Reinventing the autoharp

[Michael A. Clem]

I recently picked up a used autoharp (actually, a Rhythm Band
Caroler), and it's rather fun to play. I especially like how the
strings are reversed, so that it can be played on the lap or tabletop
without crossing the hands (and I understand that Oscar Schmidt makes
a similar model).
But I got to thinking. Most autoharps have 15 or 21 chords. My
Caroler has a whopping 27 chords on it. Even so, this puts certain
limitations on the musician.
If you're familiar with autoharps, then you already know how they
work: When you press the chord bar, all strings that are *not* part
of the chord are dampened, letting the player strum just the strings
in the chord. The player is limited by how many chord bars can be
fitted on the autoharp.
So why not take another approach? Instead of dampening unwanted
strings, why not have all strings already dampened and undampen the
desired strings?
Imagine a mini-keyboard setup with dampers held down against the
strings by some kind of spring setup. Press the "C" on the
mini-keyboard and it would release the dampers on all the "C" strings
on the autoharp, allowing just those strings to be strummed by the
other hand. Press C - E - G and there's your C major chord.
This setup would only require 12 damper bars (one for each note in
the chromatic octave) but would allow the musician to play an almost
unlimited number of chords (any chords or note clusters that they can
play with up to five fingers). Major and minor chords would be a
breeze, and 7ths, Major 7ths, Minor 7ths, even 6ths would be
relatively easy. Suspended or diminished chords could also be easily
fingered, as would note clusters, or other chord structures, such as
adding the 2nd, 9th or 11th.
Of course, the player would have to know a little more about chords
and how to finger them on a keyboard, but I think the advantage of
playing any kind of chord would make it worthwhile.

The big problem, of course, would be designing and making an easy
and reliable mechanism that would function as intended. I'm not an
engineer or even very good at making things, so I'm posting this to
the newsgroup in the hope that someone who is good at such things
might be interested in trying to make one.
If someone is interested, I'd be glad to discuss further details of
the idea to the best of my ability.


--Michael A. Clem
***@vigoris.net

[Rodney Myrvaagnes]

Post by Michael A. Clem
I recently picked up a used autoharp (actually, a Rhythm Band
Caroler), and it's rather fun to play. I especially like how the
strings are reversed, so that it can be played on the lap or tabletop
without crossing the hands (and I understand that Oscar Schmidt makes
a similar model).
But I got to thinking. Most autoharps have 15 or 21 chords. My
Caroler has a whopping 27 chords on it. Even so, this puts certain
limitations on the musician.
If you're familiar with autoharps, then you already know how they
work: When you press the chord bar, all strings that are *not* part
of the chord are dampened, letting the player strum just the strings
in the chord. The player is limited by how many chord bars can be
fitted on the autoharp.
So why not take another approach? Instead of dampening unwanted
strings, why not have all strings already dampened and undampen the
desired strings?
Imagine a mini-keyboard setup with dampers held down against the
strings by some kind of spring setup. Press the "C" on the
mini-keyboard and it would release the dampers on all the "C" strings
on the autoharp, allowing just those strings to be strummed by the
other hand. Press C - E - G and there's your C major chord.
This setup would only require 12 damper bars (one for each note in
the chromatic octave) but would allow the musician to play an almost
unlimited number of chords (any chords or note clusters that they can
play with up to five fingers). Major and minor chords would be a
breeze, and 7ths, Major 7ths, Minor 7ths, even 6ths would be
relatively easy. Suspended or diminished chords could also be easily
fingered, as would note clusters, or other chord structures, such as
adding the 2nd, 9th or 11th.
Of course, the player would have to know a little more about chords
and how to finger them on a keyboard, but I think the advantage of
playing any kind of chord would make it worthwhile.
The big problem, of course, would be designing and making an easy
and reliable mechanism that would function as intended. I'm not an
engineer or even very good at making things, so I'm posting this to
the newsgroup in the hope that someone who is good at such things
might be interested in trying to make one.
If someone is interested, I'd be glad to discuss further details of
the idea to the best of my ability.

It already exists, and I have often wondered why nobody uses it that
way. A fretted clavichord does exactly what you say. If you hold a
chord with your left hand, and strum the string band with your right,
it does exactly what you want. All the other strings are damped by the
listing.

It would probably work with an unfretted clavichord also, but there
would be a lot more damped strings getting scratched with each strum.

Best to use a pick so as not to get finger sweat on the brass strings,
which would corrode after a while.





Rodney Myrvaagnes J36 Gjo/a

"That idiot Leibniz, who wants to teach me about the infinitesimally small! Has he therefore forgotten that I am the wife of Frederick I? How can he imagine that I am unacquainted with my own husband?"