so bummed

[deb-l]

the Egan broke another string today, second in 2 days.

[barbara-brundage]

I’m not sure I understand. You’re going to return a harp because it broke two strings?

[deb-l]

I’m returning it because I can’t keep it in AC that is why it’s breaking strings.

[shelby-m]

I don’t really know much about harps so maybe this won’t work but…. what if you loosened the strings after practice each day so there wasn’t any tension on them?

[deb-l]

my husband mentioned that, it’s my understanding that it’s not good for a harp to consistently keep it out of tune.

[catherine-rogers]

It’s more important for the harp to be kept in an atmosphere that’s relatively consistent and to be kept regularly tuned. (Don’t tune it up and down.) Harps don’t have to be kept in air conditioned spaces as long as the temperature is comfortable for you and the humidity is between 45 and 70 percent, approximately, as much as possible. We had harps before there was air conditioning, and strings weren’t constantly breaking. My point is I think you should keep it in one place and let it become acclimated to that place, not hauling it back and forth between different climates. It will survive without AC, just as you do. Give it a try. If strings still break, there may be another cause. Just my opinion.

[barbara-brundage]

Yes, what Catherine said. I used to live in Miami Beach in a location where I hardly ever used the air conditioning and the harp was just fine, and I lived in Phoenix with nothing but an old swamp cooler and the same thing there. People played harps for thousands of years without air conditioning, after all.

[deb-l]

thank you both, I am worried that I may be causing other, unseen damage to the harp.

[barbara-brundage]

Yes, it’s not good to keep monkeying with the tuning like that. It confuses the harp and it doesn’t stay in tune well when you want it to (besides being a huge hassle). It’s important to keep a harp well in tune if you want to be able to play in tune.

[deb-l]

the harp was tuned in the key of E when it was on the floor.

[paul-knoke]

If it’s tuned in E (four sharps), with A at 440 c.p.s., then it’s tuned a half-step too high. It should be in Eb (three flats), which would give you a better “safety margin” on the string tension.

Hope this helps!

Paul

[deb-l]

Paul, thank you, it was tuned in E flat then, not E, for 8 months.

[unknown-user]

Its a bit confusing all this.

Maybe you need to get a trolley so you can keep the harp in the room you like and move it to the room you like to play it in?

I broke a whole lot of strings when I first got my harp but it settled down after that. Two strings doesn’t sound too bad

[unknown-user]

Or! Why don’t you rearrange the AC room that you like to leave the harp in, so that theres enough

[deb-l]

hi Natty, I play in the evening when my husband is home and as much as possible and don’t want to shut myself off from the rest of the family.

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