By Daina Doucet
Welcome the 21st century harp! A prototype of the newest member of the familiar concert harp family is making its debut at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention, Nashville, Tennessee, February 28th to March 1st.
The Harpella™, invented by Canadian Psalmist and international prophetic harp instructor Michael-David, is an electronic instrument that creates music from light. A visual sensation, it is a highlight at the NRB.
“The Harpella has so many features,” says 51 year-old Michael-David, founder of Harptronics. He believes God gave him the design. He and his team, which includes GALCOM, a Canadian-based electronics manufacturer that produces unique radio systems for Gospel outreach; Kingdom Inc., the world’s largest purveyor of technology for the Church; and inventor of advanced synthesizer software David VanKoevering have developed the instrument over ten years. “We’re now just skimming the surface of what this introductory model will do.”
The Harpella uses a current technology called “MIDI” (musical instrument digital interface). “It allows you to do a number of crazy things,” says Michael-David, and he describes several.
Michael-David notes that MIDI technology allows the Harpella to change keys instantly so it can be used as a lead instrument in a worship band. When the musician touches the name of a chord he/she wants to play on a foot pedal, the appropriate strings light up. Only the lit strings produce sound. The others are muted. As a result, anyone can learn to play the harp easily and a harpist can’t make a mistake while playing.
When a string is plucked, “It’s like pushing a key on a keyboard. It allows you to play synthesized sounds using a harp.” A listener hears the natural sound of the instrument and a keyboard sound at the same time. “You can hear the sound of the strings being played, but you also hear the sound of another instrument being played in unison with the Harpella.”
When notes are played on the Harpella, they are “remembered,” and can be played back on a computer as a module. “This feature is wonderful for a student,” says Michael-David. “An instructor can pre-record a song. The student can play it back, hear the music, see the notes on the screen and watch the strings light up in the right sequence showing them which strings must be played.”
A fun feature is the ability of the instrument’s transparent, acrylic body to light up in any color. The colors can be stationary, appear to be in motion, or they can light up parts of the Harpella’s body in response to different sound frequencies.
“The Harpella is enchanting to watch in action,” says Johnny Berguson, owner of Kingdom Inc., the manufacturer and distributor of the Harpella. “Imagine a whole stage of harpists playing instruments that change color!” An example of the Harpella in action can be seen on the YouTube video, Dancing with the Harpella, of at Kingdom Inc: (http://www.kingdom.com/harpella-electric-harp-s/2524.htm).
Even though the rainbow colourizing of the Harpella is a novelty, it has spiritual significance. Michael-David links it to David’s Tabernacle and describes the atmosphere its music creates as “prophetic.”
“You can’t read a description of heaven without perceiving that there’s a connection between light, color, worship, intercession and the glory of God,” he says, and points to Revelation 4:3. Already, he claims, he is seeing “huge interest in the Harpella among those who are praying for the restoration of the Tabernacle of David. They use a style of intercession called ‘harp and bowl,’ with one thing missing – the harp!”
“You will love it!” said Cindy Jacobs, founder of the ministry Generals International at the October 2012 All Nations Conference, Jerusalem. She dedicated the Harpella and prophesied in prayer: “Father, this is a prophetic statement of new instruments made to rebuild the Tabernacle of David… we pray that this will go around the world; that the nations will worship God with the harp and the bowl.”
Michael-David speculates that the ease of playing the Harpella and its beauty will make it a desirable acquisition for many who wish to learn to play it for worship, and for 24/7 prayer houses worldwide. He also postulates that the ease of changing keys on the Harpella will be attractive to symphony orchestras.
David Van Koevering, developer of laser optical memory retrieval, says: “It’s a new kind of musical instrument. There’s never been anything similar, or anything like it. It is a harp, but it’s much more than a harp. This harp has technology!”
For more information, contact Kingdom Inc. at 1-800-480-1011.
Daina Doucet is the senior editor of Acts News Network, Inc.
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