Salvi Daphne 40

[unknown-user]

I wondered if anyone has had experience with the Salvi Daphne 40 in a small orchestra?

[brook-boddie]

Rachel,

The Daphne 40 is the smallest pedal harp made.

[mark-andersen]

Hi Rachel,

One of my teaching harps is a Salvi Daphne 40 and while it is a lovely harp, especially for beginners, I do not think it could hold up to orchestra playing with regard to volume and tone. You can indeed get a little more volume from the Daphne by using a slightly smaller diameter string (usually found on lever harps with gut) but it still would require an electrical pickup and amplification to hold its own against an orchestra or band. If you absolutely MUST have a smaller size harp I’d highly recommend a Lyon and Healy 85P. It is not that much larger than the Daphne but it projects far better. I also have an 85P and when I need to take out a smaller harp for a playing job, I would always choose the 85P over the Daphne 40. The best of all would be a Lyon and Healy 85EX with the extended sound board. Of course then you’re getting into a larger size harp but still not a concert grand.

All the best,

Mark

[brook-boddie]

Rachel,

Also, L&H currently has their 85GP model on sale through the end of the year.

[unknown-user]

Yes, I’d have to agree that the L&H little harps generally project better than the Daphne 40’s.

For a school band, I’d say I’d want the 44 or 46 string models – for the range but also the volume in both brands.

Brook was mentioning the L&H

[unknown-user]

I’ve used the Daphne 46 for orchestral playing and I rarely had a problem getting enough sound… but I think the tone form the Daphne I had was unusally big. For its size it is a nice harp.

[Jessica Frost]

My first pedal harp was a Salvi Daphne 40 which I used through middle school and two years of high school.

[unknown-user]

Thanks for your reply.

[sherry-lenox]

Some days ago there was a discussion about the L&H 85XP,

[unknown-user]

Yes, I agree with that, they all vary – especially in projection. I have had two students with little Daphnes and they were both nice sounding little harps but one was a little tight and contained. Although, it did get better with age.

I’m sure a 46 would be more than adequate. When I used to play in school ensembles and community orchestras (more years ago than I care to admit to) it was on an old Grecian Erard! And it had no projection at all (neither did I for that matter!!). And a modern Daphne 40 is so much of a step up from that! It’s also a good size for young people still growing. So, it would not be a bad choice – but a larger one, chosen

[unknown-user]

…if the school could stretch their budget for a slightly bigger one of course!

[sherry-lenox]

A-Humph. Just one moment please. I am a wizened little old lady, shrinking from cellular deterioration, and if I hope to play a pedal harp, it would most certainly be a 40 string one. My teacher has a small harp, and I believe it may be a Salvi. To my unpracticed eye, it appears to be almost exactly the same as her Prelude.

She plays it in a local, very, very good amateur symphony, and has no trouble being heard.

Seriously, I wonder if the smaller Salvi is mechanically complete, or is that not possible in a 40 string harp?

[unknown-user]

There is nothing wrong with 40 string harps. And they would do fine for alot of types of work and amateur orchestras. But,

[barbara-brundage]

HI, Ro. It’s not really a question of simpler or not good–merely that these little harps are disc-challenged. The bottom 4 or 5 strings (can’t remember offhand) and the top two have no mechanism. This is the same for the daphnes and the 85 series. Last time I saw them, the all the smaller 85 series harps (below the 85-E size) have the same mechanism, so the 44 string just has 4 more disc-free strings. The 85-E has a regular semi-grand mechanism.

To my mind, this is the biggest flaw in these smaller harps. I believe the smaller Venus harps have a full set of discs, or at least more discs than the L&H and Salvi small harps.

[barbara-brundage]

The 85-E is now called the 85-SG, I guess. Anyway, that’s what that extra thousand bucks buys, for those wondering about the diff between the two models on sale. They’re the same physical dimensions, pretty much, but the extra money buys the F and G at the top of the harp and whole lot more discs.

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