Patent Application
20250201212
This invention generally relates to harp style musical instruments having a rigid frame supporting an array of tensioned strings or wires which vibrate when plucked or strummed.
Most extant harps are strung in a repeating diatonic scale with seven strings per octave the same as playing only white keys or naturals on a piano: c, d, e, f, g, a, b, c . . . . However most extant music is written with at least one of five chromatic notes not included in a diatonic scale and represented as the black keys or sharps on a piano: c♯, d♯, f♯, g♯, a♯. The most common solution to this problem is to temporarily alter the speaking length of certain strings via a mechanism attached to the neck of the harp which comes in contact with the strings when engaged. Pedal harps use a set of rotating disks mounted near the top of each string attached to an array of seven, foot operated pedals. Pedal harps are generally very large, heavy, and expensive, therefore not a practical option for beginners, novices, or those with disabilities. Lever harps use a plurality of hand operated levers attached to the neck wherein a lever is mounted near the top of each string just below the bridge pins. To use a lever harp, a harpist sets a series of levers into the up position to sharpen the pitch of certain strings before playing a song that requires sharps. There are many songs however that require the harpist to change lever positions while playing because both sharps and naturals using the same string are needed. This is somewhat difficult because it requires one hand and one eye momentarily away from the playing position to operate a lever. Additionally, neither lever harps nor pedal harps can play natural notes and sharp notes on the same string simultaneously.
A double strung harp is constructed with two identical rows of strings running parallel to each other, some of which acting as sharps, however many harpists find this arrangement difficult to play because from the sight line of the player with the harp leaning on their right shoulder it is difficult to focus the eyes on just one row of strings at a time. A cross strung harp has two rows of strings mounted perpendicular to each other so that the two rows of strings cross in between each other in an x pattern running from top to bottom. In a cross strung harp, one row of strings is all naturals and the other row of strings is all sharps, allowing any note to be played on either side of the harp with either hand, however like the double strung harp there is a line of sight disadvantage, as well as the need to change hand angle frequently. The sharp strings on a cross strung harp are not evenly spaced and this affects playing smoothness on glissandos. Both double strung and cross strung harps struggle with resonance because the sound box that anchors the strings must be more rigid to handle the combined tension of two rows of strings anchored to a single panel of wood.
Chromatic strung harps have all twelve chromatic notes in an octave in order on a single row of strings. This however makes the instrument more difficult to play for several reasons, first because it adds an extra five strings in an octave making it difficult to reach an octave with one hand, second it makes clean sounding glissandos in any key signature impossible because too many notes are played at once when sliding a finger across a section of strings. Third it requires a different technique than a standard harp to play a diatonic scale. Autoharps are tuned this way with a chromatic row of strings but they require rows of dampers mounted on wooden bars to mute unwanted strings when strummed in a specific scale, and autoharps can only be played from one side.
Most extant harp frames are built with a column on the front side, a neck on the top, and one string anchoring panel or soundbox on the back side. The three members form a triangular shaped profile. The longest strings are at the front, and the shortest strings are at the back.
The present invention is a harp string and frame arrangement wherein evenly spaced strings are arranged by length into two concurrent arrays: a first array of strings increasing in length and decreasing in vibrating frequency progressively from back to front, and a second array running in line with the first array decreasing in length and increasing in vibrating frequency progressively from back to front. This arrangement allows a harpist to play diatonic or pentatonic glissandos, as well as play any note in a chromatic scale with either hand without the absolute necessity of using string sharping mechanisms, or changing hand angle. Because the strings are in line with each other there is no visual confusion. This style of harp has a shield shaped profile and so the inventor refers to it as a shield harp. The shield harp allows beginning and advanced harp players an affordable, portable, and intuitive instrument that can easily play any note desired in a chromatic scale. In one embodiment, the back array of strings is arranged in a diatonic musical scale, and the front array of strings is arranged in a pentatonic musical scale. The two scales when played alternately by string length play a non consecutive chromatic scale. The shield harp is typically constructed having a heater battle shield shaped profile with a curved neck and a V shaped hollow sound box wherein the neck is connected to the soundbox at both ends without a column being needed in between. The sound box is constructed with two string anchoring panels which are mounted at perpendicular angles to each other in between two side panels. The string anchoring panels do not directly touch each other, having a gap in between them at their base so they may vibrate in opposing directions simultaneously without impeding each other. The shield harp is scalable to different ranges of notes and can be constructed with the two arrays of strings mounted either in line with each other, or offset from each other, or curved for improved ergonomics. It can also be constructed with a solid body and electric pick ups for amplification if desired.
A harp having two arrays of strings 1,2, that are mounted in line with each other held in place by a frame having a shield shaped profile. The inventor refers to this invention as a shield harp, though it could also be shaped to resemble a kite with less curved edges.
The shield harp is constructed with the front array of strings 2 in reverse order by vibrating frequency to the back array of strings 1 so that the longest and lowest pitch strings of both arrays 1,2, are near the center of the harp, and the shortest and highest pitch strings are near the front and back.
One embodiment of this invention which has been built has thirty-seven strings, is approximately 8″ wide, 38″ tall and 30″ long with all the strings spaced approximately 14 mm apart. The two string anchoring panels 6&12, the front panel 8, bottom panel 10, and the back panel 11 are made of cut sheets of ¼″ plywood which are mounted to the side panels 9 made of ½″ thick plywood. Top panels 13 are made from ½″ thick plywood and mounted across the tops of side panels 9. All the panels permanently mounted together 6,8,9,10,11,12,13 form a V shaped resonant hollow soundbox 14. The string anchoring panels 6&12 are mounted with a vertical gap 7 in between them so that they can vibrate perpendicular to each other without impeding each other. The neck 5 is made of 1.5″ thick plywood and is permanently mounted at both ends to the soundbox 14. The neck 5 has holes drilled through it to accept tuning pins 3 and bridge pins 4. The tuning pins 3 are inserted through the neck 5 so that the strings are attached on the left side of neck 5 and a tuning lever is attached on the right side of neck 5. Bridge pins 4 are pressed tightly into the drilled holes. Nylon strings are made having a knot at the bottom end and are inserted through string sized holes drilled in the center of anchor panels 6&12 of the soundbox 14. Strings for the notes c and c♯ are tinted red. Strings for the notes f and f♯ are tinted blue. For the back array of strings 1, after passing through the rear anchor panel 12, the strings are deflected forward by the bridge pins 4 before being attached to the back side of the tuning pins 3. For the front array of strings 2 comprising a pentatonic scale, after passing through the front anchor panel 6, the strings are deflected backward by the bridge pins 4 before being attached to the back side of the tuning pins 3. The tuning pins 3 for both arrays of strings 1&2 are turned clockwise using a tuning key or lever to tighten the strings to the correct tension. To play the shield harp, a harp player sits or stands behind the back side with their right shoulder centered on the frame, then reaches forward with either hand to pluck strings from either side as desired.
One alternate method of constructing this harp is using guitar type tuning machines instead of tuning pins. The strings are threaded up through the center of the neck instead of up the side. Another alternate method of construction is to use electronic pickups to amplify the sound instead of using a hollow sound box, wherein the lower section of the harp is solid instead of hollow, and has electric pickups mounted near the string anchor points. Said embodiment would be approximately 4″ wide instead of 8″, but still maintain the same heater shield shaped profile, and be played in the same manner.
The shield harp can vary greatly in overall size depending on the number of octaves desired. Prototypes of this harp have been designed and built by the inventor with two octave, three octave, and four octave ranges having twenty-five strings, thirty-seven strings, and forty-nine strings respectively. The two arrays of strings 1&2 can be installed in an unbroken line with each other, or they can be slightly offset or curved for improved ergonomics without deviating from the general frame profile or string arrangement.
