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That was a good suggestion, Gretchen. Charles, you could also build, or have built, a raised wooden platform for the harp and yourself (on a stool or bench) to sit on, that would pick up the vibrations and reflect the harp’s sound. I have used variations of these platforms for outdoor events many times with great success. I see no reason why one would not work even better indoors!
Happy New Year!
BalfourAlso, check out Dusty Strings’ new string buttons for anchors instead of worrying about tying the “harper’s knot.” They have great promise for being user-friendly. I do mine the Camac way, with little wooden dowels, which I find to be the easiest of all the ways of doing this. You can watch videos about this on Camac’s website. I use these little dowels for my Dusty Strings FH36S, also, and what an improvement, even to the clarity of the sound! Best of luck, Tara, learning to restring!
Balfour
That is so good about “avoiding special effects,” Jaydg! It gave us a chuckle. Yolanda’s book is a wonderful one, and we so enjoyed meeting her in person and hearing her do a concert, a few years ago. She is a great harpist.
Also, Park Stickney has made a “career” out of doing those special effects and pedal slides! I took a class with him in Atlanta and learned better how to apply those “defects” to jazz harp, and it is fun!
Good luck on your “Ave Maria.” We know it will be beautiful!
Balfour and Carol Lynn
I forgot to say that when a string is already sounding (vibrating), the twang which occurs when you put down the pedal which affects that string is much greater, as you no doubt have found out. It is not as bad when the disc releases its grip on the string, going up with the pedal. Careful muting and timing will take care of this, but it does indeed take a lot of practice. Good luck, and keep on playing!
Happy Holidays,
BalfourHi, Jaydg,
Assuming that the Malvern is newly and properly regulated, the problem is probably caused by your “timing.” Experiment with sitting at the harp, not playing, and just move the pedals, to get used to the sounds they make when the discs engage the strings. You will need to learn to mute or “muffle” those strings, especially in the bass, which “twang” as the discs engage. Try, for example, the C pedal. Change it to natural and listen. Then go back to flat, place your LH thumb and fourth finger on 5C and 6C and change the pedal to natural. Hear the difference? (No need to mute 7C since it has no discs!) Just try exercises like this to find out what the pedals can do, and you will get used to it. To have “buzzless” harp playing requires great skill with timing, and muting those strings which are affected by pedal changes. I hope this helps a little!
Happy Malvern playing,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)It’s great to hear from another Outback owner, Jaydg! I have to get used to the fact that you folks who are in the UK drive on the other side of the car and road. We are in western North Carolina, USA. When we load the Atlantide Prestige in our car, the column goes behind the “driver’s seat,” on the left side of the car when looking in from the rear “boot.” I bet you can set the boot lid to open higher. Our Foresters have all had manually operated boots, except for our very first one, and it could be set to open at different heights. Happy harp carting in your Outback!
Harp Hugs,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)I enjoyed looking at Pilgrim’s website. I saw the wonderful endorsement by the great David Watkins. The photos of the Malvern and also the other models they make look beautiful. I know you love this harp! What a great Christmas present for yourself, just in time!
All the best,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)How wonderful! Congratulations, and may you have many hours of enjoyable playing on this new harp!
Best wishes,
BalfourThanks, Philippa! This will be our first Outback, a 2022 model. I believe they have re-designed the back to give it a larger opening, like they did on the Forester. We can’t wait to get our new car! That is second only to getting a new harp, ha, ha!
So glad to see your post. Hope all is going great with you!
Harp Hugs,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)Hi friends,
We will soon be getting a Subaru Outback to replace our Forester. We were glad to see Bill’s post about his Outback, so we are sure that our Atlantide Prestige will fit in the new Outback. Does anyone else have an Outback to move a concert grand in?
Best to all of you,
Balfour and Carol LynnHello Jaydg,
My, those look like lovely harps! I have never heard of them before, so I’m afraid I cannot be of much help. However, I would recommend the Camac Clio pedal harp, 44 strings, as an alternative that I do know about. I do not know what your situation is in the UK, but maybe you could travel to a store that has Camacs, in order to check them out. Anyway, it would be well worth checking out any harp you wish to purchase in-person, if possible.
Good luck in this venture!
BalfourThanks, Biagio, my friend!
I agree completely–I would mount the levers myself. Although I have never done this, I have a friend who does not have nearly my experience with woodworking and building things, who has put together several harps from kits. He has successfully completed these harps and installed Camac levers on them, on every string. He says “piece of cake!” So, I think anyone who could successfully build the harp from a kit could also mount as many levers as desired. Here is my vote of confidence in you, Tanyanoel!
I would also venture to say that anyone who has a pedal harp, which can produce all keys to play in, with every available natural, sharp and flat, would certainly want full levers on a lever harp. You may not use them all right now, but most folks develop their technique and improve over time, raising the bar, so to speak. Why limit yourself to only two or three keys to play in? Even with full levers, a lever harp can only play in 8 Major/relative-minor keys. Different tunings can make C and all 7 sharp keys possible, C and all 7 flat keys possible, or something in between, like the “E flat tuning,” which means you can play in C, G, D, A, E, F, B flat, and E flat. (Plus their relative minors, of course.)
Happy harping, everyone!
BalfourSounds like a fun harp building project! If it were up to me, I would mount full levers, after you build the harp and let it mature for a while. That way, you would not place a limit on which keys you could play in, or which accidentals you will need, for example, in the melody lines. Since keyboard instruments already have all these notes, and the lever harp is limited anyway, even with full levers, I would go the whole way.
Hope you all have very happy holidays,
BalfourThanks, Kim, for adding “new replies” back to the sidebar. I love the new format! Thanks for everything you do for us, all the time.
Best regards,
BalfourHello Andibear,
I am very glad you got a harpsicle! You can enjoy working your way up from there. This little harp will be a perfect starting place. I received notification about your most recent post in my e-mails, but I do not see it posted here. I know folks are wishing you all the best with your new harp.
Happy Holidays,
Balfour
