Square, Round, or Staved Backs?
The obvious answer if you are simple picking between two models of harp is to play both and pick one. But for general understanding, my approach to anything like this is to look at what is actually happening when the harp is played. So here are some unorganized observations.
Business considerations obligate builders praise the attributes of the type of harp they build. I make round staved and square backed harps so I don’t have a preference to sell.
Harp designs work as a whole. It is not possible to separate one element of the design and use it alone to define the instrument.
For the same width and depth, the more round the harp, the less the material in the soundbox. Round backed harps weigh less.
For the same width and depth, the more round the harp, the less the space in the soundbox.This in and of itself does not directly translate into less or more acoustic volume. It also doesn’t directly translate into anything about sound quality. While interior space is a consideration, the geometric changes that alter the quantity of interior space have too much effect to allow analysis based on the space alone.
Think of the interior of a harp as an echo chamber.
In a round back harp the sound reflects relatively evenly in all directions producing a fairly even sound, sometimes referred as ‘mellow”. Think of a flute.
A square backed harp the sound is bouncing in a variety of directions: straight forward from the back. Angled from the sides. Angled from the back to the sides. The result is a less even sound but one with more “character”. Think of a saxophone.
Neither one is necessarily better. Just different.