Simo Alitalo (FI): Aria

Aria is an Aeolian harp, the sound of which is aplified with piezoelements and an amplifier. The Aeolian harp is an ancient instrument. The first description of it can be found in Athanasius Kircher’s works Musurgia Universalis and Phonurgia Nova from 1650. The same phenomenon occurs when phonelines sing. You could hear it pressing your ear against a wooden telephone pole on a windy weather.

The acoustic qualities of an Aeolian harp are peculiar: the basic tuning of the string is determined by the tension of the string instead of its length. The length of the string, on the other hand, has an impact on the volume of the sounds: the longest strings create the loudest sounds. The pitch of the sound playing depends on the relation between the thickness of the string and wind speed: the higher the speed the higher the sound. The sounds created by an Aeolian harp are harmonic high notes. The keynote created by plucking a string typically cannot be made audible by the wind.

Sound artist Simo Alitalo’s works are versatile space and time experiences the goal of which is to sensitise their listeners to the surrounding sound worlds. He also works as a freelance journalist, researcher and teacher.