hi my name is Brianna Howard and I'm here at Summerhays Music Center in Salt Lake City Utah to talk a little bit about how a harp is made harps are made using primarily wood parts with a few metal parts like these pegs that you see at the top and also the small levers to make a harp a harp maker must first start with a soundboard which needs to be a flat piece of solid wood the wood is cut to be the appropriate size and shape and aged over time so that will have maximum resonant quality from there the harp crafter must carefully carve separate pieces of wood to fit the harmonic curve of the harp this is one of the most complex aspects of building a harp to get this harmonic curve right many mathematical equations must be involved once the neck of the harp is made it is then bound and glue to the column of the harp which is affixed to the base of the harp which is then affixed to the body or the sounding portion right here from there the soundboard becomes the next important step a fix to the soundboard is a bridge in the bridge are drilled tiny holes through which the strings will fit from their small mechanisms called levers are affixed with bolts to the neck of the harp and through the neck of the harp holes are drilled where pegs which will eventually hold the strings are placed then all that is left to do is to string the harp and hope that it stays in tune