Still here, on a nice little Salvi Daphne 40

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This topic has 2 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 1 month ago by Janis Cortese.

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July 13, 2017 at 9:30 am #208363

Janis Cortese
Member

Just wanted to pop in and say hello to all.

I’m still here, still harping, and managed to score a really nice, inexpensive (relatively) used Salvi Daphne 40 recently from the VA Harp Center. I’m having a good time with it — started taking proper lessons since even though the harp was inexpensive as harps go, it was still an awful lot of money, and it seemed silly for me to do that and not just buckle down and learn to play the thing properly.

(Okay, so part of it was also the shock I experienced in trying to go from my Ravenna 34 to the Daphne and finding out that … whoa, this is a whole new beast.)

My teacher is fantastic — she has an excellent grasp of where the (many) holes are in my technique and exactly what pieces and exercises will help shore up those weak spots, which is precisely what one wants from a teacher. She’s also very experienced, encouraging, and pleasant.

I’m working on exercises right now, a second longish piece, and focusing my attention primarily on doing things in a manner that maximizes good sound and supple relaxation at the same time.

Overall, it feels wonderful to play an instrument with something like the scope of a piano that allows me to get so close to the sound; pianos put one as a distance from the sound generation, and with the harp, your skin is right up against it.

I still have my Ravenna 34, and I should probably keep up on it so that I can maintain flexibility, but … the pedal harp is just too much fun. 🙂

So anyway, I hope everyone’s doing well, and I’ve certainly been having a good time harping. Personal and family life has been stressful for the past year or two, so the harp has been a nice little island of focus and serenity for me, and very much appreciated.

July 13, 2017 at 11:16 pm #208376

hearpe
Participant

any pictures?

July 14, 2017 at 8:29 am #208384

Janis Cortese
Member

A few on my blog:

https://italianfolkharp.wordpress.com/tag/daphne/

It’s just a cute little Daphne 40 — it was sold as well-used but structurally sound, which is fine for me. The VA Harp Center did a nice job on it; it’s been freshly regulated and strung.

This was basically my one and only opportunity to ever own a pedal harp, so I went for it, and I’m glad I did. The finish is checked and has some dings, but it plays and behaves great, and I’m so happy with it. 🙂
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