Aeolian Harp

How To Build An Aeolian Wind Harp With Plans And Illustrations

These are rather pleasant things in the summer, as when the wind blows, they murmur and hum and sing. If you wish to make an aeolian harp, first decide where you will have it, whether in the open window, in place of one of the panes, or in a fanlight or ventilator opening; any opening that the wind has access to will do.

Then make a wooden frame to fit the opening. Make it fairly stiff with a top and bottom of hardwood; onto this frame glue a very thin sheet of wood having two openings in it, similar to those in a violin. This thin sheet must be flush with the outside of the window, so that the frame projects into the room.

(A screen can be fastened behind the two openings to prevent unwanted insects from entering the room.)

Now, get some screw-eyes and screw them halfway into the top and bottom of the frame, close to the back. The number used is a matter of taste; the more strings there are, the louder the harp.

To these screw-eyes, stretch gut strings, similar to those used for violins and banjos. Fasten them tightly and put two bridges under them of sufficient height so that the strain comes on the bridges, then screw up the eyes until you have sufficient tension; the tighter the strings the higher the note; they may be of various tensions or tuned to one note. --E. A. McCann

A species of musical instrument, the sounds of which are produced by currents of air passing over its strings, commonly fifteen in number. Its principle may be familiarly shown on a large scale by the action of the telegraph wires stretched from one pole to another. On a windy day especially these will be found, by anyone stationed near, to emit low musical tones rising and falling in proportion to the strength of the wind, and more or less silent in proportion to the tension of the wires. Were the of wires increased, and their length and tension properly varied, these would constitute a perfect Aeolian.



A common mode of construction is to make a box of thin wood and of suitable length, to set beneath a window sash. It may be five or six inches in width and depth. At one end of the box are pins equal in number to the strings employed, and at the other as many pegs; the strings, being made fast to the pins at one end, are tuned by turning the pegs at the other.

The box is open on the sides presented towards the room and to the exterior air, and the strings are sounded by the passage of the air over the box. Catgut is usually employed for the strings.

It is supposed to have been invented by John J. Schnell, musical instrument maker to the Countess d'Artois. It was suggested by the vibration of the strings of a harp placed in a breezy situation. It was exposed for sale in 1789 under the name of Anemo Chorde. Its use was revived by Kircher.

The Babylonian Talmud says that the harp of David sounded when the north wind blew on it, and it has been suggested that he had an Aeolian, as we understand it. The sounding of his harp by a gust of wind would be nothing extraordinary if it stood near his north window, which was probably open for air and chosen for its coolness and shade in the climate of Judaea.

Of very thin cedar, pine, or other soft woods make a box 5 or 6 inches deep, 7 or 8 inches wide, and of a length just equal to the width of the window sill in which it is to be placed.

Across the top, near each end, glue a strip of wood half an inch high and a quarter of an inch thick, for bridges.

Into the ends of the box insert wooden pins, like those of a violin, to wind the strings around, two pins in each end.

Make a sound-hole in the middle of the top, and string the box with small cat gut, or blue first-fiddle strings. Fastening one end of each string to a metallic pin in one end of the box, and, carrying it over the bridges, wind it around the turning-pin in the opposite end of the box.

The ends of the box should be increased in thickness where the wooden pins enter, by a piece of wood glued upon the inside.

Tune the strings in unison and place the box in the window. It is better to have four strings, as described, but a harp with a single string produces an exceedingly sweet melody of notes, which vary with the force of the wind.

Have You Made An Aeolian Harp?

Please tell us about your Aeolian Harp. Share what it's like, how you made it, where you place it, how you like its sound, listener's reactions to it, and so on. We would love to hear from you!

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