"Shining On You "  Fractal Harp version . Now available here on Bandcamp

Jay's Museum       

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Jay Wasco Music/ Jay's Museum: Facebook  
 
The Fractal Harp
   
The latest iteration of  The Fractal Harp.  New improvements include - Fatar  piano action keybed replaces  CME Xkeys . The cello like casing (above) conceals a "vintage"  Peavey Midibase  allowing full (but seriously clunky) midi capability. A Fisman  TriplePlay midi pickup has been added to  6 the lower harp strings.  The rig is a combined/updated descendant of my SWISS ARMY BASS ,   The EGOTAR  and The original Fractal Harp. All described here on my site seen here
Video “Elegant City”  featuring The Fractal Harp Mark2  The  upright version of the Fractal Harp. (videos tracked live, in real-time)
 
 
Fractal Harp Sonata - original spinet Fractal Harp
 
We Can Work It Out - Fractal Harp with expanded MIDI capability

 

 
Quick Bow To The Crimson King because it's all Robert Fripp's fault

 

 

(videos tracked live, in real-time)

 

The Harp: Right hand controls the pivoting slide/bridge while simultaneously picking, plucking and effecting pitch and modulation. The slide brings the harp's relative notes and scales through exponentially fluid chromatic increments. Additionally, a foot pedal acts independently on specific harp strings in order to bend/manipulate pitch and intervals in a way reminiscent of a pedal steel guitar. Single or two-handed play is possible and allow for the simultaneous playing of other instruments manipulation and effects.
 

The harp uses standard electric guitar strings with a 14 inch wide custom built pickup mounted close to the upper bridge.

A Fisman Triple Play midi pickup has been added to 6 the lower harp strings. 

The Bass 
I put together a cello like casing that conceals a "vintage" Peavey Midibase allowing  midi capability in tandem with the one hand, hammer on technique I've  been using forever. Among other things,  I can now play some the cello parts that swirl around my head -

The bowed  cello and bass string sounds consist of samples excerpts from a sample string library I developed  recording and sampling  my daughters cello. It sounds great considering the limitations of the circa early 1990s peavey midibase limiting the amount of potential variations of samples to only one keynote per string. The ancient, yet awesome technology uses midi pitch change data, provided by electrified/split frets to control pitch with a separate transducer for each string to trigger the note. I came up with a completely sleazy technique of adding modulation/ vibrato with a system I put together on the bass neck It's hard to explain but it's key for making it work..... like dynamically cello.  I also came up with another "clutch" enabling me to  play select power chords & drum's via bass.
 

The Keys   A Fatar piano action keybed - that replaces a CME Xkeys. It's an absolute pleasure to have piano action ,weighted keys on this thing . I  harvested and Frankensteined two Studio Logic keyboards together and capped the keys in oak.  

   

Main Reactor  My rack has become somewhat sparse..  Reaper seems to favor the PC platform so I use a powerful  AKY i7 laptop with 32 gigs of ram as a computer.   I currently use a Focusrite  interface with independent systems of  gates, limiters and stompboxes.
Reaper is the primary DAW I use . The ability to utilize reaper's learnable  "actions" custom commands  is crucial  to control the rig's many functions.  Running Inside Reaper   I have a ridiculous amount of insances od Kontakt running as the primary sound source for midi elements. I  The majority of patches, sample sounds I use, including drums are all my own custom patches and library set up in complex
routings, key groups and spits specifically laid out for the harp. Many of the sounds and  patches I use now  have been migrated from samplers I developed my own libraries foe years back . One of my main keyboard (fake guitar)  sounds is a holdover from pre computer (sampler and synth days) is a dx7 Clavichord  put through distortion and wha wha as my signature Johnny Skilsaw "slide guitar" sound that's been adapted to Kontakt.

 

                     Right view
                      Left view
   First Fractal Harp Prototype            
 

 
"Shining On You "  Fractal Harp version . Now available here on Bandcamp  
 
Blackbird  -
 
YES - "And You And I" excerpt
"Replete"   
"Creep " Stone Temple Pilot cover . Tracked to separate drum and percussion arrangement.
 
 
 


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