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Checking with Pilgrim will probably be your best bet, but Carl Swanson might see your post here and offer some suggestions, like you can see in his book.
Cheers,
BalfourYou might get in touch with Camac Harps to see if they have a learning program for regulating and servicing their harps, which are different from L&H, Salvi, Venus, Wurlitzer, etc.
Carl Swanson is the best person for all these other brands of harps, and he might have some ideas to help you, Susan.
Best regards,
BalfourI suppose you could have fake nails put on for your “girls day out event,” and then remove them when you get back to your harp. Molly, you gave great advice–just keep the nails short for playing the harp!
Best to both of you,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)Good job, Biagio, my friend! I do not know what these folks would do without you. We are so glad you can help Jennifer. That is a beautiful little harp!
Best regards,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)Thanks, Carl, and I plan to watch this later when I have more time. Unfortunately, I do not speak French. It is a beautiful language, with the best harp music ever written for the instrument, especially Tournier, so I wish I knew the language.
Best wishes to you,
BalfourYears ago I had this problem with a L&H 85 CG. The F pedal would pop out of natural back up to flat, even during a concert! I was lucky enough, back then, to get a harp tech to fix it for me, and it was indeed the spring, like Carl said. Good luck with fixing this, Philippa! I love having my Camac now, too.
Harp Hugs,
BalfourI agree with Biagio, rolled chords on the harp are much more common and “harp-like.” I remember working so hard as a child to make a rolled chord sound elegant, but blocked chords were not required that often. Maybe think of “gently squeezing your hand” on the 3 and 4 note blocked chords. You could also practice with just intervals (2 notes at a time) until those sound gentle, then add a note and do 3 at a time. When you feel these are pleasing to your ear, try 4 at a time. Good luck!
Harp Hugs,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)Your post makes good sense, Molly. In answer to your question, I own two professional harps. My concert grand pedal harp is a 47-string Atlantide Prestige, in natural maple, made by Camac. My lever harp is a cherry FH36S made by Dusty Strings, with Camac levers. With these two harps, I can play everything I want to on harp, all different styles/types of music. The great advantage of the Dusty, for a professional, gigging harpist, is the ease of transporting it. The wonderful advantage of the Atlantide is having the full compass of the instrument, and the ability to play in all keys with the convenience of the pedals, which I totally prefer! I love knowing that anything written for pedal harp or lever harp can be played on this instrument. Also, my Atlantide only weighs 77 lbs. which is not extremely hard to move–it is just more difficult than moving the 26-lb. Dusty.
Best of luck discovering what you will love in a harp, or harps, ha, ha!
Balfour (and Carol Lynn, who always helps me move the Atlantide!)Thanks for your kind words, Gregg. I also would like to know if that Salvi Ana 5A has a dot or an eyelet! It should certainly have a dot if it was intended to be wire, I think.
Harp Hugs,
BalfourSara, regarding the “wobbly” harp base–does this happen on all floors, every place you set the harp, or only on an uneven floor? If you test this on a perfectly flat, even floor, you could add a felt or two underneath the base of the harp to even out this problem. Lowes and Home Depot sell self-adhesive felts in many different shapes and sizes.
Best wishes,
BalfourThanks so much, Wil! It sounds like Nylgut might work really well here! I like the part about them being “dirt cheap” and that they “seem to last forever.” In my opinion, real gut should indeed be used for the 4th and 5th octaves, no matter what other strings may be available.
Harp Hugs and best wishes,
BalfourHi Molly!
You might like to check out a 34-string Dusty Strings Ravenna. I owned one for about 5 years and loved it. It is an affordable, all-around good harp, and you can play all types of music on it.
Best wishes,
BalfourVery good posts here, my friends! Has anyone tried Nylgut to know whether it really sounds as much like gut as they say? If it sounds good, then it might be a cheaper alternative to so many breaking gut strings.
I agree, do try to control your humidity and try to keep it between 40% and 60%. It is better for people, too, so we benefit from what our wooden instruments seem to like.
Harp Hugs everyone,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)
