Wind Harp Links

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  Wind Harps, also called Aeolian Harps, are among the oldest of mechanical instruments. From ancient Greece we read of a stringed box played by Aeolus, god of the wind.

        In principal, the wind harp is very simple. A number of strings are placed over a sound chamber and the wind causes the strings to vibrate and thereby produce a sound. The science behind the sound is not quite so straightforward.

        The Eastern Kentucky Heritage Monument will not be the first modern wind harp. There are a number of precedents.

        The Saint Louis Science Center, Dallas Arboretum, The Denver Communications Building and the Port of San Diego, and others, have small wind harp sculptures- up to fifteen feet tall. The Great Puget Sound Wind Harp is twenty-six feet tall. Ours will be over twice that big.

        The Eastern Kentucky Heritage Monument will have the three largest Wind Harps in the world.

Professor Henry Gurr

        Dr. Henry Gurr, Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of South Carolina-Aiken, has graciously agreed to act as a consultant on our project. Professor Gurr is a nationally recognized expert in Aoelian Harps. His web site is:    http://www.usca.edu/math/~mathdept/hsg/   After reaching his University Web Page, scroll down and click "Aoelian Harp."

The first picture is of the Venture Grant Harp. The next shows Professor Gurr showing placement of electronic transducer pickups on the harp. These pictures are from his website.

Rodney Carroll     

http://www.rodneycarroll.com   

        Rodney Carroll is an amazing artist. After reaching his web sight, go to the "sculptures" link and click on the picture with the three red spires. The following picture and text are from his website.

Wind Harps
1993, aluminum, painted steel, stainless steel, H-30', L-18', W-10',
Damascus Regional Park, Damascus, Maryland

Wind Harps are wind activated sound sculptures. Each of the three aluminum moons has five tuned wires, which vibrate with the wind. The tones and sounds vary with changes in wind speed. You may stand in the arched columns and hear the wind vibrate like a distant harpsichord in a conch shell. http://www.rodneycarroll.com/viewall.html

NF/ Observatory  

    The NF/ Observatory has built two marvelous wind harps. The first can be seen at www.nfo.edu/harp.htm  The second, which is on a bearing and rotates, can be found at http://nfo.edu/tempestsong.htm 

The second NF/O harp is called Tempest Song.

(The following is from the NF/O web site. There is more interesting information on their sites) 

This is our second Windharp.  The first one was built in 1998 and stands in the Mimbres Valley, in southwest New Mexico.  It was noticed by Jim Long, who is building "Traditions", a New Mexico Marketplace, which features New Mexico art and products.  "Traditions" will open August 5th, 2000, with a Grand Opening at the end of September. Jim commissioned us to build this harp.

Tempest Song rotates with the wind and has a venturi type wind scoop at the front to funnel high speed wind over the strings.  There are 45 strings tuned to C, D, Eb, G, and Bb in three octaves.  It stands 24 feet high and weighs about 3000 pounds.  The bearing is from a semi truck.  It was designed and built by Bill Neely and Bob Griesing in June and July of 2000.  A pictorial of the construction and installation are also available. "Traditions" and the harp are located at the Budager's exit, half way between Albuquerque and Santa Fe off Interstate 25.  Once you are there, the harp is very easy to find.  

Ron Konzak

http://www.konzak.com/windharp/whlinks.html  

        Ron Konzak is the dreamer, designer and builder, with friends, of the Great Puget Sound Wind Harp. This site contains a wealth of information about wind harps in general as well as this one in particular. Furthermore, if you appreciate people who work with their hands, their head and their heart, Ron and his website offer a lot of inspiration. The following pictures and text are from his site.

The Great Puget Sound Wind Harp      

Wilds Wind Harp

http://www.yourradioplace.com/wildsharp.htm 

http://www.sonicarchitecture.com/html_data/env/wpavilion/wpavilion.htm

The following is from the Wilds web site. Really cool!

Aeolian Harp at the International Center for Wild Animals (the Wilds), a 9000 acre wildlife refuge in Central Ohio. Zanesville, Ohio off Route 78 between Columbus and Pittsburgh. Call (614)-638-5030 for information.
The work offers shelter and seating for visitors as they listen to the sounds of the wind. The cedar pavilion reflects the shape of the octagonal earth mound at the Hopewell Indian site in Newark, Ohio. Eight copper and teakwood harps are tensioned with stainless steel strings. Built in collaboration with Skip Stander and Charles Bremer.

The harp transforms wind energy into musical sounds known as aeolian tones, named after Aeolus, the god of wind in Greek mythology. The wind harp is one of the oldest musical instruments discovered by man. According to legend, King David hung his harp in an open window and heard it played by the wind. In more recent times, aeolian tones can be heard singing from telephone and power lines.

When an aeolian harp string is activated by the wind, the fundamental is never sounded, only the overtone series. Wind velocity is directly related to the pitch heard by the listener; the greater the wind speed, the higher the activated overtone. The resulting tones have a shimmering, ringing quality.

In accordance with the laws of fluid dynamics, when air flows past a cylinder (in this case, a string), it sheds vortices to either side. These are shed alternatingly in a stable and regularly repeating pattern. When the frequency of this oscillation matches the frequency to which the string is tuned, an aeolian tone will result. The string always vibrates in a direction perpendicular to the wind.

Other Sites of Interest

http://www.windgallery.com/wind.htm   This great site offers some very interesting and artistic uses of the wind to make musical tones. The wind organs are particularly fascinating.

http://www.waldenwinds.com/   If you are interested in buying a small wind harp, definitely take a look at this site.

http://www.harmonicwindharps.com/  This is another great site if you are interested in purchasing a small, medium, or "grand" wind harp. Greg has been making Aeolian Harps for over two decades. Good general info, too.

The following websites contain general information about Wind Harps.

http://users.argonet.co.uk/artlute/aeol.html

http://members.aol.com/woinem1/index/eolsharf.htm

http://w1.neuronnexion.com/~dferment/ukplasto.htm  This site has directions for making a plastic bottle wind organ. This would be a great science/art project for elementary school students.