An Arpa Doppia is a Double Harp common throughout Europe between the 16th and 19th Centuries.
It was the lack of a full chromatic compass that the theorist Juan Bermudo identified as the main 'defect' of the harp in the mid-16th century. His 'remedies' included tunings with 8 or 9 notes to the octave (more than the 7 'white' notes, but less than the full 12-note chromatic scale) and tunings adapted to each mode, with different accidentals in each...
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An Arpa Doppia is a Double Harp common throughout Europe between the 16th and 19th Centuries.
It was the lack of a full chromatic compass that the theorist Juan Bermudo identified as the main 'defect' of the harp in the mid-16th century. His 'remedies' included tunings with 8 or 9 notes to the octave (more than the 7 'white' notes, but less than the full 12-note chromatic scale) and tunings adapted to each mode, with different accidentals in each octave. But he noted that some players had already added all the required strings: this was done by putting the 'black note' strings in a second row, that crossed over the main row in the way that your fingers interlock when you clasp your hands. This was called the 'arpa de dos ordenes' - the two-row harp.
Surviving instruments and pictures of 17th century Spanish harps show instruments that are very wide in the bass, although narrow in the treble. This shape, and the playing position (with the right hand plucking at the top of each string,...
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