Laser Harp Controller
I am often asked if I can build and sell a laser harp. This is not as straightforward as it seems – different countries have rules about the import and export of Class 3B laser devices and so it’s not possible for me to create a complete laser harp. There is a solution however, but this requires an explanation of the technology involved.
How do laser shows work?
Laser light shows are created by a laser projector and control device. The control device stores the patterns and sends them to the projector. The projector uses a high power laser and two very fast moving mirrors to make the laser beam “draw” out the patterns. Projectors are available as commercial products and can contain a single laser color, or up to 3 colors to make a full color light show.
The view from the front...
Making a Laser Harp
I can provide a specialized controller device that connects to a laser projector using the industry standard (ILDA) 25pin DB-25 connector. The device can produce the laser harp opening/closing and fan patterns. It also contains the pulse detector that can “see” the performers hands breaking the light beams. Finally it has a MIDI interface to send control signals to a music synthesizer to produce the notes that are played.
This device does not contain the laser, and so the export/import restrictions are relaxed.
How much does it cost?
Projectors range in price from a few hundred dollars up to many thousands of dollars. It all depends upon the power and number of lasers in the projector. Jean-Michel Jarre uses a 1-2Watt laser for his large venue shows.
Here are some examples of laser projector hardware
And here are some being sold on Ebay
It does not pay to go too cheap with a laser projector. I recently purchased a $600 Chinese 500mw RGB projector on Ebay and found that it was not fast enough to work as a laser harp. Very disappointing.
Note: I cannot provide the projectors, these must be sourced in your own country.
I can only sell the controllers – the current price is $1500 shipped worldwide. They are all assembled and tuned by me and I require a 30 day lead time to produce each unit. Therefore to install a complete laser harp a budget of about $3000 would be a fair estimate.
That’s too much, but I still want one…
The least expensive way to get one is to build it yourself. I sell the plans and schematics for the second revision of my laser harp. (The controller is revision 3.5). To build a complete unit with a 200mw laser you can expect to pay about $750 for the parts with about 2 months of construction and tuning time. Many people have successfully built laser harps this way.
A Note on Laser Safety
Laser Harps are amazing to look at, but can be dangerous – being very close to the laser beams presents a high risk of eye (and in the case of 1W lasers – skin) damage. Eye protection and gloves should be worn at all times. By building or purchasing the hardware to make a laser harp you accept all liability for injury caused to yourself and others – you have been warned.
Steve Hobley works for a software company, but in his spare time likes to deconstruct all the lovely consumer goods with a goal to make unique and interesting things.
