Electric harps in 2023?

[Anna Hagen]

I need a comparison of all the new brands of electric harps! It’s hard to keep track! There are the classics, Cammac and Lyon And Healy and then there are new ones like Delta and random pop-ups like Harpy… Pros? Cons? Playing feel? Brands I don’t know about? All thoughts helpful!

[Sara Prazenics]

Curious why no mention of Salvi? The Salvi rainbow looks quite amazing

[Anna Hagen]

Great example – I didn’t even know about that one! And of course there’s Neveltec

[Anna Hagen]

So Salvi Rainbow seems to be electric acoustic and Delta seems to be their pure electric harp. What other brands of electric ONLY harp are there and how do they compare?

[Anna Hagen]

So new brand I didn’t know about

Cassista Electric Harps Home Page

[taras]

Camac’s DHC has always been great! David Kortier’s and Cassista harps are very good American made options. Neveltec looks well-engineered.

[Anna Hagen]

Just saw this brand:
https://www.tremer-harfen.de/

[Gretchen Cover]

Important question: Lever or pedal harp?

[Gretchen Cover]

Electroacoustic

[Anna Hagen]

Gretchen—-I’m specifically asking about purely electric harps not electric-acoustic harp. The only pure electric harps I’ve seen are lever harps like the Camac DHC or Delta or Neveltec. Has anyone heard about a pure electric pedal harp?

[Horace Nigon]

Hello Anna,
I know that the famous columbian harpist Edmar Castaneda had a special pedal electric harp (so only electric) out of carbon fiber custom-built for him by camac based on the CLIO/Baby blue harp.

Alan Stivell, a well known harpist here in France had an electric lever harp custom-built by Camac in the past, he has lots of electric harps (he was one of the first to have an electric harp alongside folks like Andreas Vollenweider or Vincenzo Zitello in the 80s).

I also know that David Kortier has made an electric/MIDI pedal harp and it shows on his website but it is lonnnng gone by now, but he still makes electric celtic harps and chromatic harps.

I know Philippe Volant who makes custom-built fully electric harps in France.

These kind of harps still seem pretty limiting on the technical aspect and follow the same rules than “normal” harp lutherie, there is still a lot to discover with experimentation on the mechanical aspects of the electric harp (see electric guitars).

[Anna]

A super exciting subject! I think there definitely were electric harps in both pedal and lever variety. What i would like to know from your post however is whether you want to know more about electric, electro acoustic or amplified harps? All three are a different breed and would have different technical limitations.

[Anna Hagen]

Hello Anna—-I’m also Anna!
As I said at the beginning, I was specifically asking about ONLY electric Harps. I already am familiar with/play electricfied acoustic and amplified Harps. But purely electric harps are much rarer and I’ve never gotten to play or hear several of the brands in person. I’m not even sure what brands there are.

For example, I just discovered the Harp-E by the designers of Delta harps which are FASCINATING.

[Jerusha Amado]

Just FYI–David Kortier, harpmaker, passed away recently. https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/obituaries/obits/david-kortier-5d0135ff67a60618cb3bf3a9-64da9c7472e105672ec172f6

[balfour-knight]

Yes, Anna, there was a nice article in Harp Column Magazine about the Harp-E recently. I have not had the opportunity to play one yet, but they sound like they are very innovative. I prefer larger harps, though! (at least 36 strings)

Jerusha, thanks for the news about David Kortier–so sad to lose another harpmaker.

Best regards to all of you,
Balfour

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