User Manual

On the home screen of the website you can select the «Register» link under the login window.

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In the menu, click on “Materials”. On this page you will be able to add and manage the different types of strings you use for your harps.

Add material

Click the “Add Material” button to add a new string material to the list. There are three input fields.

Click on “Add material” to create the material. You will then see the new material appear in the list.

Calculate density

If you don't know the density when adding a material, you can calculate it based on the properties of the string.

The density of a string can be calculated based on three characteristics: diameter (mm), length (cm) and weight (grams). Enter this information for 1 string per row. You can measure several different strings in this material. The average density of all specified strings is calculated and automatically populated for this material.

You can add a string by clicking . Or delete the last string by clicking .

Click on to start the calculation. The result ends up directly in the input field under “Add material”.

List of materials

In this list you see all created materials in a self-chosen order. New materials are added to the back of the list.

	By dragging this icon you can change the order of the materials. This way you choose the order in which you will see the materials in the selection list when you create (or edit) a harp.
	Click on this icon to change the material. If it is not yet used in a harp, you can change all fields (name, density and breaking stress). If this material was used to do calculations for a harp, you will no longer be able to change the density and breaking stress, so the calculations remain intact. In that case you can only change the name.
	Click on this icon to remove the material. This action is irreversible and can only be performed with a material that is not used in any harp.

On the “My harps” page you will find an overview of all your created harps.

At the top right you can click on the button to add a new harp.

In the bar at the top of the harp listing you can make a few choices:

	For each harp you see a large tile with the image, name and description of the harp. You will also see the selected specifications. If you have created a PDF or Excel of the harp, you can also download it again here. At the bottom you will see the dates when the harp was created and last modified and you have the option to delete the harp. This is irreversible and will delete all versions of this harp.
	Your harps are shown in a list with 1 harp per row. The most important specifications are shown, with the option to re-download exported files or delete the harp completely.
	The list of harps can be sorted by name, date created or date last modified. You can choose to sort it ascending or descending.

In the main menu you can choose the “Create new harp” button. On the page with the overview of your harps, you will also see a “Create new harp” button at the top right.

In the upper part you can choose a unique name for your harp. You can also provide a description without obligation. You can also upload a photo by clicking on the empty image.

In the lower part, some specifications are requested to start the calculations.

Target tension	the calculation will work towards this target and adjust the tension of all strings accordingly.
Number of strings	the total number of strings of the harp.
Tuning	the frequency of the central A (A1), which is used as a basis for tuning the harp (e.g. 415 Hz)
First string	the highest note of the harp is the first string. It is recommended to select the note that is connected to the corresponding pedal. By pressing the pedals you can see which pedal is connected to the first string. If you would prefer a different highest string, this will require a completely new circuit of the pedal mechanism, which is time consuming and expensive, with no guaranteed success. Order of the pedals
Last linear string	this is an optional field. The calculation produces a linear upward trend for the tension of the strings. If this field remains empty, the entire harp will be calculated along the linear line. You can choose to make a non-linear calculation from a certain string. The intention is to reduce the tension on the strings in the middle and tenor registers and to increase this tension in the basses, while maintaining the total tension. If the tension on the bass strings is too low, they will feel too weak and will need to be pulled too far to produce a reasonable sound. They may hit the next string.
Bulk strings	the material for the majority of strings. A selection list shows the materials that you have defined in your materials list. The material selected here will be used for all strings except the bass strings where the target frequency becomes too low in relation to the length of the string.
Bass strings	when the frequency becomes too low, the system will automatically switch to a different material for the bass strings. The material selected here will be used for bass strings where the intended frequency is too low in relation to the length of the string.

By clicking , you can choose to save the completed fields before starting the calculations. You will not yet find this harp in the overview of your harps, but only on the “Create new harp” page.

After clicking , the harp will be effectively created and added to your overview list. You will then go to the detail page of the harp with the complete table of strings.

At the top of the detail page of a harp you get an overview of the general properties of the harp. This consists of 2 parts.

To the right of the harp specifications you can click on the button. Then you will see the same input box for creating a new harp. Here you can change the general data of the harp.

The name, description and image will not change the already calculated string table. You can simply change this without losing the string data.

If you change any of the fields of part 2, the entire string table for the selected version (more information about versions) will be recalculated.

After creating the harp, a table is displayed with a row for each string of the harp.

You will see the following columns for each string:

Number	The strings are numbered in ascending order, starting from the highest note (or shortest string).
Note	The note names are filled in automatically, starting with the highest note and following the descending scale of Eb. The note of the string can be in French notation or English notation, depending on your preference. You can set this preference in your general settings, so that it will be used for every new harp. But you can also change this per harp by choosing the desired language in the heading of the note column.
Frequency (Hz)	The frequency of each string is automatically determined by the chosen tuning of the harp and its distance from A1.
Length (cm)	In this input field you enter the length of the string, expressed in cm up to 2 decimal places. You can save the length by clicking on the icon or jumping to the next input field with the tab key. The length will then be saved automatically.

After you have entered the last length, the entire table will be calculated automatically.

The calculated table shows a number of properties per string, most of which are easy to change.

In the column header you will see a reset button on the far right. This will recalculate the entire table of this version as it was calculated the very first time. The materials will also be returned to the initial values.

There are the following columns per string:

Number	The strings are numbered in ascending order, starting from the highest note (or shortest string).
Note	The note names are filled in automatically, starting with the highest note and following the descending scale of Eb. The note of the string can be in French notation or English notation, depending on your preference. You can set this preference in your general settings, so that it will be used for every new harp. But you can also change this per harp by choosing the desired language in the heading of the note column.
Frequency (Hz)	The frequency of each string is automatically determined by the chosen tuning of the harp and its distance from A1.
String length changeable value	The length of the string is expressed in cm with a precision of up to 2 decimal places. You can specify a different length for a string at any time. The further properties of this string will be recalculated based on the new length. This can affect the total calculated tension of the harp. The other strings remain unchanged.
Frequency x Length	In this column you see the product of the frequency and the length of the string. This result gives a first indication of the risk of breaking if gut strings are used. This calculation is performed automatically. Frequency x Length < 100   The string will not be sufficiently tensioned to be pleasantly playable. The calculator automatically switches to your chosen material for the bass strings. 100 ≤ Frequency x Length < 220   There is theoretically no risk of the gut string breaking. 220 ≤ Frequency x Length < 240   There is a certain risk of breaking the gut string. You can consider using a different material, e.g. nylon. The equivalent diameter will be calculated immediately. 240 ≤ Frequency x Length     There is a high risk of the gut string breaking. It is recommended to use a different material. If several strings appear in red, consider choosing a lower note for the first string. This reduces the frequencies of the following strings, which reduces the risk of breaking.
Material changeable value	The selected material and corresponding density can be found in this column. If you click on the material, you will receive a selection list of all possible materials. By choosing a different material, the specifications of this string will be recalculated.
Tension (kg) changeable value	the tension that the string exerts on the harp to achieve the necessary frequency, expressed in kg. This is also an input field, so you can manually specify a higher or lower tension for this string. The other specifications for this string will also be adjusted. You can also set the tension higher or lower by using the arrows to the left and right of the input field. The tension will then be adjusted by 0.01 kg. When the tension has been adjusted manually, a lock will appear, indicating that this string tension has been changed. There are two ways to distribute the total tension over the different strings. The linear distribution will calculate the tension of the first string based on the chosen material, the chosen frequency of the first note and a fixed diameter of 0.4 mm. The tension of the remaining strings is calculated in a linear ascending line based on the tension of the first string. You can manually change the diameter of that first string after the first calculation without changing the slope of the tension curve. The non-linear distribution will follow the linear tension curve until your chosen "last linear string". From that point on, the curve will follow a parabolic progression, with the minimum being the tension in the last linear string, followed by a quadratic increase calculated so that the total tension on the harp corresponds to the chosen target tension. In this way, the tension in the bass strings increases extra quickly, so that they have sufficient tension to produce a beautiful tone.
Feel	This value is a measure of the tactile feeling of hardness when pulling a string. The program ensures that the feeling varies gradually from string to string. This prevents places where the player moves to an adjacent string and has to pull considerably harder than on the previous string. The use of the non-linear stringing creates a higher tension in the bass strings, which reduces the feeling in those strings. It is best not to drop the value below 10. You can intervene by increasing the target tension, by choosing the last linear string closer to the higher notes or by manually increasing the tension in the bass strings.
Break strain (%)	The break strain shows the chance that the string can break. The break strain of the material is used to calculate this. If this value has not been entered for the material, this column will remain empty.
Diameter (mm) changeable value	In this column you will find the diameter in mm required to achieve the necessary frequency with the calculated tension. This column is an input field. You can manually enter a diameter or increase or decrease the value of the diameter by using the arrows to the left and right of the input field. When you manually adjust the diameter, a lock icon will appear to indicate that this value has been manually adjusted.

In the last column you will see 2 icons.

	When you change the value of a column (e.g. string length or tension), you can click on the icon to confirm the values ​​of this string. After changes, the values ​​are always saved automatically. This “save” button is for your peace of mind.
	This button allows you to reset the calculations for this string for the chosen material. If tension or diameter were manually adjusted, they will be recalculated. The material is not restored to the very first version. If you manually selected a different material, this material will be used for the calculation of the tension and the diameter.

The graph shows the tension for each string of the harp. Horizontally you see the strings by number. The shortest string (or highest note) starts on the left. The longest string (or lowest note) ends on the right. As the strings become longer, the tension of the strings will increase. The blue line shows the tension following a completely linear increase. The red line shows the tension personalized in the string table. This can be partially or completely aligned with the blue line. You can grab any point on the line with the mouse and drag it to a higher or lower tension. The corresponding string in the string table will automatically make new calculations for that string (new tension creates a new diameter).

At the bottom you can see the total tension of all strings together in the red bar. With every change, both in the table and in the graph, this total tension is automatically adjusted.

It can be interesting to create different versions of one harp. Changes you make to a version, both in the table and in the general specifications of the harp, only affect the selected version. All other versions will remain unchanged.

When you create a harp, it will automatically be “Version 1” of the harp. Under the box with the general specifications of the harp, you can see “Version 1” on the left. A new tab will appear here for each version you create. The selected tab, the chosen version, is indicated in red.

If you want to add a version, click on the icon. The current version will be used to create a duplicate.
For example: If 5 versions exist and you selected version 2, version 2 will be used to create version 6.

Each version can also be deleted by clicking the next to the version name. This action is irreversible. There must always be at least 1 version left, so you won't be able to delete the last remaining version. The versions are given an ascending number as their name. When you delete a version, the numbering of the later versions will be adjusted.
For example: you have three versions. When you uninstall version 2, the name of version 3 will change to version 2.

When the string table has been fully calculated (after all string lengths have been entered), you have the option to export the table to a PDF file and/or an Excel file.

In the general properties of the harp you can click on the button on the far right.
A window will appear with the following options:

Format	A PDF file is a universally accessible file where the formatting is retained regardless of the program or platform used to read it. Excel is a Microsoft calculation program that can be used to process data in tables and graphs.
Version	You choose which version will be exported. You can also choose to export all versions. With PDF this will result in multiple pages. In Excel, a tab will be created per version.
Content	Complete: all columns of the string table are exported, as you can see on the harp detail page. Compact: a compact overview of the table is used, consisting of the columns “note”, “length”, “material” and “diameter”. Custom: You can also choose which columns are included in your exported document.
Graph	If this checkbox is selected, the image of the graph will be included in the file, both in PDF and in Excel.
Language	Select the language you want for the document. This may differ from the language in which you use the website. This can be useful if you want to send an exported file to a foreign-speaking customer.

Comment: The notation of the note names will be shown in the same language as they appear in the table on the website. If you want a different notation for your export file, you will first have to change the language of the notes in the table by selecting a different language in the column header.

When all choices have been made, click on the button. The file will be created and you can download it immediately.

In the menu, click on «Documents». Here you will find an overview of every document you have created via the harp details page by exporting to PDF or Excel.

You can download the file by clicking on the icon at the beginning of each row or by clicking on the file name in the "file" column.

Sorting

You can sort the list ascending or descending by clicking on the column header. The list can be sorted by harp name, version, content, graph, language or date.

Filter

Click the button to filter the list.

You can filter the list of documents by file format (PDF or Excel), by harp and by content. These filters can be combined.

You will see your chosen filters appear at the top and you can also delete them again by clicking on the cross next to the chosen filter.

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You can specify two preferences in the language settings.

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