, today... :-) )
Henry David Thoreau mentioned it... I'm crying.
Why does this reminds me of Minecraft?
I've only recently discovered what an Aeolian Harp actually is! Amazing sound - ethereal and eerie. It casts certain pieces of classical music in a different light (e.g. Chopin op25/1)
:D nice idea and place
Fantastique!
celeste,un pur bonheur!
I'd love having listening to a stream of this
+albin9000 - when i first went into the internet in 2009 i found a livestream of a wind harp somewhere - i lost the connection, but if you keep looking, maybe you find it also...
btw. i dream of building my own windharp - at the end of my garden, towards the open fields, there is a place, where almost always some breeze is blowing, hmmm - one day... :-)
greetings from germany
Calming otherworldly music...If I was there sitting in a comfy couch, looking at the sea, sipping a good drink, munching some pizza and chocolate ice cream...okay a bit much (clearly an obese person's dream)...it would be heavenly.
Well, seems like the wind plays a better music than the ocean (the morske orgulje in Zadar Beach, Croatia).
so majestic 👌
I want to make a temple made with these integral to the design with directed wind flow
That would be truly amazing!
Beautiful.
all of earth sings..we don't hear but there is the most magnificeby symphony playing all the time..we life inside it..i live at coast ..wake up as the first bird makes a sound and go listen to how everything..birds .waves .trees .all .harmonises in a splait second. and I listen to the morning song of earth..no sound of card here . its earth singing AT us...and we never tune in to listen
+peter talgaard65 - what a beautiful comment! a long time ago i once had the chance to literally listen to the trees singing, and it was of overwhelming beauty! it sounded in fact a bit similar to the sounds you can hear in this recording, only much richer, and the tones were much longer, plus they came from everywhere, of course, from every tree and every bush - i spoke about this experience only very few times, because people would take me for crazy - you are the first one who seems to have encountered a similar experience - i am very thankful, i greet you (btw. i spent my childhood years in the moor and my youth years at the coast)
Wow!!!
coleridge has dedicated to this instrument a beautiful poem
Just posted a similar comment. One of my favorite poems.
What would happen if you touched or played a string?
ENOUGH PRESSING +1 ON THIS COMMENT!!!!
+Raiden Young It would just become a regular harp. The sound is produced by the wind in the same way a player would produce sound. if someone were to go up and lay their hand over the string, the string would be muted.
Nicholas Fagnilli ...OK.
duh. lol
BRO ARE YOU STUPID!?! ISN'T IT OBVIOUS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN!?!?!?!??!?!
Hi Séan, no worries whatsoever, this video has a Creative Commons license and can be used freely. Please post your video when it's finished! :)
soundtrack for a sad or alone scene!
Reminds me of the beginning of Us and Them by Pink Floyd
The gods whisltin' a tune.
So pretty
Any harp will do this. Just take care it doesn't get blown over. I played harp and sang at a graveside service and the wind participated every so often. A traditional wind harp or Aeolian harp is rectangular, often placed on the sill of a double hung window. All twelve strings are tuned to the same note and the rising and falling of wind velocity brings out different notes in the harmonic series above the fundamental tuning, American transcendental writers wrote about wind harps.
Thanks for your comment - I'm impressed about how many different types of wind harps there are. Just had the effect again when playing out in the open on a wedding the other day, it was very windy and people were instantly mesmerised by the sound... :)
Erik Johansson is it possible to have a wind harp tuned in Ionian Mode?? All the wind harps I’ve seen have been Aeolian tuned.
If there is no reference bass note, those two scales would sound the same. You'd have to tune the instrument to a non-modal scale, e. g. a pentatonic scale, or harmonic/melodic minor, to get a different sound from a wind harp. A chromatic 12-tone scale would also work, but sounds very eerie to my ears.
@@privateinformation784The traditional rectangular wind harp is generally tuned to one fundamental note. The changing velocity of the wind divides the vibrating nodes on the strings, producing various notes of the harmonic series. The intervals are closer as they ascend, and by the third octave go into the "harmonic scale". so the wind can play melodies on the single note all strings are tuned to. It is amazing, because the motion of the strings is barely visible, while the music can be quite loud.
What is the main difference in terms of construction between a conventional harp and an aeolian harp?
Are they essentially the same instrument but just used in a different way?
Any harp can be used as an aeolian harp by putting it into the wind at a certain angle (string plane perpendicular to the wind). You can use different tunings, such as pentatonic, for varying the sound.
There are also dedicated, specialsed wind harps that are mostly optimised to endure moisture and other weather conditions. Some of them have their string tension kept with weights, so that no tuning is necessary.
Harfenspieler
I was wondering if you could offer a critique on my idea.. I'm considering building a portable Aeolian Harp which would be in the form of a helmet - An Aeolian Helmet. I want to design this so that when the user walks or maybe cycles, it will create enough wind flow to activate the harp and create an all round and intimate sensory experience. What is the minimum length that I could make this harp? Would a small harp be very high pitched? Would it require a lower wind flow or higher wind flow compared to larger harps?
Govind Sidhu , very interesting concept. Small string length means high pitch, but you can increase the string diameter and composition to compensate that effect, up to a point. I don't know how such a device would look like or behave, but it's certainly worth looking into. :)
+Dee Ef Sea just a note to add to Harfenspieler's comment. the fatter the string and/or the tighter a string is pulled, the less likely wind will be able to make it vibrate. Same for short strings. The shorter it is the more difficult it will be for just wind to vibrate it.
+Dee Ef Sea Don't confuse Aeolian mode or scale with Aeolian harp. An aeolian hars is simply a stringed instrument that is played by the wind and is named for Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of the wind. A traditional harp, played by plucking strings, is not tuned to Aeolian mode.
beautiful!
Lovely🎼
Most interesting.
Without wishing to sound hippy-dippy, you should read the Irish poet John Montague's short poem "Windharp" while listening to this.
Thanks for the nice idea! Not sure if the rights management of the late poet will allow it, but I can try.
Too late. You already sound hippy dippy. But we'll still read the poem.
I BELIEVE.
i'm here because of chopin's op25.no1. i'm sure this'll help students to understand the sound effect.
hi is it cold there
Can You tell something about recording process and recording equipment?
I used piezo pickups inside the harp, that way the wind could not make any distracting noises. Recorded using a 2-channel audio interface by Metric Halo, and a MacBook Pro. Smaller setups are possible, too. There is a longer description further down in the comments :)
What kinda of set up do you have?
Dear harfenspieler ,
I'm from South India
Can I use this music as a sound score for my shortfilm please ?
I hope the author was you , so I could mention your name at the video itself.
Can I use it ?
Thank you
Dear harfenspieler ,
Please reply sir
Please feel free to use it! This piece is published with a "Creative Commons" licence. Best of luck with your project!
@@harfenspieler Thank you so much sir 🙏🏻 & thanks for your wishes
This is excellent. I was wondering, are you planning on undertaking any more of these recordings in the near future? I'm currently in Limerick Institute of Technology and working on my final year project. It's called 'Elements' and its essentially an ambient EP which is inspired by three of natures elements: air, water and earth. I've been recording some interesting things, like underwater recordings and for the air element of the track I built a basic wind harp and although I am getting some interesting sound out of it, it's not a patch on this. Now, perhaps it's the environment but may also be the strings? All my strings are the same guage. They are 0.45 nylon fishing line. Perhaps they need to be different guages? I also can see from your video, that I must place the contact mic INSIDE the body!
But getting sidetracked haha, if you were ever recording like this again I'd love to help out or take part in the session and get some of these recordings for my own projects if you were okay with that? Anyway, great video, thanks for sharing!
Hi there - you are free to use this recording under the Creative Commons terms. Let me know if you need a longer version. Best o' luck wit your work!
❤
Is it plugged into something?
I used piezo pickups inside the harp. Recorded using a 2-channel audio interface by Metric Halo, and a MacBook Pro. There is a longer description further down in the comments :)
Really enjoyed the video! Which mic did you use?
Thanks for your comment - I used a built-in pickup made from a few piezo elements.
Goodness
I tried to reproduce it using a home eletric fan but nothing happend… :-( How was it tuned? Could you record it tuned to a pentatonic tuning, say C, D, E#, F, G, A, B#?
The wind has to move along the full length of the strings. It's perfectly possible to use a pentatonic scale, the results are very harmonic.
But would YOU tune the harp to a pentatonic scale, record it and post it as a favour? ;-) I'd like to use it in a personal project, obviously with your authorization and credits…
I have all the recordings on my hard drive, but please allow for some time to process them. I have it on my list! :)
Oh! Great! Take your time :-)
The wind must also flow as a smooth mass -- fan breeze is too turbulent. It's a gift of nature, like honey and rainbows.
Does this happen with all harps or do you need a special one?
This works with all harps, no modifications needed at all. Only the wind... :)
The Eolian Harp
by Samual Taylor Coleridge
brought me here.
Thanks for stopping by!
What county in Ireland is this, Kerry?
+Jonelle Mannion The video location is south of Cork, near Kinsale.
how can anyone give this a thumbs down??!!
Not sure - perhaps some don't agree with the wind. ;)
I think there are just grumpy bastards out there
now we know how the wind "sounds" ?
In Finland u call it Tuulikannel...
Do they actually sound that loud? Or is it because there is a microphone to it?
They are very loud, even on my lap harp its loud. Im sure a bigger harp's resonance would carry far
Where i can buy this instrument?
This particular harp was made by German luthier Frank Sievert, please see www.sievert-harps.de/index_e.html for details. Depending on your location, there may more - or fewer - instrument makers in your area, but fortunately smaller harps are not as rare as they used to be. :-)
Thank you so much :-) . I read Thoreau had one so now i'm interested in it.
starting at 1:15 I swear I can almost hear a voice but I can't make out the words.
There was some actual talking leaking into the microphones. Sorry for any (ghostly) confusion!
Great, thanks. I produce World Music-driven Downtempo Trip Hop stuff. It probably won't be a video for the moment but I'll post a link to the track when its ready. Lovely harp playing in your other videos! I much prefer to gather samples then to use robotic-sounding MIDI samplers.
Reminds me of summer forest from spyro
transcendent
Eerie Érie.
Beautiful harp, beautiful setting! :-) My 'harps' all sound like UFOs and aliens! I have a set of guitar strings, though and your video encourages me to make something out of them a bit more 'tuned'!
om.....om....om.....
Amazing the harp didn’t fall over with the Atlantic breezes! Where was it filmed?
The area was safer than it might look 😉. The location is at the Irish south coast, south-east of Kinsale.
Put that in the middle of the rainforest to scare the sht out of explorer's
A remarkably tempting idea, given the history.
Reminds me of Artificial Intelligence (the movie).
Ini sama seperti guangan layangan di bali dan kincir angin di bali ada juga bambu di bali yang mengeluarkan suara merdu tapi jika ada karta besar seperti melaspas yaitu karta agung ngenteg lingih lainya salam damai kalau layangan bulan ini rareangon musim layangan
Thank you - I didn't know about those instruments in Indonesia!
I did DMT once and I heard this sound
That seems entirely possible - so the effects are not purely visual then?
@@harfenspieler During the come up I heard it in the background along with indescribable noise. About a minute later I blasted off and do not remember much. I do remember the harp sound though.
You can participate to vent de guitares ( adlib ) send us the geolocation ventdeguitares.com/fr/,
Jesus Christ is Lord ✝️ Maranatha
Where's the drop?
sounds like minecraft ngl
Odin is playing a tune
李永乐
the Aeolian harp's strings are looser than a regular (I wish I had one
japanese KOTO箏 also wind 、Here !
ua-cam.com/video/m8nWypwhJbQ/v-deo.html
they just figured out a way to make energy out of this thing. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windbelt
Very cool! I wonder if they make sounds as well while generating electricity.
I'm making a song with this. Will share it soon (please don't sue me for copyright)! Sláinte!
Minecraft music
What a irritating sound. That sound would drive you nuts listening to that all day long
Thanks for your comment, I'm quite sure that sounds like this are polarising - beautiful for some, haunting for others. Perhaps it was even used in psychological warfare in former times… I can't always listen to it, it drags me in and I don't get any work done! ;)
+harfenspieler - the sound of a windharp always brings back a dear childhood memory - we lived in a house out in the moor, where the wind got quite strong very often, especially in autumn of course - well, there were wires coming from a pylon directly to the house, fixed to four porcellain isolators (?) - i used to sleep in a room next to the point, where they were fixed - i often had wind "lullabies" from these wires, because they were a sort of big wind harp - but the sounds were much deeper than the music here, and i heard strange things like "alien" choirs a.s.o. - i remember well, that it was often haunting and strange, but never threatening - i loved it... :-)
greetings from germany
disgusting discords forever, how unnecessary,,
+paulatriedes I promise that the harp was in tune. Personally I think, like most art, it's neither necessary nor unnecessary, in the sense that the wind was streaming through the harp without any intention - not even to entertain. I do hope you find harmony and enjoyment in other, human-played harp music. : )