Dating from the middle ages, Nyckelharpa translates as ‘keyed fiddle’ in Swedish. The pitch of the notes is altered by pressing a wooden key, which frets the string. There are also 12 sympathetic strings, adding resonance, volume, and zing to the sound. Soniccouture’s Nyckelharpa features two different harpas: the standard viola pitch instruments, and an 'octavharpa', a cello tuned model. A range of detailed controls makes the Nyckelharpa an extremely flexible instrument and sound design tool.