I am a Norwegian musician and composer playing with the bands Wardruna, Gåte and Bergtatt. I play ancient Nordic instruments such as the nyckelharpa, moraharpa, and hurdy-gurdy.
Photo: Denys Ganba
I play Moraharpa live with Wardruna, which extensively tours the world. I also play Nyckelharpa live with Folk-Rock legends Gåte. I play Nyckelharpa and Hurdy-Gurdy with Bergtatt and I’m also the driving force behind that band. I have a solo project where I play Nyckelharpa with loops and tracks, and I sometimes perform live with Kalandra and singer/songwriter Krissy Mary.
I am also a studio musician and have contributed to recordings with well-known artists such as the experimental band Ulver, jazz pianist Andreas Ihlebæk, folk musician Jeff Wassermann and the alternative pop/rock band Kalandra. I have played nyckelharpa, moraharpa, and hurdy-gurdy on the song "Udyr" by film and game composer Christine Hals for the game League of Legends.
I have composed all the music for the play “Birkebeinerspelet” and one song for the major film Birkebeinerne (The Last King) starring Kristoffer Hivju from Game of Thrones and Jakob Oftebro from Kon-Tiki. I have also composed the music for the computer games Game of Gnomes and Z-files.
I have a wide range of musical experience and expertise, and my unique Nordic instruments gives the music a distinct Nordic character.
Collaborations?
I’m always interested in exploring new projects, so if you are interested in collaborating with me feel free to reach out.
Instruments
Nyckelharpa
This is my 4-row chromatic Nyckelharpa. It is tuned CGDA and has 12 sympathetic strings, one for each note in the chromatic scale. The sympathetic strings starts to ring whenever a tone on the 4 melody strings are played, just like on the Hardanger fiddle. So when I play one note on one string I get the sound of two strings, and when I play double stops I get the sound of 4 strings. This gives the instrument a rich and nordic sound. The lowest tone is a C 130 Hz and the highest is a G 1568 Hz.
You can read more about the history of the Nyckelharpa here: A Brief History of the Nyckelharpa or here: Nyckelharpa Wikipedia
Moraharpa
The Moraharpa is the oldest type of Nyckelharpa in the Nyckelharpa family. It is a simpler version on the Nyckelharpa above. It evolved from the Hurdy-Gurdy and developed into different types of Nyckelharpas like the Silverbasharpa and the Kontrbasharpa to the 3-row and 4-row Nyckelharpas we have today. The Moraharpa only has three strings, two chromatic melody strings and one drone string. This gives the instrument a darker and older sound. The lowest melody string is tuned to a D 146 Hz and the highest tone on the highest string is a F# 740 Hz. The drone string can be tuned to any note to suit the desired key. You can read more about the Moraharpa here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moraharpa
Hurdy-Gurdy
My Hurdy-Gurdy is a chromatic Groddalira from the island Gotland in Sweden. It has 3 strings, one melody string and two drone strings. All the strings lay over a wheel which function as a bow, and it sounds kind of like a bagpipe. The melody string is tuned to a C 262 Hz, and the drone strings are tuned to A 110 Hz and E 164 Hz or D 146 Hz. It can also be tuned differently to suit all kind of keys. Hurdy-Gurdy is called Dreielire in Norwegian and Vevlira in Swedish. Read more about the Hurdy-Gurdy here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurdy-gurdy