The Portland daily press., 1891-12-01
OUR BOYS.
the EoLiAN HARP.
wha.itis and How !. Is Made.

Edmund Collins in Cincinnati Commercially
There is not boy anywhere. If he ha:
patience and little skill, who cannot
make his own aOllan harps. Let him cui
this article out, follow carefully the in
structions given, and he will not fall
Before proceeding to description, may
say that this harp is continuance named
after AeOlus, who was believed by thu
ancients to preside over the winds, ant
whose abode was supposed to be in thu
Islands lying between Italy and Sicily. In
those olden days there was general belief
that the god of the winds and his minis.
trants were the authors of many musical
sounds, so when Athanasius Kircher, in
the seventeenth century, invented the
musical box, he named it in Difference to
the ancient belief. the Aeollan harp, or the
harp OF Aeolus, because it was played by
the wind.
All needed to make an Aeolian harp are
few dry boards of some light seasoned
wood, such as white pine or white cedar
and 1t should not be more than an eighth OF
an inch thick. AS the harp should be
placed in the window so that the wind, OF
even the draughts, passing into the house OF
out OF It may move the strings; the box
should be the width of the sill, and the
window ought to rest upon 1t when down.
The board should be Of even grain, per-
iectly sound and seasoned ana without
knots, Care should be taken to plane il
evenly. making all the surfaces as smooth
as possible, Tor the smoother the surface is
made, the better will be the sound, as In
the case with violiDs. A square anu a fine
tooth saw are also necessary.
When the boards are plaued, cut the
longer ones of a length equal to the width
widow 10 .,al- .&l.-
box. 1t ought to be about five inches thick
and about four or five inches deep. The
sides and ends should fit as closely as pos
slble together, for slovenly work in this re-
spect VIII retard the sound 1t is best to
use wooden pegs to put the box together,
tnougn nave seen many good instruments
which have been fastened with nails
The holes should be carefully bored with
small brad-awl. for If any Of the boards
are split the sounding capacity of the box
Will be injured. Most of the boxes, how
ever. are fastened together with glue, and
also with peg, and am pretty sure that
these give better sOu0d than those having
nails OF pegs only but putting them to-
Rether requires great care. All parts should
be fastened carefully and firmly together
till the glue Is dry, and good plan would
be to first connect the sides, ends and the
bottom. and when they are firm to put on
the top or chief sounding board. The
principle as the violin, and this is why the
top OF the box is called the sounding board.
The box, completed, made solid ard Gloss
In the Joints, the next step is to put on
bridges on which the strings must rest.
These bridges should consist Of beech, oak,
LOCKWOOD, or some other description of
hard wood, about half an inch high and a
quarter of an inch thick. the strips long
enough to extend across the box, short
distance from the end. These two strips
serve the same purpose as the bridge of a
violin. the strings being drawn over them
from end to end of the box. In the center
OF the top or sounding board draw with a
half In diameter, and perforate the circle
with a number of small and carefully made
holes short distance apart. Holes may
all be made within the circle.
IL Is necessary also to put ON two other
strips, one across each end of the box, on
the outside, and on level with the top of
sounding board, and into ole of these are
placed as many small brass pins as there
are to be strings in the Instrument.
In the other strip bore a corresponding
number CT holes, which should be large,
and make hardwood pegs to fit into these,
The pegs should be arranged like those in
a guitar or violin, and made to fit tight, so
that when the peg is turned to tune the in
strument 1t will remain firm.
1t must be borne in mind, however, that
the strings should not be made too tight,
for If they are they will not sound. The
the box, set 1t In breezy window, and
note the amount of tension that gives the
best sound.
The finest catgut strings are generally
used. and they can be obtained at the store
OF nearly any music dealer. Four is the
smallest number used, but six, eight, or
even more, may be stretched along tie box,
and should be SO arranged as to form a
harmony of sounds. The music dealer can
explain this; but when the strings are put
In you Will have to trust TO your own ear to
tune the harp. The strings should be
pitched all In the same key, though high,
low and middle notes may be used.
The box Is now nearly finished, but one
thing more remains to be done, and this is
to put a thin cover made of sound, dry, re-
sonant board, about three inches above the
top OF the box, so that the wind may be
able to course over the strings. Four stout
wooden pegs should be glued on to the
corners Of the box, and to these the BOARD
must be fastened firmly. Some fasten on
the upper or covering board with glue, but
others attach II with pegs, which are made
tight on top driving in small wedges.
The Aeolian harp Is now competed and
ready to place in the window. When the
frame closes down 1t should fit evenly
along the surface Of the cover board so
that the air passing in and out may blow
through over the strings and put them Ia
motion. The box should be placed no.
where except where there is a draught.
If catgut strings can net be obtained, an
Aeolian harp may be made by following
the instructions given ard using silk
threads. Heavy threads are sometimes
used for the bass strings Of low keys, and
fine thread for the high notes. once, after
great care, succeeded In finishing an in
strument for which l could not obtain cat
gut, and 1t gave forth continuous strain
of sweet musical sounds.
The harps should not be left on the win
dow during rain or snow-storms, for the
strings shrink with tn. wet and the wood
will get soggy. good plan is to take it in
at night, loosen the strings and tune it up
by turning the pegs before putting it in
the window. l have seen as many as halt
dozen harps in one house, some being put
in bedroom windows, one in the dining
room and one in the drawing-rO0m, the
latter being vanished and more ornamen-
tai than the others.
With little patience and care any boy
can. construct an Aeoian harp and have
music as the wind wills II, the year round,