Children Play Harp Music and Jungle Sounds on Custom Laser Harp in New Virginia Children's Hospital

The new "Children's Hospital of the King's Daughter's," in Virginia Beach VA, features a custom laser beam harp for the children to play when they come for exams. Any kind of music or sampled sounds can be played by breaking the red laser beams.

Phoenix, OR, December 14, 2008 --(PR.com)-- The roar of a Lion and an Elephant`s trumpet echo down a hospital`s corridor, followed by the sounds of Jungle frogs and drums. Is it an invasion of this new Children`s hospital by wild animals?

No it is just the custom carved laser harp installation created by Glenn Hill of Mountain Glen Laser Harps LLC , being played by children coming in to have their exams. The jungle sounds are now followed by gentle cascades of harp notes, falling in overlapping waves every time a laser beam in broken by a child`s hand. This gentle sound is followed by the sound of ocean waves with gulls and seabirds filling the halls. And then for the occasional hospital staff party, the harp can be programed to be a laser "Virtual DJ", with samples of James Brown and other rock & blues music that can be played like a "record scratch", just like DJ`s do.

This amazing harp was created to entertain children when they come to the new hospital for exams, and the biggest worry of the hospital staff was that the children would not want to leave the harp to head toward the exam rooms!

This laser harp was commissioned by the "Children`s Hospital of the King`s Daughter`s", in Virginia Beach Virginia. This brand new branch Hospital was opened to the public in early November of 2008. The Children`s Hospital of the King`s Daughter`s" is the facility of choice for pediatric care in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.

You can see and hear this harp in action on u-tube, just search for customlaserharp, u-tube.

These low powered and very safe 5mw red lasers are suspended between the frame of a purple dyed , highly figured Maple, lap-sized harp. They shine in space between the "neck" and "sound box" of the harp, in the same way that harp strings do, except that these strings are made of red laser light.This child sized lap harp sits on it`s own small cabinet that holds a lap top computer, MIDI controller and stereo sound system, all that is needed to create almost any type of sound or music imaginable.

The software that runs the laser harp is fully programmable, with the capacity to respond to up to 70 breaks of a laser beam every second, and each laser can have up to 60 different events or sound effects programed to be controlled by it. The interactive software and MIDI controller was created by OptiMusic from Britain.

This laser harp can play almost any type of sampled natural sounds or music, or any musical instrument a synthesizer can produce, and in endless interwoven combinations that can boggle the mind. It is fully programmable with a full wave-file editor and built-in synthesizer. The software has a full library of music and sounds, and any type of sounds can be loaded and edited.

All the beams do not have to be set to the same Play or Switch Mode - each beam may be set up differently.The system can also interface with most existing lighting control systems (via MIDI inputs to your lighting board or controller.)

The software can also trigger still and video images, controlled by the laser beams, though in this installation that part is not being used. The custom laser harps that Glenn Hill builds can be in any shape and style, with from eight to thirty two lasers, with both red and green lasers.

The "Strong National Museum of Play", in Rochester New York has a custom carved laser harp that they commissioned Glenn Hill to build in 2006. Their laser harp is five feet tall, and carved out of gilded Myrtle wood, to be the "giant`s Harp", from "Jack and the Bean Stock". It has a beautiful female face and head, with flowing locks of golden hair across it`s top, and a flowing gilded gown draping down the harp`s pillar. It is installed in the museum`s "Adventures in Reading" exhibit. This laser harp also has eight red lasers, and has been enjoyed by millions of children over the last nearly three years.

Glenn J. Hill of Mountain Glen Harps LLC has been building custom designed , carved and sculpted one-of-a-kind harps for over thirty years. From harps with single string bands of nylon, gut or wire strings, to double and cross strung harps, to electro-acoustic and MIDI harps, Glenn has designed and created the widest array of harps of any builder anywhere.

Glenn J. Hill
Mountian Glen Harps LLC
809 W 1st Street, Phoenix OR, 97535

541-535-7700 mtglen@laserharps.com
web site: www. laserharps.com

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Mountain Glen Harps LLC
Glenn J. Hill
541-535-7700
laserharps.com
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