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"Now then, Sarsius, my drumheller harp, please. For I have a promise to keep... to a Dark Lord."
―Zeta Mangus requesting Sarsius Torne to bring him his drumheller harp[2]

The drumheller harp was a percussion instrument that had attachments such as the O'Tawa cymbal, a screamer gong, and a Tryna chime. In 22 BBY, the genetic terrorist Zeta Magnus directed a servant to play his harp while at Rennek palace in the Dark Worlds. In 4 ABY, the instrument was used by the drummer Ak-rev while he and the Max Rebo Band performed the song "Jedi Rocks" in Jabba's Palace on the planet Tatooine.

Description

The drumheller harp was a brown-colored percussion instrument that could have a variety of attachments.[1] The instrument was constructed with a circular harp base at the bottom, above which one resonator and two O'Tawa cymbals were located. Six[4] centressar strings[1] were attached between the base and the resonator. A circular chime mount that contained a[4] Tryna chime[1] was also connected to the resonator.[4] A screamer gong[1] was held atop a gong stand connected to the harp base. Seilith music charms were wrapped around the stand.[4]

The instrument could be played by either plucking its strings[2] or by hitting either its O'Tawa cymbals or the screamer gong with[3] a gong mallet.[5] The drumheller harp was considered to be marvelous and its sound to be mellifluous.[2]

History

"I have taken the time to memorize the languages of each and all my victims—the process demands but a few hours, akin to my learning the Mawanese vioflute, the drumheller harp, or Zeltronian lute."
―Zeta Magnus reflects on his abilities[2]
Ak-rev played the drumheller harp at Jabba's palace.

Ak-rev played the drumheller harp at Jabba's palace.

By 22 BBY,[6] the Arkanian genetic terrorist Zeta Magnus had learned how to play the drumheller harp within a few hours. By that year as well, one of the instruments was owned by Magnus and placed in Rennek palace in the Dark Worlds. While at the palace, the Arkanian directed Sarsius Torne, a Thyrsian Sun Guard mercenary who served him, to bring him his instrument, to which he played as he released a plague onto the Galactic Republic.[2]

In 4 ABY,[7] a drumheller harp was present in the throne room of Hutt[3] crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure's palace on the Outer Rim planet Tatooine.[8] The instrument was used alongside[3] the power drum[8] by the Weequay drummer Ak-rev when he[5] performed the song "Jedi Rocks" with the Max Rebo Band shortly before the arrival of Rebel Alliance member Leia Organa, disguised as bounty hunter Boushh. The drumheller harp was removed from the throne room[3] when night fell that day.[9]

Behind the scenes

The drumheller harp first appeared in the Special Edition re-release of the original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.[3] The re-release premiered on March 14, 1997,[10] ahead of the harp's reveal[11] in January 1997[12] in the "Renewing the Universe" article of the tenth issue of Star Wars Galaxy Magazine.[11] The instrument was first identified in Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary, a 1998 reference book written by David West Reynolds.[4] The capitalization of the instrument was later provided in the 2008 reference book The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, written by Pablo Hidalgo and Stephen J. Sansweet.[1]

Appearances

Sources

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Notes and references

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