The concept I wanted to develop into a realised product and experience was an Aeolian Harp constructed from found objects and hidden in natural environment near an urban space. This would then produce sound as the wind travels across the instrument producing notes which can be heard nearby. The sounds would then entice people to explore the natural space and discover the source of the sound. The aim of this is to help people in cities reconnect with nature and the environment by introducing a small secluded experience in a small pocket away from the cars and streets.

The process of creating this harp and experience concept required lots of development, prototyping and ongoing research. I began by making very simple mock-ups of how the strings would be positioned across the instrument. The first made using scraps of cardboard and twine was made solely to visualise the string configuration in 3 dimensions while the second, made from wire and a pencil, was a very small step forward as it produced sound when the ‘string’ was plucked.

The following prototypes focused on producing sound through acoustics and adding tension to the strings. Using wire, cardboard and a cut open drinks can, the next prototype intended to test whether the addition of an acoustic body increased the volume of the instrument. By placing the can behind the string and removing it, I concluded that although subtle, there was a volume increase with the can present. Moving forward, I wanted to see if adding tension to the wire I had would increase the volume of the instrument and affect the pitch. By screwing the wire to a piece of plywood and adding batteries and pens underneath to act as bridges, the string made a louder and higher pitched noise when plucked. It was here that I discovered the flaw in the wire I used. While quite strong, the single core aluminium wire stretched over time meaning that it wouldn’t last long at all on the final prototype. Luckily, I was able to pick up worn out, second hand cello strings.

I then wanted to create a functioning Aeolian prototype before moving onto any final design where I would have to consider the materials I had to hand. I started by looking up DIY and home made designs online and found the most basic shape that could be made was a long board with fishing line stretched across the length with nails. I constructed one with a scrap piece of MDF and some small nails, which I stretched fishing line across as tight as possible. Through tests I discovered that although the ‘strings’ made noise when plucked, the wind had no effect on them, even after adding pens and pieces of plastic as bridges to add more tension. Through more research, I discovered that an even simpler version could be made with a cardboard box. This time I followed an instructional video in an attempt to get a first functioning model. Despite this, I could not get the strings to be played by the wind. I tried many different troubleshooting solutions such as a wind shield to ensure the wind was blowing perpendicular to the strings and adding acoustic holes but to no avail.

I wasn’t sure where to proceed from this point, with my initial idea not working and time pressing on and so I decided to start to modify my concept into something I could make function.

Through some last research on Aeolian Harps, I found that for the wind to play an instrument, the length of the strings is very important, functioning best at much longer lengths between 4 and 10 feet long. I knew I couldn’t create anything nearly to that scale in the given time and felt it best to move forward with another idea.