Amp lever harp with mic

[byouke]

Hi

If someone would want to bring the volume up with his/her harp, how should one do it with microphone(s)?

I found also pickups for harps (e.f. Dusty strings), but I don’t really want to drill a hole or paste something inside the harpbox.

Are there some brands or types of mics that are better suited for harps? One or more needed? Can more than one microphone be plugged in an amp-box?

Oh yeah, I have some canarybirds in house (who LOVE to sing at inconvenient moments), will this affect the microphone?

Thanks in advance

[sueblane]

Is this for recording or a live performance?

Using a microphone with a harp is best used when making a recording. Using a microphone to amplify the harp in a live performance will pickup ambient sounds (like your birds). I’ve seen videos of harpists using a mic playing live, but I’ve never tried that so I can’t comment on it.

I’ve installed a Fishman pickup in a harp using double sided tape, no drilling. I was able to remove the pickup with no damage to the harp when I sold it. I’ve also seen pickups which use a putty type material, where you stick the pickup on the soundboard using this putty and simply remove it when you’re done. Pickups are nice with harps because you just use a guitar cord and plug it in. If you need more volume, just turn up the amp. If you turn up the amp when using a mic, you’re also turning up the ambient noise.

[duckspeaks]

Dear Byouke,

ther are clip on piezo pickups you can order online for less than 2 dollars. I use that sometimes for the tuning machine when the environment is noisy. I have never heard it amplified but people sell then for the guitars and they are so cheap. By the way they look indistinguishable from those sold many times dearer.

some harp makes use multiple pickups to have more balanced sound. some goes so far as to having one per string. It is worth experimenting with a few located across different octaves. It you use too many you would need a pre-amp/mixer.

May take some experimentation, just keep trying and don’t ignore those cheap stuff.

[byouke]

Hi

thanks for the replies guys 😉 , i’ve got some experimenting to do.
I’ve also read somewhere of a person who did put a mic in the soundboard instead of pickups. Has someone had experience with this?

[Daniel]

I use an AKG C411 microphone on the soundboard of my pedal harp. It’s been good enough for all the gigs I played so far (some with a singer, some solo, some with a whole band and once even with a brass band), and even for recording something quickly. Two of those would give a more balanced sound, but so far it’s been enough. The C411 is a condenser mic, so you need XLR ins with phantom power.

[byouke]

Thanks all 😉

[Author]

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