Hello to those who have ever thought about making their own musical instrument. After over 30 years of playing the harp, I am now taking part in a small work shop, in which we make our own 26-string para-celtic harps, using a template design from harp maker Andy Rigby of Australia.
This work shop is being run by an enthusiastic lady called Gabriella Malik here in Christchurch, New Zealand, who herself has already made quite a number of harps. Determined not to let government funding cuts to community classes stop us, Gabriella has been quite resourceful in finding ways to keep costs to a minimum, by sourcing the best priced plywood, arranging for someone to cut the main pieces out, and making her house and garage available for us to work in.
Today is day one, being Easter Monday 5 April 2010. Not all of the six work shop participants could make it due to other commitments, however once again, due to Gabriella’s flexibility and willingness to make it work, each will be able to start and receive her help on days that suit them.
Drawing of the shapes in the sound box piece
I arrived at Gabriella’s house to find her, along with two other participants, David and Scott, drawing the holes for the back of the sound box piece. It’s important to have these holes, as they will allow us to string the harp later on in our project. The holes can be any shape we like, but have to be of a practical size; they can’t be too large and close together as that will compromise the sturdiness of the harp.
The two men’s shapes in the sound box piece were a bit more adventurous than mine; I opted for a simple set of progressively smaller curved diamond shapes going up the board. Drawn freehand, but trying to space it out as evenly as possible, leaving plenty of room on either side, as well as down the bottom and up the top.
It was useful having a few of Gabriella’s previously made harps there to look at, and she was able to show us, for example, why not not to have a hole too close to the bottom, because later on, a block of wood will need to be placed at the bottom of the box (for support I think), and it’s not necessary to see this. Apart from that, it’s always encouraging to see possible end results of what will take a bit of patience, perseverance and hard work. And new learning!
It was my first go using an electric powered jigsaw today. I started out using a hand jigsaw, which made for a very jagged first shape. Once I tried the electric one, I knew that I wouldn’t be using the hand one if I could help it! Quite a bit of control needed there though, with this powerful tool, along with knowing where best to start (you drill a hole in the middle of the shape first), and how to approach the outline and then join it and follow it along, without going too far!! I must admit that I did need help with the smoothing out of the shapes at the end.
Using the electric jigsaw to cut holes in the sound box piece
Having cut out the shapes in the back piece of the sound box, we were sent home with a coarse grade of sand paper to smooth out the holes, which was best done outside, so as not to create “divorce dust” as one man put it!
Apparently this was one of the more trickier parts of making the harp. Next step will be to glue all the pieces together.
Stage One complete! The shaped holes in the back of the sound box.
