Question about gut strings

[naima-kazmi–2]

Hi,

It has been a while since I began to play the harp, and I’m looking to buy a new harp. I was looking at the Camac Korrigan (38 string) lever harp with gut strings, and according to the description, it is “Intended for either professional players of the celtic harp or for players of the classical harp who take pleasure in playing celtic harps”.
I am nowhere near “professional” as yet, but I’m wondering if the Korrigan is for professionals because of its construction or because it has gut strings. Do gut strings correlate with advanced harp-playing ability? Are they more difficult to play than nylon strings?

Naima

[Sherj DeSantis]

At 38 strings, you have a larger size floor harp, so maybe that’s where part of the “professional” label comes in. Personally, gut is a sound preference. It is more mellow than nylon. I think a lot of true Celtic style players, might prefer the brighter tone of nylon, and the way it performs in fast pieces. I have both! I will tell you when my fingers or hands bother me, I back off of gut, and play nylon. I wonder if the Korrigan is strung in lever gut, which is between the nylon and pedal gut? I also think it might pay to buy a harp that can be strung in gut. If you wanted to, you can usually change out gut and put on nylon. You would probably need to have it regulated then. You can not however, put gut on a harp meant to be strung in nylon. The tension needed for gut is higher. Neither has anything to do with your ability. Best of luck in your harp shopping. Sherj

[Alison]

I bought a Korrigan so that I have a large lever harp to play outside when requested, which works a treat as I refuse to play my pedal harp outside. It has a tension and feel similar to the pedal harp, the space and a range to play bigger pieces like @Natalia. It’s also useful for teaching. You can put nylon on the top octave to economise but they never feel or sound the same. It’s not light though and I struggle if I have to carry it a long way. Best not to sit too high at it. I make myself practise on that alone before an outdoor gig (so that I restrict myself to that repertoire without being distracted) and then I must admit, the pedal harp feels like a silky jewel when return to it.

[fred-lockett]

I bought a pre-war 30 string harp that has sharping blades and was strung with nylon and a couple of wire strings when I purchased it. Is it possible it SHOULD be strung with gut strings? I suppose it’s a question for you folks who know about older harps Irish and Scottish built around 1900 – 1950. Mine is a Morley.

[ian-hickey]

can anyone tell me the distance between the strings on a 47 string harp please

[elinor-niemisto]

It might be that the harp has a thicker soundboard which requires a (little) bit more strength. If you are closing your fingers completely and don’t have floppy knuckles, it should be fine.

[patricia-jaeger]

To answer Ian’s question above, distances between octaves on full sized harps vary on the two I have, manufactured by two different companies. Measuring from middle C upward is exactly 4 inches to the next (3rd octave) C string, on both harps. Then continuing upward to the very top string(OOG) each successive octave became slightly smaller. From middle C downward to the bottom string (7th C) the octaves became successively wider, and this is because wire strings have a wider vibration when plucked strongly and would brush against a neighboring string if not correctly given more room to vibrate. I would be interested in hearing if others would chime in and have different answers, or concur with mine. A harp technician would have detailed information.

[patricia-jaeger]

Fred, go to http://www.morleyharps.co.uk. Ask them that question and if possible, send them a photo or two and other relevant information.Their company began in 1817. Nylon was invented in 1935. Someone at Morley Harps should be able to date your harp.

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