Disability issues, thinking of returning to the harp

[Tacye]

When trying a harp I suggest you check the sound and ease of playing the very top and bottom strings (sometimes playing higher or lower on the bottom strings rather than exact middle gives a sound I prefer) and how does the harp sound with levers all open or all engaged – it will sound different, do you like both sounds? Play both chords and tunes and try playing with different amounts of pressure to see what the harp responds too. Ask someone to play the harps you are keenest on so you can listen to get another idea of the sound as it will be different by your ear and across the room.

It is likely that no harp will be totally perfect, but you will decide which aspects you care about most – you might put up with a few plunky strings at the top for a glorious middle, for instance.

I may see you and Jennifer there – but I’m sorry I am already not quite sure if I will fit a pedal harp, a lever harp and two friends in my car.

[Elettaria]

I just checked the height of the Ravenna, and at 3cm taller than the Hermine, it’s unlikely I’ll be able to reach the bottom levers comfortably. I also don’t know which levers the second-hand one has on it. I think I’d rather spend the money on renting a harp I like while I wait for mine to be built than buy one I’m not that suited to and sell it on afterwards. Of course, I’ll check the Ravenna just in case it does suit me!

Tacye – thanks, good to know. I’ve been practising a few pieces which do various things, use different parts of the range differently, use techniques such as quick lever changes or playing the strings in another way. So far that Andres suite has me playing bas dans les cordes, pres de la table, sons xylo, harmonics, and pince, not to mention rapping on the soundbox. Pistache has a nice range of styles and uses most of the harp, I should probably spend more time on that. Also I’m doing a couple of Bach preludes, one with fiendish lever changes. There’s a book of easier medieval music for the slower, more sonorous stuff, and also some Dowland songs. But singing as well as lots of lever changes seems to be a bit challenging right now, so I probably won’t bother with those. Oh well, spending yesterday evening working out the lever changes for In Darkness Let Me Dwell was fun anyway.

[Elettaria]

I made it! Totally shattered now, but it was worth the exhaustion and the blisters. I am indeed going for a 36 string Norris, fluorocarbon, string gauge to be determined nearer the time, most likely American walnut, and minus the inlay as it’s not my style. Renting that Starfish Glencoe in the meantime will be lovely, too. He didn’t have any harps there with the new Alulite levers, but Teifi did, so we were all sneaking off to try them there. And now for pizza.

Lovely meeting you, Jennifer, and by the way, did you know you can get practice pads for snare drum? Much quieter!

[Elettaria]

The Teifi was indeed nice, and not too heavy, but it seemed really loud in the middle. I’d have liked to have had longer to play with it. The levers were good, which is the main point. Although I tried four harps with Camac levers at some length today, and they varied a great deal in terms of how stiff they were, even with the same luthier. Well, I can sort that out later. The Norris ones are definitely easy to reach.

Fluorocarbon strings sound a bit brighter than gut, am I right? I think that’ll work nicely with the Norris harps. Plus generally I’m much happier with a luthier who is used to working with fluorocarbon regularly and likes it. He didn’t have any 36 string ones there, but he had a couple of 34 string ones with the larger frame he also uses for the 36 string ones, and the larger frame suited me better. It felt right.

[balfour-knight]

Thanks, Elettaria, for letting us know how things went at the festival. I wish my wife and I could have been there with you. It sounded like such fun. Hope you are having a great day and getting some much needed rest.

Best wishes,
Balfour

[Elettaria]

Lots of rest – I’m still recovering!  It turns out that I badly overdid it, especially with all the practice beforehand.  Anyway, my rental Starfish Glencoe will be arriving in a week or so, and I’m excited about moving to a better harp.  Any advice on washing the dust cover for the Camac I’m renting before I return it?  They said they’ve had problems with people with cat allergies before.  The cat hasn’t been sitting on the cover as far as I know, it’s either been in a box or sitting folded on an armchair she doesn’t touch, but if it’s been in a catty household then it will have allergens on it to some extent, I imagine.  I was thinking of putting it in the washing machine, then hanging it up in the bathroom to dry so that it is cat-free, and then putting it in a sealed container.  (The cat regards the clothes horse as her personal climbing frame.)  It’s polyester, I think, otherwise I’d tumble dry it.

Mark Norris was very friendly on the phone, very friendly at the festival, and hasn’t replied to emails since.  I’m a smidgen worried about that.

[Elettaria]

Arggh I keep being sporadically tempted by lap harps.  There’s a cheap Morley 22 string on eBay which I probably do not need, in that having even more strings to tune every week would annoy me, as would the limited range (F to F doesn’t strike me as promising, either).  If I am feeling musically inclined when at my partner’s, he does have an electric piano.

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