The Weather Harp

Molly Jones (University of Michigan)*; Adam Schmidt (Imperial College London); Michael Gurevich (University of Michigan)

The Weather Harp
Image credit: Molly Jones (University of Michigan)*; Adam Schmidt (Imperial College London); Michael Gurevich (University of Michigan)

Abstract:

The Weather Harp is an instrument and sonic environment played by the wind. The central instrument is a bass drum frame with four tuned brass strings coupled to a top membrane via a wooden bridge. The strings are excited with novel, custom-made Lorentz force sustainer circuits. The central instrument is surrounded by four fans which move air across small sound-making objects. The sounds of these objects are captured by contact microphones and routed to transducers on the central instrument. North, east, south, and west winds each reveal different sonic characters. The sustained strings on the central Weather Harp, as well as the fan-driven sound-making objects, are activated by real-time wind speed and direction data streamed from an outdoor weather station. The sonic environment is subtly interactive; human presence in the space gently influences the gusts and eddies of air. Similarly, the viewers are subject to sounds and sensations in the space. This interaction is a mediated mirroring of our relationship with the weather outdoors, which we feel as an agential force but which is profoundly influenced on both local and global scales by collective human activity.