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Amplification of the harp's sound is an adventure as old as the instrument itself. The first musical amplifications were done by the musician's mouth alone, but advantageously replaced by a zither-like instrument with strings stretched across a palm stalk, and a resonating gourd fixed on the frame. In ancient times, this allowed the musician both to sing, and to accompany himself with a rudimentary instrument.
Throughout its ensuing and long evolution in the times leading up to the present, the harp got more and more strings and tension, aiming to augment musical possibilities as well as the power of the instrument's sound. What a long road travelled, from the “hunter-musician” to the concert grand harps of the 20th century!
photo: B.Price Harp construction has always benefited from innovations and new techniques from different epochs, and it is entirely natural that in the age of microphones and loudspeakers, and of modern folk, pop or rock music, certain foresighted harpists have sought to develop the amplification systems of their instrument to take their place in the music of their time.
For Camac Harps, innovation was a raison d’être of our very origin. It is, then, entirely logical that the electric harp became one of our main concern very early on.
The 1970s saw the rise of the folk-rock movement, and the arrival to the forefront of the scene of a musician who triggered public enthusiasm and fired the vocations of numerous future harpists: Alan Stivell. Alongside the growth of radio and recordings, concerts became more and more important: both in the biggest halls, and with a vogue for concerts in the open air. Amplifying the harp was therefore essential. In folk-rock, the group that accompanied Alan Stivell was composed of electric guitars, drums, and the loud Celtic instruments that are the pipes and Breton bombarde! The use of external microphones rapidly proved to be a solution doomed to failure. In practical terms, the sound pick-up could not technically be confined to the harp, and the other instruments around were forcibly also captured. Moreover, even at quite a limited sound level, feedback hugely complicated the task of sound engineers.
The idea hence followed of putting a microphone directly in the sound box, which gave a more precise result. This was followed by the development of a system of one or several contact microphones, installed in the wood of the soundboard. At this time of great effervescence and democratisation of musical practice, there were many new products, and innovation in the field of electronic instruments in full flight. Camac, which at its outset concerned itself with the importation and trade of musical instruments as well as manufacture, was perfectly-informed of the latest developments. A collaboration began between Joël Garnier and Alan Stivell, initially to develop amplification in Shadow guitar microphones.
At the same time, parallel to Camac's work, the Salvi firm should be acknowledged for their development of the first amplified pedal harp (an electro-acoustic model thereafter abandoned in favour of the Lyon & Healy electric harp), which had microphones in the soundboard. In order to limit feedback and buckling of the sound box, dampers made the soundboard less resonant. It was the first step towards the mass production of an amplified harp, and many are those who recall the avant-garde musical experiences that one could realise thanks to it. The harpist Deborah Henson-Conant's work with this instrument also contributed greatly to the development of jazz harp.
Equally notable is the research individual harpists have carried out in the field of amplification, especially Andreas Vollenweider, who enjoys global success. Thanks to his amplified harp, he has probably become the most famous harpist in the world! Unfortunately, his research never emerged in an instrument available to the general public.
After some years, and despite certain advances in electro-acoustic harps, the technical solutions satisfied neither harpist, nor manufacturer. Feedback and external noises occurred too often, according to the placing of pick-ups in the harp, or the configuration of speakers on the stage. So the idea formed to create a harp that didn't have any sound box at all. The project was set in motion to construct a new “solid-body” harp, with neither a sound box nor soundboard, and equipped with a piezoelectric microphone on each string. This system of pick-up is very different from a magnetic microphone of an electric guitar type, and has been retained for its pure sound and round timbre, giving a very natural result. A piezoelectric pick-up is placed at the base of and mechanically coupled to each string. It reacts to the pressure variations induced by the the string's vibrations and produces a very low-impact electrical voltage. All that remains to do is to route this voltage to the input of an amplifier, in turn connected to a loudspeaker, to get back the original signal in form of an amplified acoustic wave.
It was at the very beginning of the 1980s that this new instrument saw the light of day: christened “Electroharp”, the electric harp was born. This 36-string harp was used by Alan Stivell in his disc “Harpes du Nouvel Age”, in which he plays on several amplified harps according to the different techniques of the time. The Electroharp was presented by the harpist Kristen Nogues at the World Harp Congress in Jerusalem, and at the same time was adopted with well-known success by the famous Scottish harpists Patsy Seddon and Mary MacMaster.
This new instrument rapidly became a Camac best-seller: harpists waited eagerly to get their hands on it, in particular among the younger generation. Without amplification, the harp was also mute, and this allowed musicians the most innovative and experimental usages in the realm of sound processing and special effects. The clean sound and incomparable purity of the amplification opened up extraordinary musical worlds to the most avant-garde harpists!
At the end of the 1980s, Camac had gone into production of pedal harps. Some harpists had also broken the news to Joël Garnier of their desire for an electric harp, but with pedals, and which offered them the same possibilities of the renowned Electroharp. Joël Garnier wanted to go even further: his vision was not to build a big sister for the Electroharp, but to create a new harp concept. Whereas the Electroharp is a “solid-body” harp, his intuition was that the musical possibilities of a new harp would be much more interesting if it were possible to combine the natural acoustic harp sound with the power and precisionof an electronic one. This “acoustic-electric” idea once conceived, it was not long before it was made concrete. Under the direction of Joël Garnier, Camac technicians were able to install the Electroharp's pick-up system in a concert harp sound box. The result was simply extraordinary and surpassed the expectations of harpists, so great and wide-ranging were the capabilities of the new instrument. When not plugged in, the harp is an entirely traditional instrument. But when connected to an amplification system, the palette of musical possibilities extends into infinity, from a discreet bolstering of the sound to the wildest sonic experiences.
The grand premiere of this harp took place at the World Harp Congress in Paris in 1990. The Camac Harps stand rapidly became the main attraction of the harp manufacturer's exhibition, where an extraordinary harp was enthroned - equally unmissable because it was blue! In the rather tame, conservative and small world of the concert harp, a certain audacity created an electroshock! Beyond the harp's visual and sonic provocation, its interpretative possibilities were so interesting that the two stars of the "pop and jazz concert" could not resist using it. Harvi Griffin and DeWayne Fulton's concert lives on in the memories of all lucky enough to have been there! This first presentation offered veritable musical fireworks to harpists, and the legend of the Blue Harp began.
In almost twenty years, the Blue Harp has opened countless doors to harpists today. Pop music; variety; and jazz, of course, have become more accessible to harpists who, thanks to amplification, can integrate themselves into any ensemble, and adapt themselves to all amplification configurations. The most celebrated jazz school in the world, Berklee College of Music in Boston, has chosen a Blue Harp for Felice Pomeranz's harp class. One of Camac's great sources of pride is to see the Blue Harp sparking new works composed especially for it. It has been unanimously adopted in popular music, but equally in its own right in lettered contemporary music. Numerous compositions have been premiered in the last fifteen years. Martine Flaissier has been the origin of the repertoire in France, through her commissions from composers such as Alain Louvier (Quatre Paysages), Vincent Paulet (Le Grand Stellaire), Graciane Finzi (Hommage à Aristaque de Samos), Jean-Claude Wolff (Marche Lente) and Thierry Escaich (L’office des Ténèbres). These have been recorded by her Trio Controverse (Blue Harp, flute and percussion) on the CD “Harpe Bleue” (Triton).
In Germany, the Blue Harp equally saw a spectacular development in the classical repertoire thanks to the work of the Professor of Harp at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, Helga Storck.
Helga Storck heard the Blue Harp for the first time when it was presented at the World Harp Congress in Paris in 1990. Realising its potential fantastically to extend musical possibilities for classical harpists also, she talked extensively with Joel Garnier, and bought a Blue Harp shortly afterwards - the first German harpist to do so. Together with Klaus Storck, she gave her first concert on the Blue Harp at the Blauen Harfentage in Munich: the world premiere of Berthold Hummel's Duo Concertante for harp and cello. In Weimar she gave a further world premiere of Schoenberg -plus a performance of the Debussy Danses on the instrument! Further world premieres included double concertos by Rüggeberg (violin / harp) and Genzmer (flute / harp).
Following her exceptional artistic experiences with the Blue Harp, Helga Storck introduced it into her pedagogical work. The Munich Hochschule purchased a Blue Harp and this lead to a great many, extremely varied performances. Former student and now Hochschule teacher Evelyn Huber, for example, has given numerous concerts in her duo with the saxophonist Mulo Francel, and there were many guest performances from visiting artists, such as Cristina Braga. The Munich Hochschule also has a large film music department, who immediately saw the Blue Harp's potential and involved it in a wide variety of projects. One student, Hae Joo Han, used music from a film project as part of her diploma exam. It was so successful that on returning to Seoul she bought her own Blue Harp and gives many concerts with, among others, a male voice quartet. Also, Helga Storck's long-running harp festival, die Blauen Harfentage, is inspired by three things - the Blaue Blume, a central symbol of German Romanticism; the Blauer Himmel of Munich; and die Blaue Harfe, the Blue Harp!
The Blue Harp, earlier considered the harp of the future, is today more than ever the harp of the present. This year the Odyssée de la Harpe festival will take place again. It is a festival dedicated to the origins of the Blue Harp and to the development of its repertoire, this time presenting the world premiere of a piece of music theatre by Christophe de Coudenhove.
At the same time, in Katowice, the world premiere of the first concerto for Blue Harp and Orchestra will be given, jointly commissioned by the Polish Harp Society and Camac Harps from Elzbieta Sikora. The World Harp Congress in Amsterdam will be another chance to hear numerous pieces composed for the instrument, in particular the new pieces premiered by Martine Flaissier and her Trio Controverse, and also the modern music of the group Harpcore or the Latin jazz of Edmar Castaneda.
The Blue harp is so well-know amongst the harpists that its name "Blue" is now used as a new synonym of an electric harp, and our musical dictionaries should include a new addition: “Blue Harp [blu harp] : syn. Electric harp!” In this spirit, Camac is now developing a “Midi” harp, which will make it possible to pilot diverse on-stage effects, or to edit a score entirely by playing. With the passion and commitment of our craftsmen and technicians, and that of harpists looking into the future, who knows what “midi” will also come to mean!
