Recently, John Doan was featured on Oregon Art Beat for Oregon Public Broadcasting. The show featured John performing on the harp guitar and harpolyre, and touring his studio and collection of rare and antique stringed instruments.
Click to see Art Beat Oregon episode on John Doan
In Volume 7, Issue 1 of harpguitars.net, John Doan wrote the article, ‘The “Expanded” Harp Guitar – Adding Possibilities with Super-Trebles.’
The playing and making of harp guitars today is causing a re-examination of many basic design features that go into making a fine guitar-like instrument with an expanded range. The six-string guitar world is alive and vital today but with the addition of sub-basses and super-trebles entirely new dimensions and fundamental questions arise that are not being commonly discussed among six-string guitar builders. I have concluded that after reviewing and playing many prototype designs today that simply having skills as a six-string guitar builder is not going to result in a great harp guitar. Harp guitar construction in many ways is a very different activity than building a six-string instrument.
The article examines the construction, enhancement, and benefits the super-trebles add to the harp guitar as he discusses the theory and techniques used to create the Sullivan/Elliott harp guitar John developed.
Sullivan-Elliott Harp Guitar - photograph by Jeffrey Elliott
Filmed entirely on location in Ireland, this is a preview of the upcoming documentary on John Doan’s “A Celtic Pilgrimage.” It showcases the journey he took repeatedly to explore the Celtic history and spiritual places he calls the “thin places” where spirit and earth meet.
John talks about the project and the stories of how he came to compose the beautiful music behind his Eire – Isle of the Saints, Wayfarer, and A Celtic Pilgrimage albums.
In an ancient cottage on Aran Isle in Ireland, John Doan plays for his fellow pilgrims on his own pilgrimage after completing the album, “Eire – Isle of the Saints.”
At the 2006 Guild of American Luthiers Festival (GAL) in Tacoma, Washington, John Doan performs his best known tune, “Farewell,” from his A Celtic Pilgrimage and Eire – Isle of the Saints.
At the 2006 GAL Festival in Tacoma, Washington, John Doan dazzled audiences with his harp guitar in this collection of tips from the Guild of American Luthiers Festival.
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