MEEX wrote:
Apple, I've thought of a workaround for part 2 of my plans, and can seal the ends, with some electric gubbins inside. This won't hurt, will it?
All I'm thinking of doing is adding a fibre-optic "Willow" to the top of the harp, I think it would complement it really well...
Ummm..... No. You need to have the ends open for the sound to come out.
Right, as I understand it the way this works is when the wind blows across the strings, some of the air goes above, and some below. When it does this one side will flow everso slightly faster then the other. As it does this it experiences a drop in pressure, which in turn slows the flow down. This causes the flow on the other side to become faster in comparison, and so the side the air is faster on alternates... very quickly of course. This in turn, 'twangs' the wire as it responds to the rushing air and changes in pressure. For this to work the strings must be under some tension, but not so tight as to prevent any movement.
The vibrations of the strings are carried though the bridges onto the ‘resonator’ which is normally a thin bit of wood, or in the case of the tube versions, drainpipe or bamboo. The vibration of the stings also encourage the other stings to move with them, because they should share the same resonant frequency.
The wood in the resonator (the tube or the top of the box) vibrates in sympathy with the strings. If the strings are tuned to the ‘resonant frequency’ of the main body of the harp this will increase the efficiency with which the resonator picks up the movement of the strings. The vibration of the wood moves the air inside the resonator, which creates the noise that comes out of the ‘sounding hole’ which can either be at the end of the tube or in the top of the ‘box harp’
Any of this made it easier to understand how to make a working version?
