Deborah Henson-Conant playing her electric harp. Photo: D. Price

Like electric guitars, electric harps are based on their acoustic originals, and there are both solid body and electro-acoustic models available. Image File history File linksMetadata Dhc001. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Dhc001. ... Left: Rosa Hurricane, a heavy metal-style solid body guitar. ... The harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. ...

A solid body electric harp has no hollow soundbox, and thus makes very little noise when not amplified. Alan Stivell writes in his book Telenn, la harpe bretonne of his first dreams of electric harps going back to the late 50s. He designed and had made a solid body (after different electric-acoustic harps) electric harp at the turn of the 70s-80s, about the same time as Rudiger Oppermann. Alan Stivell later (early 80s) had a meeting with Joel Garnier who decided to create a model. Alan Stivell went on independently to design and have different single models been made with Leo Goas-Straajer( before the Camac - Alan Stivell last experiment). The first such commercially manufactured instrument was made by Camac also helped later by the request of jazz-pop harpist, Deborah Henson-Conant. The result looked like a light framed Celtic style harp, but each string had a crystal (Piezo) pickup at its base. They can be plugged into various amplification systems, and players are able to use effects pedals similarly to electric guitar players. Another part of Henson-Conant's request was that she should be able to move around the stage with the harp, and thus the smaller electric harps usually include a system to strap the harp to one's body. A resonator is a device or part that vibrates (or oscillates) with waves. ... Alan Stivell at Lorient Alan Stivell (born Alan Cochevelou January 6, 1944) is a Breton musician from the town of Gourin. ... Alan Stivell at Lorient Alan Stivell (born Alan Cochevelou January 6, 1944) is a Breton musician from the town of Gourin. ... Alan Stivell at Lorient Alan Stivell (born Alan Cochevelou January 6, 1944) is a Breton musician from the town of Gourin. ... A Camac electro-acoustic pedal harp Camac Harps (Les Harpes Camac) is a French company that manufactures pedal (concert) harps, lever (folk) harps, and electric pedal and lever harps. ... Alan Stivell at Lorient Alan Stivell (born Alan Cochevelou January 6, 1944) is a Breton musician from the town of Gourin. ... A Camac electro-acoustic pedal harp Camac Harps (Les Harpes Camac) is a French company that manufactures pedal (concert) harps, lever (folk) harps, and electric pedal and lever harps. ... Deborah Henson-Conant and her Camac electric harp. ... Three magnetic pickups on an electric guitar. ... Effects units are devices that affect the sound of an electric instrument when plugged in to the electrical signal path the instrument sends, most often an electric guitar or bass guitar. ...

Solid body electric harps are usually lever harps, though solid body pedal harps have also been built. Since the cost of a pedal harp is so high, it is more economical for a harpist to purchase an electro-acoustic model of pedal harp as it can also be played without amplification. The harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. ... The harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. ...

An electro-acoustic harp looks nearly identical to a regular acoustic harp, whether lever or pedal. It too has pickups at the base of each string, and some also contain a separate pickup inside the soundbox, enabling the harpist to mix the signals from both kinds of pickup to produce special effects. Often such harps include an onboard preamplifier. One of the most famous electro-acoustic pedal harp models is Camac's "Big Blue", finished in a striking electric blue colour. An example of a typical high-end stereo preamplifier. ...

Electric MIDI harps are also produced, as well as harps featuring built in optic fibre and LED lights. Musical Instrument Digital Interface, or MIDI, is a system designed to transmit information between electronic musical instruments. ... Fiber Optic strands An optical fiber in American English or fibre in British English is a transparent thin fiber for transmitting light. ... External links LEd Category: TeX ...

Electric harp manufacturers

• Camac Harps
• Lyon and Healy
• Mountain Glen Harps
• David Kortier
• ElectricHarp
• Bernhard Schmidt, Harfenbau

A Camac electro-acoustic pedal harp Camac Harps (Les Harpes Camac) is a French company that manufactures pedal (concert) harps, lever (folk) harps, and electric pedal and lever harps. ... Lyon and Healy (founded in 1889) is one of the two major harp manufacturers in the world, with its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. ...

Electric harp performers

• Alan Stivell performing on his own designed electric harps (since early 80s).
• Rüdiger Oppermann performing on his own made electric harps.
• Deborah Henson-Conant performs on a solid body Camac electric harp, as well as amplified and regular pedal harps. Her style is mostly jazz, blues, and pop.
• Dee Carstensen, a singer-songwriter, plays Lyon & Healy pedal electric harp as her primary instrument.
• Andreas Vollenweider plays New Age and pop style music, sometimes compared to Vangelis
• Zeena Parkins plays and composes avant-garde and experimental music. Played on several Björk albums and tours.
• Electric Angel, an electric harp trio from California plays pop-fusion
• Lisa Lynne, electric and celtic harpist from Germany
• Hilary Stagg, died in 1999, an American harp builder and electrician, influenced by Andreas Vollenweider
• Patsy Seddon and Mary Macmaster, Scottish harpers, playing in The Poozies and their own duo Sileas. Their music is mostly traditional Scottish.

Alan Stivell at Lorient Alan Stivell (born Alan Cochevelou January 6, 1944) is a Breton musician from the town of Gourin. ... Deborah Henson-Conant and her Camac electric harp. ... Dee Carstensen (born February 18, 1956 in Maryland) is a New York City-based Pop/alternative harpist, singer and songwriter. ... Lyon and Healy (founded in 1889) is one of the two major harp manufacturers in the world, with its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. ... Andreas Vollenweider (born October 4, 1953) is a Swiss musician. ... New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ... Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου) [IPA: ] is a world-renowned Greek composer of electronic, New Age and classical music and musical performer, under the artist name Vangelis Papathanassiou (Βαγγέλης Παπαθανασίου) or just Vangelis (a diminutive of Evangelos) [IPA: or ]. He is best known for his Academy Award winning score for the film Chariots of... Zeena Parkins (born Detroit, MI) is a harpist active in rock music, free improvisation and jazz. ... Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( ) (born November 21, 1965 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is an Icelandic singer/songwriter and composer (formerly the lead singer of alternative rock band The Sugarcubes), as well as an occasional actress. ... Lisa Lynne is a Celtic harpist and composer and New Age recording artist residing in Los Angeles, California. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

External links

• Camac Harps
• Lyon and Healy
• ElectricHarp: Solid Body Electric Harps
• Moutain Glen electric, MIDI, and special effects harps
• Electro-Acoustic lever harps by David Kortier
• Deborah Henson-Conant
• Zeena Parkins
• Andreas Vollenweider
• Electric Angel
• Linda Rice
• MIDI harp, Electro-Acoustic harp, Electric harp, by Bernhard Schmidt