Re: Carbon Fiber Concert Harps….Please soon!

[laurie-rasmussen]

In praise of carbon fiber…

I have owned a Camac Aziliz lever harp for eight years. The soundboard has a very thin layer of carbon fiber sandwiched between two layers of spruce and it’s strung with Savarez fluorocarbon strings. The tuning is extremely stable, the sound is very clear and big for a small-bodied harp and it’s light-weight and easy to transport. I bought this harp specifically for touring and knowing that it would take some hard knocks. It has traveled untold miles by train, plane, automobile, bus, ferry boat and even on a tractor once. It has been wheeled on a cart over many kilometers of cobblestones. It’s been lost for days at the Paris airport on two occasions and then returned. It’s still a great-sounding and solid little harp, not muddy or boomy.

I have a Camac Atlantide concert grand that has an inner string rib that appears to made of carbon fiber although the soundboard material is cedar rather than spruce. The cedar gives a warmth to the tone that I preferred over the spruce and I imagine the cf string rib gives strength and resilience without adding a lot of mass. The tone is even across the range, there is a real clarity in the mid and bass range where some other harps can be muddy and I think it’s an awesome-sounding harp that is also very responsive to play. The carbon fiber column is strong and light – the harp weighs around 75 pounds total.

I have a few other harps by different makers that are all wood, no cf, and I love them all. I applaud the folks who are experimenting with modern technology and materials in an attempt to make my life as a harpist easier and more enjoyable.