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How does wind make an Aeolian harp produce sound?
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stringed instrument
A Japanese musician plucking the strings of a koto with the right hand to generate a pitch and pressing the strings with the left hand to alter the tone.
An Aeolian harp produces sound through the natural movement of wind across its strings, rather than through manual plucking or striking.1
The instrument consists of a wooden sound box strung with multiple gut strings of equal length but varying thickness and elasticity, all tuned to the same fundamental pitch. As wind blows over these strings, they vibrate in aliquot parts—such as halves, thirds, or fourths—which causes the strings to produce natural overtones or harmonics, including the octave and the 12th. This phenomenon is a result of the strings creating standing waves under the pressure of the moving air.1