New harp buzzing

[unknown-user]

Hello,

I just received my first pedal harp exactly a week ago. For the first few days,
the strings would normally come out of tune and I disregarded any odd noises.

Now the strings are doing a decent job of staying in tune however, whenever I
play in the middle range of the harp, I hear this brief buzzing noise. I
checked the string anchors to see if there were any stray string
“tails” vibrating up against one another but there aren’t any.

I can’t really determine where the buzzing is coming from. I hear it very well
when I’m sitting at the harp in the normal position, but I can also hear it in
the echo chamber.

I thought that one of the discs was loose, but all of them seem to be fastened
tightly into place. I lightly tapped the soundboard and the neck to see if
there was anything rattling around, but I can’t hear anything.

I thought maybe the strings are too loose because they’re still adjusting, but
even if I tune, I still hear it.

The pedals don’t affect the buzzing much. It’s slightly less prominent if all
of the pedals are in the sharp position, but still equally irritating.

I also muted the bottom of the strings with my fingers and I still hear it.

Is this normal for new harps? Can I take care of this myself? I’m trying to
avoid shipping it back to the manufacturers. This is my only harp.

All comments are appreciated.

Thank you

[unknown-user]

Also, I live in Southern Florida, USA.

[Briggsie B. Peawiggle]

My first inclination is to check around the harp. I occasionally hear buzzing, begin to freak about my harp…..and find it is a pencil on the music stand. I use the plastic pencils where you screw out the lead, and they tend to buzz on the music stand. Amazingly it sounds exactly as if it is coming from the harp. Barring something like that, I would call the harp manufacturer and ask if there is something you can fix yourself.

Briggsie

[barbara-brundage]

First of all, move the harp into another room and try it there. Very often buzzes are sympathetic vibrations that sound like they are in the harp but are really coming from something else in the room.

If it still buzzes in other rooms, then turn the harp over and check the pedal cap screws (check all the screws down there while you’re at it. If you don’t find it there, stand the harp back up and try touching each of the back plate screws as you play (it’s easier to have a helper for this).

You will rarely find anything “ratttling around” for buzzes. It doesn’t take much.

If you have a teacher, s/he should be willing to help you with this.

[carl-swanson]

Nicholas- All of the advice here is very good, and the fact that your new harp is doing weird things just means that it is settling in. It’s no indication that the harp is a bad one or that the company did anything wrong. It’s adjusting to a new climate and also to the tension on the frame. It will need a touch up regulation sometime in the first year so that the adjustments can be made for the current environment.

A word about buzzes. They always sound as if they are coming from the action area, but much of the time are not. So look everywhere for the source. Start with the string itself. Is it a gut string with little hairs on it? They can make ‘sizzles. Is the string buzzing where it presses on the nut, or is the adjustable nut vibrating? Is the string eyelet in the soundboard making the noise.

Try to be systematic in your search, and don’t eliminate anything or any area of the instrument as a possibility. Loose pedal cap screws and loose wing bolts can vibrate and they will sound like the noise is coming from inside the action.If you can provide more detailed information I may be able to give you some ideas on where to look. Which string or strings are causing the noise? Which position(flat, natural, or sharp)? Does anything alter the noise, i.e., make it either better or worse? Things like that.

[unknown-user]

Thank you all for the replies.

Since then, the buzzing has actually gotten worse.

I have moved the harp to different rooms. The buzz is coming from the harp.

I played with the pedal caps and they all seem snug.

Now all of the gut strings from octaves 3-5 buzz and sizzle when the pedals are
in flat and natural. In sharp, some do not buzz at all and some make a very
little noise.

I also have pressed on all of the string ends the buzzing still persists with
each one of them. The fact that almost the entire gut range is buzzing makes me
think it has something to do with the strings themselves.

I tune every day, sometimes even twice a day. One night, about a week ago, there
was barely any noise and I really thought my harp had fixed itself. Tonight, I
can barely hear if my fingernails are clashing into strings because of the
loudness of the buzzes.

I will not put my harp in any awkward position (on its side) or unscrew any
part of the mechanism.

If anyone has resources for harp technicians in South Florida, please let me
know.

Thank you.

[steven-todd-miller]

Victor Roman in north Florida is fantastic. victor@romanharp.com or http://www.romanharp.com

[barbara-brundage]

Is this a new harp? Then I would contact wherever you bought it.

There are no resident harp technicians in S Fl. Ed Galchick comes every January, and if you could get the harp to Orlando or somewhere L&H usually does a road trip to Central FL. I believe that VA Harp Center may have a tech at the Orlando harp weekend next month, but you’d need to contact them to ask them.

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

Nicholas, did you ever get the buzzing fixed?

[unknown-user]

Hey Elizabeth,

The harp goes through phases of buzzing but I think I’ve learned how to ignore it. Maybe it has something to do with the weather? Whatever the case is, it’s doing well now.

If we find something during my

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

Yes, I have, and we still haven’t found the cause in spite of a trip back to the factory. The rivets and bushings were changed, but that didn’t fix the persistent sizzling sound that pervades the mid-range of the harp. So, if you find it, let me know! Do you think it could be a loose, broken or missing spring inside a back plate screw? I found a loose screw in a natural disc, but that was a different sound, and tightening the screw fixed it. I have heard this could be in “the main arm”. If it were the pedal tubing assembly, it would be only in the bottom range, so I have been told. Please do email me if you find out something.

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