What's That Sound? The Sharpsichord

by Katie Smith

We at Luminari love music of all kinds: folk, symphony, hip hop, jazz, blues, country, marches, gospel, rock and roll—we enjoy all of it.

Because our mission is to broaden minds and promote innovation, we think it’s important—and fun—to open our minds to the possibilities of the world beyond our own doorstep.  And what better way to do that than to learn about the music of other lands.

In each issue of LUMOS!, we offer a regular series about the unique and unusual (and sometimes downright strange) instruments we’ve never heard. And since we can’t really understand an instrument until we’ve heard it being played, we’ll offer links to sites where you can hear and see a performance.

And so we offer our third in a series of unusual instruments: the Sharpsichord

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Sharpsichord photo credit from
http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/the-sharpsichord-created-by-henry-dagg

As a collector of music boxes, I was thrilled to learn that there is an instrument that is basically a giant, glorified music box. This instrument is called a Sharpsichord. It’s also known as a pin-barrel harp, and was invented by a sound sculptor named Henry Dagg.

The Sharpsichord is a 46-string, automatic, acoustic harp that, much like a music box, contains a rotating cylinder with many pins that can be programmed to pluck specific strings to produce a sound. The instrument features a keyboard for real-time playing; it includes two large horns for amplification and is entirely powered by a solar-charged battery.

The Sharpsichord recently was brought to light by Iceland musician Bjork. On her latest album, Biophilia, she partnered with Henry Dagg to feature the instrument in several of the songs. The two artists managed to transport the 2.5 ton music box to seven concert venues around Great Britain. Sadly, the logistics of maneuvering and maintaining the Sharpsichord for live performance became too difficult, and the instrument has been retired.

You can still hear it, though, on Bjorks album or in the following video.

https://vimeo.com/26301139


Björk Biophilia instruments - Henry Dagg's 'Sharpsichord' pin-barrel harp from Andy McCreeth on Vimeo.

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Author: Katie Smith is a journalism student at Robert Morris University