Minimum Temperature for Playing Outside

[barbara-brundage]

But I get the “This harp is very small, isn’t it?” remark even when I bring a concert grand. People who are not harpists are just vague about this. I had a friend who, when she got this when she was playing, used to carefully set down her 23, look the person straight in the eye, and say, “Well, just how big did you want it to be?”

I don’t think there is ANY prejudice against lever harps/small harps from the general public. Rather the reverse, if anything. I’ve noticed that when I have brides come to my house to pick music, 10 of them look over uneasily at my Style 11 and say, “You’re not going to bring that, are you?” for every one who says, “Ooh, could you bring that one?”

There is a lot of prejudice both ways in the harp world. I find that folk harpists are just as prejudiced against pedal harpists as the other way round.

[barbara-brundage]

To show how vague people really are, I’ve had the experience of playing a gig on my natural 23, and people will come up to me and tell me how they heard Roberto Perara (excellent Paraguayan harpist), and his harp is MUCH BIGGER than that one. It’s so big he has to stand up to play it, and also his harp is made of wood.

There’s nothing to do except remember Ray Pool’s excellent maxim that people don’t want to be educated, they want to be right, so I just smile and nod and go on with what I was doing.

[barbara-brundage]

Oops. Perera. Sorry for the typo

[Sidney Dharmavaram]

I’m wondering if I can bring this topic up again but with the question now about maximum temperature.

[Sylvia]

I live in a hot (mostly) place, and I have certain dresses that I wear outdoors, with a minimum of undies.

[Sid Humphreys]

Sidney,

[Sidney Dharmavaram]

What had me nervous is Sam’s comment above that the harp’s glue will melt.

[Sylvia]

Here is what Sam posted.

“I believe that anything above about 20 degrees F should be fine. Below that, the finish will crack, but cold won’t really hurt the harp. I don’t remember where I got that information – it was either from an informed poster here on a different thread or from a maintenance workshop. Anyway, It’s the heat that kills, because the glue melts at dangerously low temps.”
~Sam

[Sidney Dharmavaram]

Thanks for the help.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I would not ever play outside unless the harp is on flooring and under a canopy of some kind, and the weather is perfectly dry. It’s just not meant to be done. You can’t hear it well, anyway, unless you have a portable bandshell for it. Wouldn’t that be nice?

[Sylvia]

“You can’t hear it well, anyway, unless you have a portable bandshell for it. Wouldn’t that be nice? “

Ummm.

[Sid Humphreys]

Harps weren’t invented last week. In fact, they were played before the invention of

[catherine-rogers]

Maybe it’s that harps and strings have become much more expensive. Not looking forward to losing the last of my Classic gut strings and having to replace with the more expensive Bow Brand, but that’s the way it goes. High humidity does make my gut strings wear out much faster.

[Sidney Dharmavaram]

Sid, I do indeed understand your point.

[Sid Humphreys]

Thanks for taking it with some humor Sidney! I really meant it in a tounge and cheek way, but it hits home too. Can’t tell you how many times I turned down an oppertunity because I didn’t want bird poop on my harp!

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