Harp shown.  Thirty six nylon strung  Myrtle wood, electro-acoustic, with triggered red lasers and fiber optic lighting, set under clear rock crystals .

 

 I can build all my many different harp sizes and styles to be electric acoustic harps, by using a multi transducer array, that is attached to the inside of the harp soundboard.

Using four carefully placed piezo pickup elements, this system achieves a clean, focused, natural, and lush sound. The rich, full bass notes balance and blend with the clear, musical mids and high notes. It’s simply the sound of the harp, only bigger. This system works at any volume level, without feedback, which can be a concern with microphones alone, when playing at extreme high volumes or with other instruments.

The four (or three in the smaller array ), transducer elements are discreetly mounted inside the sound box of the harp. All wiring is neatly bundled and run through a cable conduit that terminates at a single 1/4-inch jack that’s flush-mounted in the back of the harp, making for true “plug and play” ease of use. A single guitar cable allows you to plug your harp straight into any amplifier and many PA systems with no preamp boxes or complicated connections.
If you are playing in situations requiring very high volumes, you’ll want to add a preamplifier to the system. In addition to boosting your signal, it will give you direct control over your volume and tone. With some amplifiers it will also sweeten and smooth out your sound.

I can install this transducer system for you in any of my Mountain Glen Harps for $395.00 for harps with 27 or more strings, and  for $375.00 ( for the smaller, three transducer array), in harps with 26 strings or fewer.

 The Harp Mic

To add additional depth to your performance or recordings I am pleased to offer the Dusty Strings Harp Mic as a versatile, effective tool for amplifying your Mountain Glen Harp.

Many harpists like the idea of an actual microphone because of the warm, natural, open, and spacious sound that only mics will give, until now there has not been one with a mounting system that worked well on the harp, or with electronics tailored to the harp’s unique sound. So this mic was developed with specialty microphone manufacturer Applied Microphone Technologies who designed one specifically for the harp.

The Harp Mic attach es to the back of the sound box by gently gripping the edges of one of the sound holes. This unique clamping design allows for mounting on nearly all the lever and pedal harps being made today. Unlike a microphone on a stand, the Harp Mic moves with your harp as you reposition it or tilt it back to play, keeping your sound consistent. It’s also discreet, out of your way and out of the audience’s view. It mounts quickly, with a few turns of a single knob, and uses no sticky tape or putty that can mar your harp’s finish. The microphone element extends out from the clamp on an extra-supple goose neck, making it easy to position in that "perfect" spot.

Since the Harp Mic is not permanently attached to your harp, you can easily switch it to other instruments. It can also come in handy for making voice announcements through your sound system. A 10-foot cord attach es to an included preamplifier, which can be powered by either a nine-volt battery or phantom power.

The Harp Mic sells for $599

Technical specifications for Harp Mic

Element	Condenser
Polar pattern	Cardioid
Frequency response	18 Hz - 20,000 Hz
Impedance	200 Ω
Phantom power	12 - 52 vDC
Max input SPL	138 dB
Goose neck length	6-3/4 in.
Weight	5.2 oz
Cable length	10 ft.
Battery	9V
Price	$599.00

MIDI Electric Harps

Mountain Glen MIDI Harps, can be built as solid body, or acoustic electric harps, with mixed mono audio out put, with any number of strings, from 25 up to 45.

MIDI is the digital language that electronic musical instruments communicate with. The important point to remember is that any brand or design of gear will work together, if it says MIDI on it.

Here is how my midi-Electric harps work:

An electronic message travels out through the cable to the synthesizer that you have connected the harp to. If you plucked middle C, the message will say "note 60- ON." When the vibration of the string stops, the harp will sense this and send out the message "note 60- OFF." As a bonus, additional information is sent at the same time telling the synthesizer how loud to play the note.

The nature of the sound you actually hear is dependent on your synthesizer or sampling device, and your amplifier and speaker setup. If you plug the harp into the back of an inexpensive keyboard synthesizer, you will hear the usual keyboard synthesized sounds when you play the harp. If you plug the harp into a newer rack mounted synthesizer, some very convincing sounds will be produced. Exciting possibilities result from plugging the harp into a computer that is running audio production software. It is possible to trigger high quality snippets of recorded sound in response to your string plucks. Of course, your computer must be connected to high quality sound equipment (amplifier and speakers) in order to realize the maximum effect.

The microprocessor circuit board that I use has 48 inputs, so  I can build  any size harp  up to 48 strings, with this system. The board senses electrical activity and intensity coming from each plucked string. No pitch recognition is involved, so there are no time delays.

There is a connection point for a sustain pedal, so these messages can also be sent from the harp. In addition to sustaining sounds, this tool is very useful in entering music directly into your computer, for publishing.

I am currently producing MIDI acoustic-electric harps with nylon or gut strings,  that have all three options- acoustic, electric, and midi controller. I can also build solid body harps that are both midi controllers and analog electric harps, but have no acoustic sound, except the sound that the strings will produce with no acoustic sound board. This system can be installed into any of my single string band custom harps, from 25 to 45 strings.

This system uses the DK individual string transducers, which produce a mixed mono audio signal, in addition to the MIDI signal. At this time, stereo audio output is not available with this MIDI system

I can build this system into any of my custom single string band, nylon or gut strung harps. The individual string transducers are too wide to fit into normal wire string spacing, though with wider finger-tip wire spacing, they will work.

Prices for MIDI Electric Harp systems

To add the MIDI Electric harp system to any of my custom harps, just add to my base prices the following additional costs:

Price for adding the MIDI processor board, to any  size  Mountain Glen harp...........................$1,500

Price for each individual string transducer, installed.........................................................................$26 per string

 Here are the prices for adding this sound system to just a few of the harp sizes that I can custom build for you.

Price for making one of my custom 42 string harps to be an acoustic -electric MIDI harp, add..........$2,592

Price for making one of my custom 36 string harps to be an acoustic -electric MIDI harp, add..........$2,436

Price for making one of my custom 29 string harps to be an acoustic -electric MIDI harp, add..........$2,254