Camber by Rhodri Davies

Rhodri Davies: Lever harp and EBows

Recorded by Graham Halliwell, The Old School, Bracon Ash, Norfolk, January 2004.
Edited by Benedict Drew and John Wall.
Mixed by Louisa Martin.

Camber originally appeared on Leonardo Music Journal's companion CD, The Art of the Gremlin curated by Sarah Washington, Volume 17, The MIT Press (2007)

From CD Contributor's Notes:

As a performer, I have sought to fragment, disrupt and deconstruct the traditional harp sound. This has often involved the use of new performance techniques and various preparations on the instrument. One of the extended techniques I use is the Electronic Bow, or EBow. My piece Camber is composed of multi-layered recordings, using one and two EBows to play metal guitar strings on my lever harp.

In researching sounds, I am interested in how I can sustain a harp note. In addition to using bows and fans, I find that the EBow works well in extending the duration of a note. In the past, my improvising vocabulary mainly consisted of emulating electronic sounds on my acoustic instrument, and the EBow harp sound fitted well in that context. More recently, I have been performing using two EBows to explore harmonics and the beating effect that is achieved by tuning two notes close together.

The EBow works best on a small lever harp. It is difficult to get it to activate the thicker and longer metal bass strings of the pedal harp, and when it does, the result is very quiet. The guitarist Ivar Grydeland showed me how to add a second battery to strengthen the signal. This works better on the strings of the pedal harp, although I can only use it for a short length of time before the device overheats.

In my composition Perdereau – for one harp and eight hands, recorded 16 March 2004 and released on the CD London Strings by Absinth Records, I explore the harp’s decay and sustain. The 40 notes chords at the beginning of the piece deal with the decay, and the EBow section at the end explores sustain. On this CD, Camber deals with the latter half of Perdereau more fully and is a companion to a longer 40-min piece, Over Shadows, scheduled for release as a CD on the Confront label.

When I started using the EBow I only knew of one composition for harp that used the device. John Cage’s Postcard from Heaven (1982), for 1-20 harps, begins and ends with the harpists playing EBows on the harp strings. More recently, two composers have written pieces for me that incorporate the EBow: James Saunders’s # [unassigned] and Laurence Crane’s Single Harmony for Rhodri Davies.

In using the EBow on the harp, I have also changed the position in which I play the instrument. By placing the harp horizontally, I can set the EBows on the strings and still be free to use other preparations. This has opened up a whole new array of possibilities. I am currently on the lookout for someone who can build a large version of the EBow, one that will enable me to play multiple strings at the same time.

Rhodri Davies

Rhodri Davies plays harp, electric harp, live-electronics and builds wind, water, ice, dry ice and fire harp installations. He has released seven solo albums. His regular groups include: HEN OGLEDD, a duo with John Butcher, Cranc, The Sealed Knot and Common Objects.

rhodridavies.com