Laser harp

A laser harp is an electronic musical instrument consisting of several laser beams to be blocked, in analogy with the plucking of the strings of a harp, in order to produce sounds. It is famously used by Jean-Michel Jarre in his concerts.

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The laser harp was invented in April 1981 by Bernard Szajner and was first used by Jarre in the Concerts in China in October 1981. It has subsequently been used in a number of different designs.

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A laser harp is generally built using a single laser, splitting its beam into an array of beams in parallel or fan arrangement. When a beam is blocked, this is detected by a photodiode or photoresistor, which is connected to electronics activating the relevant note. Playing the actual sound is usually handled by connecting the laser harp to a synthesizer, sampler or computer.

Electronic musical instrument: An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces its sounds using electronics. In contrast, the term electric instrument is used to mean instruments whose sound is produced mechanically, and only amplified electronically - for example an electric guitar. Usually the instrument ...

Laser: A LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is an optical source composed of a resonant optical cavity and a gain medium....

Harp: :Harp is also a slang term for the diatonic harmonica; see blues harp. See also Jew's harp....

Laser harp related Images and Photos (experimental)

Harp	Harp	Laser Moon	Laser Theater
Grass Harp, The (DVD)	Laser Star Projector	Lio Laser Cel	Lio Laser Cel
Laser Stars Projector	Laser Guided Scissors	Spy Laser Chase	Red Laser Pointer