I'm Natalie.

I'm a harp maker from Galway.

Narrator: The earliest Irish harp was made more than 7 centuries ago.

Back then, Irish harps were played all over, but by the 18th century, they had fallen out of favor, and making them was a dying art.

I think there was so much knowledge which is forgotten, and there is so much experience which is forgotten.

Narrator: Natalie fell in love with the classic harp while doing research for her Ph.D.

in Irish studies.

There was just one problem.

Natalie: I couldn't afford it, basically.

[Chuckling] It was so expensive, so I thought I'd make a harp for myself.

Narrator: Since then, she's dedicated her life to making her own harps, copies of those that survive from centuries ago.

Natalie: I like to replicate, 'cause it gives me an idea of how things were done back then.

Narrator: It takes an entire year to make a harp, as Natalie slowly turns huge pieces of local Irish willow into an elegant instrument.

First, she marks the outline for the 3 key pieces of the harp: the soundbox, the pillar, and the harmonic curve, or neck.

It's the same basic blueprint harp makers relied on centuries ago.

Natalie: Very little is known, actually, about these instruments, why things were done that way, so I try to copy the way the old masters were doing it.

This is all the joys of being a female woodworker.

[Electric saw whirring] ♪ Narrator: After the pieces are cut, Natalie hollows out the soundbox, which amplifies the sound made by the strings.

She will often spend several weeks getting it just right.

Natalie: I'm just finishing the sides of the soundbox.

So the idea is to make them completely flat.

When I get to the fine bits, I start using hand tools quite a lot 'cause there's more control.

Narrator: The soundbox needs to be just the right thickness.

Too thick, it produces a dull sound; too thin, the wood will break, and then she'll have to start all over.

Natalie: It's not a kind of a science, you know.

It's just trial and error.

That's it.

[Different tapping sounds] Can you hear it here?

It's much louder and kind of brighter.

This dull section, I need to kind of improve it.