Ann plays autoharps

 

Ann plays two Autoharps - an Oscar Schmidt OS73c 21 chord instrument which is a reissue of a 1930's 'harp, and a beautiful, fine-tuned Oscar Schmidt OS110 21FNE.

 

She also plays a Zittran, which is a Swedish chord zither, invented by Adolf Larsson in Finnspong, Sweden at the end of the 19th century. This splendid  instrument, of 48 strings arranged in 6 chords, was probably made around 1898/99 as the artwork in the upper section shows a transatlantic ocean liner – probably the Kaiser Wilhelm der Gross, which won the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic crossing in 1898.

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She also plays a larger chord zither – a harpeleik. The instrument was invented in Finland but now is only made by the Hopf factory in Germany. This version  has 73 strings in 8 chord groups, each with a tuning lever to enable selection of either the major or minor chord.

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C'est quoi, autoharpe?

L'autoharpe est une variation nord américaine de la cithare. La caractéristique de cet instrument est un boîtier posé au-dessus des cordes. Ce boîtier contient un jeu de barres équipées d'étouffoirs qui neutralisent la vibration de cordes choisies à l'avance et permet ainsi d'obtenir des accords avec les autres cordes libres. On les met en action en appuyant sur des boutons.