The earliest harps probably developed from hunting bows and consisted of a few strings attached to the ends of a curved wooden body. A harp used in Egypt about five thousand years ago consisted of six strings attached to this kind of body with small wooden pegs. By 2500 B.C. , the Greeks used large harps, consisting of strings attached to two straight pieces of wood which met at an angle.
By the ninth century, frame harps, which enclosed wire strings within a triangular wooden frame, appeared in Europe. They were fairly small [2-4 ft (0.6-1.2 meters) high] and were used by traveling musicians, particularly in Celtic societies. Many performers of traditional music (who are usually known as harpers rather than harpists) still use this type of instrument today.
The inability of these harps to play accidentals (notes a half-tone higher or lower than the notes of the scale to which the strings were tuned) led to a number of experiments. Harps were built with extra strings to play accidentals, either by increasing the number of strings in a single row or by adding a second row of strings parallel to the first to form double strung harps. In Wales, some harps had three rows of strings.
Instead of increasing the number of strings, some harpmakers devised mechanisms for changing the length of the strings, thereby adjusting the pitch. By the end of the seventeenth century, hooks were used in the Tyrol region of Austria to shorten strings as needed, providing two notes from each string. In 1720, Celestin Hochbrucker added seven pedals to control these hooks. In 1750, Georges Cousineau replaced the hooks with pairs of metal plates and doubled the number of pedals to produce three notes per string.
In 1792, Sébastien Érard replaced the metal plates with rotating brass disks bearing two studs, each of which gripped the string like a fork when the disk turned. He also reduced the number of pedals back to seven by devising pedals which could occupy three different positions each. Érard's design is still used in modern concert harps today. In the late nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth century, innovations were made in harpmaking by the American harp manufacturing company Lyon and Healy. These innovations included redesigning the stave back and the sound chamber of the harp
The earliest harps probably developed from hunting bows and consisted of a few strings attached to the ends of a curved wooden body. A harp used in Egypt about five thousand years ago consisted of six strings attached to this kind of body with small wooden pegs. By 2500 B.C. , the Greeks used large harps, consisting of strings attached to two straight pieces of wood which met at an angle. By the ninth century, frame harps, which enclosed wire strings within a triangular wooden frame, appeared in Europe. They were fairly small [2-4 ft (0.6-1.2 meters) high] and were used by traveling musicians, particularly in Celtic societies. Many performers of traditional music (who are usually known as harpers rather than harpists) still use this type of instrument today. The inability of these harps to play accidentals (notes a half-tone higher or lower than the notes of the scale to which the strings were tuned) led to a number of experiments. Harps were built with extra strings to play accidentals, either by increasing the number of strings in a single row or by adding a second row of strings parallel to the first to form double strung harps. In Wales, some harps had three rows of strings. Instead of increasing the number of strings, some harpmakers devised mechanisms for changing the length of the strings, thereby adjusting the pitch. By the end of the seventeenth century, hooks were used in the Tyrol region of Austria to shorten strings as needed, providing two notes from each string. In 1720, Celestin Hochbrucker added seven pedals to control these hooks. In 1750, Georges Cousineau replaced the hooks with pairs of metal plates and doubled the number of pedals to produce three notes per string. In 1792, Sébastien Érard replaced the metal plates with rotating brass disks bearing two studs, each of which gripped the string like a fork when the disk turned. He also reduced the number of pedals back to seven by devising pedals which could occupy three different positions each. Érard's design is still used in modern concert harps today. In the late nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth century, innovations were made in harpmaking by the American harp manufacturing company Lyon and Healy. These innovations included redesigning the stave back and the sound chamber of the harp
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..
