Michaela’s Harp
A deeply playable folk harp with a warm, traditional sound.
The traditional Celtic harp is an ancient instrument native to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and parts of Northern France.
I created this library because I love the Celtic harp’s delicate yet feisty spirit. It can be soft and gentle, bold and strong, and everything in-between.
The instrument includes normal plucked samples recorded at four dynamic levels. This is the default articulation and has that quintessential warm resonant sound that is unique to the Celtic harp.
For occasions when it’s desirable to have a little less resonance We also recorded a separate set of damped string samples. To create these Michaela used her hands to damp the strings around the one being plucked.
Walkthrough
Audio Demos
Michaela Dorrity
To create this wonderful library we spent a day in the studio with the talented Michaela Dorrity. Michaela is a musician and harp tutor, from Derry in Ireland.
She’s competed in the Fleadh Irish music competition, qualifying for the All Ireland Fleadh and reaching first place in the Donegal, and Northern Region of Britain Fleadhs.
Highlights
10 Articulations
Idiomatic articulations including sustain, damped, stopped, and triplet samples.
3 Mic Positions
Recorded in a studio with close, direct input, and room microphones. All controllable from the built in mixer.
Low Memory Usage
Despite containing over 2GB of content the library loads in less than 100MB of RAM.
Auto Repetition
Two articulations include auto-repetition. When enabled, releasing a note retriggers it, making fast repeats and tremolos easy.
Playable Triplets
Triplet samples for fast Celtic patterns. Sequenced for real-time playback with and rhythm control.
Velocity & Ahdsr
Velocity curve and AHDSR envelope.
What’s Included
We recorded a modern Celtic harp with a warm tone and a built in pick-up. This allowed us to create a direct input recording in addition to two stereo microphone positions. We recorded in a studio so the samples are fairly dry which will help you blend and layer them with your other instruments.
Sustain
The classic sound of the Celtic harp. Recorded at four velocity controlled dynamic levels.
Damped
A less resonant sample set providing a rounder sound that tails off a little more quickly than the standard sustains.
Sustain/Damped + Repeat
The same as the regular sustain or damped samples with automatic retriggering when releasing a note. Great for fast passages and playable tremolos.
Stopped
A short sustain followed by the strings being hand stopped. The stopped samples are active in the lower part of the keyboard only.
Stopped Short
No sustain, just the stopped strings.
Sustain/Damped + Stopped Release
Similar to the auto-repetition articulation but triggering a stopped sample on release.
Triplets
Quick groups of three notes, as commonly used in Celtic harp music. A sound that’s difficult to simulate with individual plucked samples. Available in the middle of the key range.
Triplets Split
We took the triplet recordings and cut them into separate samples. Then we mapped them with a round robin behaviour so you can play the triplets with more control over their timing.
Tech Specs
| Format | Rhapsody Player |
| Samples | 1239 @ 24-bit / 48kHz |
| Size (Installed) | 1.1GB |
| Articulations | 10 |
Rhapsody Player
Built for the free Rhapsody Player. Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.