Klarion Call III Wind Harp
Nature driven outdoor sound sculptures can engage us on an auditory level to be more present in the now, and appreciate the beauty and harmony of our environment.
Here is how and why:
Turning to my trusty folk harp for inspiration, my fingers play their familiar melodic riffs but they are already new and different. They are new and different because today is a new day and what I feel right now is unique to this moment in time. I will use the word sacred because the music I improvise on the folk harp is always unique, it’s never the same one day to the next.
The experience of listening to nature-driven sound sculptures is very similar in the sense that the music created by wind harps is always new, always different and always an, in the moment reflection of the ongoing symphony of creation.
There are five elements of creation that comprise and manifest our earthly experience:
- Earth
- Water
- Fire
- Air
- Ether
Tornado Memorial Wind Harp – 21′ tall
The element of the wind or air embodies many spiritual metaphors in the way it co- creates our reality.
The wind is invisible although we can see its effects. It has no smell although it is the medium that carries the wonderful fragrance of the rose or the smell of a forest fire. We can’t touch the wind or grab it yet we can feel a gentle breeze on our cheek or the primal power of hurricane. Can we taste the wind? I suppose that falls under the category of smelling it.
Okay, the sense of listening, now we have a connection. We can definitely hear the wind and especially the effects of the wind interacting with the physical world.
In 2008 I installed a 21 foot tall wind harp in El Dorado, Kansas as a 50-year Tornado Memorial. In 1948 a tornado ripped through this small town and killed 13 people and I had the opportunity to talk to one of the survivors of that fateful day. He told me that when the tornado hit their house it sounded like a freight train came through the middle of their living room.
The element of the wind is an omnipresent and primal force of nature that is not only very powerful but can also be very subtle. It is these gentle breezes that sound absolutely magical when transmuted into an audible vibration. It is my experience that contemporary wind harps’ full spectrum resonance and endless tapestry of harmonics out-create the wildest human imaginings, for the sound of nature is the heartbeat and rhythm of creation.
When I place a wind harp or one of the new Titanium Harmony Bells out in my yard, this is the beginning step to listing to what’s going on in my environment and connecting with the natural harmonics that create and sustain order and balance.
Harmony Bells made of anodized titanium
Harmony Wind Harps are designed to reflect and amplify the creative energy of nature by acting as a huge magnet that can draw the attention to not only the sound of the sculptures but more importantly the vibration of the immediate soundscape. This includes all of it, the wind, birds, frogs, coyotes horses, ravens, crickets at night, the cry of the red-tail hawk, even the sound of a jet overhead at 2:00 in the morning.
In my world, an outdoor sound sculpture does not have to make any sound to justify its presence because every time I look at it I automatically remember to tune in and listen to the ambient soundscape. It’s the refocusing of my attention that creates the shift, right now, and if the harps are singing, all the better, the celestial symphony has begun.
To me an outdoor sound sculpture really provides a focal point, another reminder to tune in and listen for just a moment which allows one the opportunity to collect the attention and refocus in the Here and Now.
This is the gift and power of a nature driven sound sculpture, they can engage us on a visual and auditory level to be more present in the now and appreciate the beauty and harmony of nature.
What if
the
NOW
is
ALL THERE IS?