Skip to content
Harp E الیکٹرو ایکوسٹک ہارپ by Joris Beets

Harp E الیکٹرو ایکوسٹک ہارپ by Joris Beets is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award نقرئی انعام in موسیقی کے آلات ڈیزائن Competition Category.


چاندیموسیقی کا آلہ· 2023

Harp E الیکٹرو ایکوسٹک ہارپ

by Joris Beets

Client: Joris Beets Design

A' Design Award نقرئی انعام Winner in موسیقی کا آلہ Category

Colors

The Design

About Harp E الیکٹرو ایکوسٹک ہارپ

Harp-E دنیا کا سب سے قابل رسائی پیشہ ورانہ گریڈ الیکٹرو ایکوسٹک ہارپ ہے۔ مکمل ساختی نظر ثانی اور نئے سرے سے ڈیزائن کے ساتھ، قدیم، پیچیدہ اور اشرافیہ کا ہارپ ایک سادہ، خوبصورت، فلیٹ پیک، خود اسمبلی کا آلہ بن گیا ہے۔ اسمبلی کے لیے آپ کو صرف ایک ہیکس کلید کی ضرورت ہے۔ یہ ایک پیراڈائم شفٹ ہے، جو کلاس رومز سے لے کر تہواروں تک تمام لوگوں اور سیٹنگز کے لیے بنائی گئی ہے۔ تمام نازک حصوں کو مضبوط فریم کے اندر سینڈوچ کیا جاتا ہے۔ Harp-E پورٹیبل، اسٹیک ایبل، مرضی کے مطابق، پہننے کے قابل، ایڈجسٹ ایبل ہے، جبکہ قیمت اور وزن کے ایک حصے پر اعلیٰ آواز، تار اور الیکٹرانکس پر فخر کرتا ہے۔

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award نقرئی انعام

Harp E الیکٹرو ایکوسٹک ہارپ A' Design Award نقرئی انعام کا فاتح ہے، جو دلکش، عالی شان اور متاثر کن اعلیٰ ترین درجے کے ڈیزائنز کو دیا جانے والا غیر معمولی طور پر باوقار اعتراف ہے۔ نقرئی انعام کے فاتحین نہایت درخشاں اور بے حد تخلیقی کام ہیں جو اپنے ڈیزائنرز کی نمایاں مہارت، ہنر اور بصیرت کو ظاہر کرتے ہیں۔ Harp E الیکٹرو ایکوسٹک ہارپ سے توقع کی جاتی ہے کہ وہ ایک شاندار، نمونہ بننے والا کام ہوگا جو قابل ذکر حد تک پیشہ ورانہ اور گہرائی سے جدید ہے۔ A' Design Award نقرئی انعام جیتنے والا یہ ڈیزائن ایک انتہائی قابل توجہ اور سراہی جانے والی ایجاد ہے جو فائدہ پہنچاتی اور فن، سائنس، ڈیزائن اور ٹیکنالوجی کی حدود کو آگے بڑھاتی ہے۔ Harp E الیکٹرو ایکوسٹک ہارپ وہ تخلیق ہے جس پر بے حد رشک کیا جاتا ہے، جو خواہشات کو ابھارتی، مثبت احساسات لاتی اور حیرت اور تحیر کو جنم دیتی ہے۔

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties
It’s the world’s most affordable, professional grade electro-acoustic harp. The ancient and complicated instrument was completely redesigned from scratch into a simple, elegant, flat-pack, self-assembly instrument. Some call it the people's harp. A complete structural rethink makes it a paradigm shift: all fragile parts are sandwiched inside the sturdy frame; Harp E is portable, stackable, adjustable, while boasting superior strings and electronics - all at a fraction of the price and weight.
Dimensions & Packaging
Harp E has 24 SilkGut strings 5C-2E, fully levered. Width 48cm x Depth 7cm x Height 87cm. The stand fully nests inside the frame, everything fits into the carrier bag of the same dimensions. Harp 3.6kg, stand 1.2kg. Adjustable to 3 heights: 87, 101 and 115cm. The single, self-shielding sensor avoids low hums and spans all strings. The smart preamp ensures high signal-to-noise ratio, zero latency and full compatibility with any effects, stage amps and studio equipment, powered by a 9V battery.
Tags
Music, instrument, harp, education, DIY, self-assembly, democratization, inclusive design, electro-acoustic, electric harp
Production Technology
The core of the design is a revolutionary lever system, reducing hundreds of metal parts down to just two, with the rest CNC-ed out of the same sheet of beech plywood as the frame, like a near-wasteless jigsaw. Sandwiching the strings inside two thin frame halves, held together by standard stainless steel fasteners, allows for less wood and higher string tension. This and the custom designed pickup and preamp system, immune to EMI and with perfect frequency response, result in a superior sound.
Design Challenge
A hundreds of years old status quo of harp levers was they were either good and very expensive or cheaper but poor quality. Simply put, harpists and teachers wanted a minimum of 24 strings, fully levered and of the right quality, but target cost price made that impossible. That was tackled by integrating all individual levers into a single mechanism with an entirely different working principle (changing the string tension instead of length to change the pitch), a shot in the dark, but it worked!
Research
Throughout the project we observed, interviewed, surveyed, co-created and tested 9 rounds of prototypes with: teachers, students, parents, maintenance, harpists and would-be harpists, assembly volunteers, school managers. Varying from group to 1:1, lab-based to contextual ethnographic (e.g. in classrooms) or quantitative (surveys), to fully understand the complex and contradicting web of requirements, deep insights that allowed design decisions making the harp both functional and desirable to all.
Inspiration
Triggered by a charity telling him about the absence of affordable, quality harps for the thousands of students they aim to provide with instruments of their choice, we went on a mission to democratize the harp. Between a violin, a flute and a harp, many children choose the harp: it’s intuitive, embracing and immediately sounds good. But today harps are dissuasively expensive, thus remain elitist and produced in small numbers - which maintains their price high. Harp-E breaks this cycle.
Project Duration
The project started in 2019 when Dutch charity Het Leerorkest challenged us, who had just taken the harp world by storm with his Delta harp, to design an affordable, professional grade harp. Harp E was designed between London and Amsterdam. The first 10 prototypes were shown on Dutch National television with 300 more crowdfunded by the charity. Harp E was presented at the World Harp Congress in July 2022. Now also available D2C online, it is played by children and adults worldwide.
Operation Flow
Harp E arrives as a DIY kit with an assembly manual and can be put together with just a standard Allen key. It’s easy to customize with paint, hacks or mirroring the entire harp for the left handed, a world first.
It can be played on its height adjustable stand or worn like a guitar, acoustically or amplified by simply plugging it into a small amp setup, a smartphone, or a professional PA system. This offers a world of interaction modes and sound possibilities, imagine a harp with guitar effects!
Patents
Patented. PCT/GB2022/000024. Joris Beets Design. 2022. United Kingdom, worldwide.
Copyrights belong to Joris Beets, 2022.
Trademark (2022) Joris Beets Design.

Sponsored

Explore Beyond Designers.org

Discover products, services and opportunities from our advertising partners.

Good Design Deserves Great Recognition

Nominate Your Work for the A' Design Award.

Nominate