The electroacoustic harp

The Harp maker Lyon & Healy began research and development for an electroacoustic harp in the early 1980s. Currently, both Lyon & Healy and Camac harp-makers produce electroacoustic pedal harps. (See: L&H style 2000 and Camac Big Blue.) Each string of the electroacoustic harp has a pickup that transforms the acoustical sound of the string into an electrical signal. This technology can be used simply to amplify the harp, or the electrical signal can be processed with effect-pedals or other signal-processors. The  electroacoustic harp's construction is very similar to the traditional concert harp, and it uses the same strings and pedal mechanism. The electroacoustic harp sounds accoustically as well and therefore the electrical signal is always combined with the acoustic sound of the instrument. A purely electric pedal harp with no resonating sound body is only produced on special order from both Lyon & Healy and Camac. More common is the puerly electric non-pedal harp.