“I had some issues with my hand,” sighs Petra Hermanova. “I had to stop playing guitar 12 years ago, so I started thinking about what instrument could I play instead. There weren’t that many available to anyone who was recovering from a hand injury that wasn’t healing. It was like, ‘What can I actually do?’”
The answer came from the unlikeliest of instruments: “I bought my first autoharp about five or six years ago and there was something magic about it,” smiles Petranova. “Many musicians have a feeling of instant magic with their chosen instrument and for me, it became something of an obsession.”
Born in the Czech Republic, Hermanova left for Berlin with her trip-hop band, Fiordmoss, but success proved to be elusive. After they split up, Hermanova was at a loss as to how to continue her musical journey, but the discovery of the autoharp soon set her on a new course, as did her subsequent experiments with the instrument.
“I remember feeling, like, I want to send this angelic instrument through some pretty nasty pedals,” she recalls. “I wanted to push it to see what was possible. There isn’t so much information on what happens if you send an autoharp through a series of distortion and delay pedals, so it was f...
The answer came from the unlikeliest of instruments: “I bought my first autoharp about five or six years ago and there was something magic about it,” smiles Petranova. “Many musicians have a feeling of instant magic with their chosen instrument and for me, it became something of an obsession.”
Born in the Czech Republic, Hermanova left for Berlin with her trip-hop band, Fiordmoss, but success proved to be elusive. After they split up, Hermanova was at a loss as to how to continue her musical journey, but the discovery of the autoharp soon set her on a new course, as did her subsequent experiments with the instrument.
“I remember feeling, like, I want to send this angelic instrument through some pretty nasty pedals,” she recalls. “I wanted to push it to see what was possible. There isn’t so much information on what happens if you send an autoharp through a series of distortion and delay pedals, so it was f...
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Prog (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 147