A bray harp is a harp with special pins which cause the harp strings to buzz when plucked--sort of like a medieval synthesizer. It's a very harsh sound, but I believe the idea behind it was to make the harp loud enough to be heard when playing with other instruments. The harp is also very narrow and tall, with a fairly large range and close string spacing. Instead of stringing the harp through access holes on the back, the sound box is solid and the strings are held by pins through the sound board.
Windsor Ply had a great sale on birdseye maple. I purchased a tech drawing from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and contacted Rick Kemper of Sligo Harps for guidance in the construction process.
Apparently, it's possible to purchase tech drawings from many museums.
I began by attempting to rip my boards down, closer to the thicknesses I wanted to work with, using my hand saw. I then took a break for a special event . . .
. . . very special!
