How the arched harp makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the arched harp belongs to the harps: strings run at an angle away from the soundboard, each plucked open.
More broadly it is one of the chordophones (string instruments), where sound comes from vibrating strings, amplified by a resonating body.
Its timbre – the colour that lets you tell it apart from other instruments playing the same note – comes from the mix of overtones its body and resonator emphasise.
From Wikipedia
Arched harps is a category in the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system for musical instruments, a type of harp. The instrument may also be called bow harp. With arched harps, the neck forms a continuous arc with the body and has an open gap between the two ends of the arc (open harps).
Arched harps are probably the most ancient form of the harp, evolving from the musical bow. The first bowed harps appeared around 3000 B.C. in Iran and Mesopotamia and then in Egypt. India may have had the instrument as early as Mesopotamia.
Other harps
Frequently asked questions
What does an arched harp sound like?
As one of the harps, its sound comes from the way strings run at an angle away from the soundboard, each plucked open.
What type of instrument is the arched harp?
It is classified as harps (Hornbostel–Sachs 322.11).
Sources & credits
- Wikidata Q55724865 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Arched harp – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Unknown, Metropolitan Museum of Art placed on their site as public domain. – CC0 1.0