The Cloud Harp isn't new, but it is a harp played by clouds. It's a big Quebecois machine which fires infrared beams up at the clouds and translates their bumps into music, apparently sounding like "bad Autechre". Unless my French is failing me, this page says it was actually installed in Battery Park on September 11th 2001, which sounds to me like the premise for some fantastically pretentious modern opera. More here. (Thanks, Joe and Engadget)
7/01/2005
Behold the mighty Cloud Harp
The Cloud Harp isn't new, but it is a harp played by clouds. It's a big Quebecois machine which fires infrared beams up at the clouds and translates their bumps into music, apparently sounding like "bad Autechre". Unless my French is failing me, this page says it was actually installed in Battery Park on September 11th 2001, which sounds to me like the premise for some fantastically pretentious modern opera. More here. (Thanks, Joe and Engadget)
Hi!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was in battery park on 9/11. I was working on the project, lead by artist Nicolas Reeves, and we were very close to the towers when it happened.
The NYC harp was this one : http://www.cloudharp.org/Harp-Pittsburgh.html
It was also set up in Pittsburgh in 2004,It still had bits of dust from the twin towers. we kept watching for planes to hit buildings but nothing happened.
no comment on the autechre thing :)
I should of thought of submitting this to music thing myself.
Wow... my story made the cut! I'm famous! Bwahahaha <--mad cackle.
ReplyDeleteI may have missed it in your article, but this page has some examples from the Pittsburgh harp...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cloudharp.org/Harp-Pittsburgh.html
Regards Scott
I listened to the Pittsburgh harp last year when it was online... sounded actually very nice. Meditative and aetheral ambiances. I let it play for hours while working. Very intriguing.
ReplyDelete