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I use Bow Brand on my Camac Athena, and on the Clio I had before that. I don’t think there was much difference in tension or feel between them and the original Camac strings, but I like the sound better. I did try the Premier strings on my Athena this year, and while the tension was the same as Bow Brand, I did not like the sound at all on this particular harp.
If I were you, I’d just contact the harpmaker directly. There’s an email address on their website – James@FolcHarp.com. That way you can make sure anything you do is correct for the model harp you have.
Hi, Will – the new Camacs can be found through the link you posted. Go to Collections, then Pedal, and they are the first two listed – the Art Nouveau and the Canopee. Salvi also has some new pedal harp models that can be found on their main site at salviharps.com under Premium (the Victoria and the Diva) and under Special Collections (the Whitney).
Do you mean the difference between the two kinds of Loveland levers, and not between Loveland and Camac levers? Dusty offers both Loveland and Camac levers – Lovelands have plastic arms, and Camac have metal.
There are two kinds of Loveland levers – I believe that the difference between the “old” black Loveland levers and the “new” gold Lovelands is the length of the lever arm – the black being shorter, and the gold were created with a longer “throw” – some people liking a bit longer handle on the lever. The action of the lever and tone quality is the same.
If you mean the metal Camac levers, they were invented by Camac Harps, and are considered by many to be the top of the line. They are a tad more expensive than the Lovelands. Both Camac and Loveland levers are quite good. I’ve had harps with both types, and I like them both.
Hope this helps (and that I remember correctly!).
Andy
Hi, Veronika:
Instead of actually coloring the tuning pins, there are small rubber rings made that are designed to fit over the tuning pins or lever handles to indicate the notes. Sylvia Woods carries them (and probably others, too). You can get them in packs of black, red and black, red and blue, and white and yellow – so you could mark the levers or pins however you like and it won’t permanently mark the harp. I’m including a link. Hope this helps!
http://www.harpcenter.com/product/rubber-rings/harp-accessories-1
Andy
If you teach both lever and pedal, it only makes sense to have both available during lessons. I had a teacher who only had pedal harps. I only had lever. So I would practice pieces with lever changes all week at home, and then not know how to make the pedal changes during a lesson, since I couldn’t practice that way.
I wonder if Alan is referring to the difference between a straight soundboard and an extended soundboard (the extended soundboard looks like a big teardrop if you’re looking at the harp from the front)? If so, the extended soundboard usually has increased resonance and a bigger volume than the straight soundboard, but is more likely to “pull up” in the middle due to pull from the strings.
Andy
Hi, D W :
Yolanda Kondonassis has an excellent version in her book “The Yolanda Kondonassis Collection”. Lots of other good stuff in there, too, including several of Debussey’s other works as well as works by Vivaldi, Bach, Scarlatti, Respighi, Satie, and Chopin.
Cheers,
Andy
Hi, Sherry;
I have an Athena in mahogany finish I’ve had about 7 years. I had a Clio in ebony before that. Both were extended soundboard harps. I really like both of them. Actually, I found the Clio harder to use the pedals on because the base is a bit deeper than on the Athena, so the pedals were a tad higher off the ground. I’ve also had Lyon & Healy pedal harps and a variety of lever harps over the years. I like the lighter weight of the Camacs, and the nylon pedal wraps, and all the other advances that Camac has made. The sound is really great as well. Both harps came strung with Camac strings, but I find that I prefer the sound of Bow Brand on mine. I’ve been lucky not to have had the difficulty with Bow Brand strings that many other harpists have had. Have fun with your new harp!
Cheers, Andy
Hi, Melinda; one other thing to keep in mind is that sometimes the dealers may have pre-owned harps available for less than the cost of a new harp.
Angi Bemiss has a lovely arrangement of “The Lord’s Prayer” for lever harp (also very nice on pedal). It should be available through any dealer that carries her music; I think I got my copy through Melody’s Traditional Music & Harp Shoppe.
It’s not a Christmas piece, but “The Pines of Charlannes” by Henriette Renie is a lovely easy harp duet that I’ve played with harp and piano.
Hi, Gretchen – I’m actually not currently taking lessons, and this was about 18 years ago and in a different city than I now live. I was just trying to show that sometimes there can be reasons that a teacher’s harps may not be the best for a particular student to take lessons on – they do have to be maintained and the lever vs. pedal issue is something for teachers to consider as well. You’re right, it would have been better for me to take my own to my lessons!
Cheers,
AndyI’ve had frustrations with trying to play a teacher’s harp and doing poorly in lessons because of the difference in harps. At the time, I only played lever harp, so was practicing doing lever changes during the week, and then in my lessons on her pedal harp, was trying to figure out on the fly how to make the accidentals. I couldn’t play the lever harp she had available as it was so drastically different (lighter) in tension and closer in spacing than my own harp, it always had a couple of strings missing in the upper register she didn’t replace, and the wires were all so tarnished you couldn’t tell where the C’s and F’s were.
Hi, Ian:
I’ve had my Camac Athena for about five years now, and I had a Camac Clio before that. On both, I used the Bow Brand Burgundy strings and standard bass wires. They sound SO much better (to me) than the original Camac brand strings, and are much less expensive. I string all the way up through the second octave in gut, with only the 1st octave in nylon. This is just what I’ve found I personally like best. Everyone’s ears will be a little different. I also find that my Athena rarely breaks strings. I usually change the complete set every 2 years, and I probably don’t have more than 3-4 break in the interim. Of course, I’m not an orchestral player either!I find the Athena to be just as easy to pedal as any other brand of harp I’ve tried (whenever I’m in Atlanta, I go to the Atlanta Harp Center and make a pest of myself playing everything in the store). I’ve found a few harps from other makers fresh from the factory that were stiff, but not the Camacs. I do find pedaling easier on the Athena than the Clio, because the Clio baseframe seems to be deeper and the pedals a bit higher. I love the fact that I don’t have to worry about changing pedal felts with a Camac. Is yours new or used? I’m wondering if it just needs regulating.
Is my Athena the best sounding harp I’ve ever played? No, I’ve played a few that were a bit better (and a lot that were worse). But I love it’s voice, responsiveness and volume. Whenever I hear another harpist play it, I’m impressed by it’s sound. It’s definitely the right harp for me. My philosophy is that there’s no such thing as a perfect harp – just the harp who’s good points you love and who’s bad points are minor enough that you can live with them, LOL! Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Andy
