Funky Harps: The Innovative Instruments of Walter Kitundu

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“There are a lot of things you can do just with a turntable, and there are a lot of things that you can do with just strings,” Kitundu says. “And there are some interesting areas where, when you put the two things together, new possibilities come up. Basically this is a tool for exploring those areas.”

A constant innovator, Kitundu has built dozens of phonoharps. Almost all of his instruments are designed in the tiny kitchen alcove of his simple San Francisco studio apartment, constructed from spare parts and plywood and various objects gleaned from the scrap bin of the Exploratorium, a museum where he works as a multi­media artist. Some have as many as 27 strings. Others are powered by forces of nature—wind, ocean waves, light, fire, and even birds.

Listening to Kitundu play a phonoharp reveals the instrument’s endless musical variations. Using a pencil, he taps a simple rhythm on the turntable, then steps on a foot pedal that loops the beat. He improvises a quick harp-plucked melody and electronically mixes it into the rhythm; finally, he spins a track from a 1970s album called Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions on top of this musical foundation. The combinations of rhythm loops, spur-of-the-moment string melodies, and vintage vinyl tracks are endless, a quality that Kitundu exploits in his improvisations.

“When I play, I don’t know exactly what I am about to do,” he says. “The best shows I have ever had are ones where I had no idea what I was going to do. I’m like a child amongst my favorite things. I love picking things out and trying different combinations.”

The members of the Kronos Quartet, the San Francisco–based ensemble that has pushed the boundaries of string quartet performance since 1973, consider Kitundu to be one of their closest collaborators. He has built seven instruments for the group and performed with them at Carnegie Hall. David Harrington, the quartet’s founder and violinist, describes Kitundu as part Leonardo da Vinci and part Harry Partch, the eccentric musical instrument inventor.

“His sense of poise and creativity and just the way he allows himself to imagine things is breathtaking and inspiring,” Harrington says. “The instant I met Walter, I felt like he was a brother. There’s a quality to him that is absolutely beautiful. It’s a wonderful curiosity and confidence and calm—he’s always felt like a member of the group.”

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