Nightingale Lewis Creek Harp

[ac-s]

I have been looking for a therapy harp that can fit in the overhead compartment of an airplane. I am absolutely in love with this harp! http://lewiscreek.net/lc_nightingale.htm

I would love to hear from people who own this harp or have played it.
Does anyone know where I can find some videos/audio of it being played?

So far I’ve found a lot of videos of the Triplett Christina Therapy harp (which sounds lovely!).
I am between those two; I’ve never played harp before and am currently saving up for one.
Actually, I’ve never touched a harp before in my life…but I love the sound.

[susan-zevenbergen]

Hi,
I love Lewis Creek harps. I own two Nightingales, and my floor harp is also by Lewis Creek (the Sequoia Creek). The Nightingales tend to have a mellower or richer sound than the brighter Christina, which is also lovely (I have played one or two). The kind of wood also makes a big difference in the sound. I always recommend renting a harp if you can while you are learning to play. It is hard to know what you will like until you have some experience with the harp, and it is of course a big investment.

All the best,
Susan
http://www.myharpsdelight.com

[David]

I’m late to this conversation, but would like to add my two cents to this topic, hopefully helping others who are thinking about purchasing a Nightingale harp. Since Susan’s already touched upon the sound quality of the instrument, I’ll talk about the travel-ability.

I bought a ten-year-old Nightingale earlier this year, sold on the fact that it is travel friendly.

While it is true that you can travel with it, there are some things I learned from my trip to the Dominican Republic: Make sure you check the size limits for your flight. The height of this harp is 31 inches. Many airlines have a carry-on size limit of around 9”x14”x22” these days, so this harp exceeds it by a good 9 inches, and believe me, they will notice when you try to board the aircraft with it.

On my way to the DR, they forced me to ship it (they didn’t charge me, but it was still a terrible mistake). When I got to the DR, it was grossly out of tune, which tells me they weren’t very kind to it, and the plastic clip on the handle was broken, rendering it useless.

On the way back, I made sure to be one of the first to board the plane, and tried to hide it in upper stow area. A stewardess was trying to make more space for other baggage, and moved my harp to a different area in the very front of the plane. I was very stern-voiced about the need to be extra careful with the harp, and explained to them my previous experience. They were indeed careful, and my harp came back safe and sound.

I would think about how often you’re planning on travelling, and whether the airlines you’re planning on taking allows for the size of the harp.

Air travel is unfortunately not what it used to be…

[Author]

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