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Hello Veronica and Talfryn,
All great suggestions, Talfryn. Veronica, have you tried finding a harp technician in your area who could just restring and regulate this harp for you? I know you said that about the store in Madison, but there may be a harp tech who travels to someplace near where you live, to regulate harps. They are used to strings breaking and are not afraid of restringing. They also can examine the harp for any weaknesses or reasons that the strings are breaking. After a good restringing and regulation, it is much easier for the harp owner to maintain the harp, and you should not have too much breakage after that for a nice long period. Sometimes, I have had a brand new string break soon after I put it on, but I just get another one and go from there. If that happened to the harp tech, he would just put on another one, also.
I hope this might help you cope with bringing this lovely harp “back to life.”
Harp Hugs,
BalfourLet me just add that retirement is grand! All the restrictions of the covid made us glad to retire, and we still get to do some things we want to do in the music world. There is the occasional wedding, birthday party, or romantic dinner to play the harp for, but my greatest joy is just playing for myself or my sweet wife. My opinion about “right now” is simply this–if I like it, I will play it. I no longer have to learn or practice any kind of music I do not like, on harp, piano, or organ. I have enough lovely repertoire on all three instruments to give a private concert every evening, just for Carol Lynn, who is my best audience.
I wish you love and peace,
BalfourIt largely depends on how well the harp is, and has been, taken care of. The two harps I have now better last the rest of my life, as they are my favorites of all the harps I have owned over the years.
Harp Hugs,
BalfourCarl, just wondering how this project is going, if you are willing to update us. Hope you are doing well.
Cheers,
BalfourI have never needed a 0G#, I just keep it tuned to 0G. It is a bit annoying to tune the rest of the harp in C flat, then put the G, C, & D pedals in Natural and tune the three strings on the harp which have NO discs. Otherwise, I do not miss the discs on those three strings, 7C, 7D, and 0G.
Have a great day!
BalfourGregg, so glad to hear this! Thanks so much for checking directly with the “source.”
Harp Hugs,
BalfourI hope L&H have not stopped putting action on High F & G! I can do without it on G, but certainly not F.
Hi Gregg and all!
Well, about all I can say here is, why doesn’t the large Roma Classic have the same standard range of the 47-string pedal harp, 7C up to 0G? This would make much more sense to me, and I dare say, to other harpists. It could even have lever-gauge strings with slightly lighter tension than pedal-gauge strings. I agree with you, the range should go up much further in the treble. These short strings are certainly not expensive! Pianos have 88 notes, standard, so large harps should have 47 standard.
I hope some other harpists reply to this post. What do you all think?
Harp hugs,
BalfourDear Lisa,
So sorry I just saw your post here. I want to reassure you that your small hands should not be a problem. Like Gretchen said, you will learn how to adjust. Have you ever studied piano? As I was growing up, my hands were very small, too, and I could not even reach an octave. I learned very quickly to just “jump” them, playing the bottom note first, followed very quickly by the top note. Harp can be the same, especially since you “roll” or “arpeggiate” intervals and chords to make it sound “harp-like.”
I would have loved to have had larger hands, but I did a master’s degree in performance with these small hands! So continue bravely on, I say! The sky is the limit!
Best wishes,
BalfourThanks, Jerusha. This is very sad news indeed. I was remembering seeing Kathy last at the 2017 Camac Festival in Washington, D. C. and what a fun time we all had together.
Love and peace to you all,
BalfourThanks, Bill! On my Atlantide, C7 is 61″ even though this harp stands 74.25″ tall. It is a full, beautiful Low C, with good placement on the soundboard!
Cheers,
BalfourHi, Bill,
That is a wonderful chart of string specifications/measurements! Incidentally, I wondered what is the sounding length of your longest string, 7C on the 85 CG? L&H used to be so proud of their long bass strings!
Best wishes,
BalfourWilliam, I am not up-to-date on this subject, but look up Yolanda Kondonassis on the Internet for some ideas!
Cheers,
BalfourHello, Wil,
Glad to see all your posts! That is a worthwhile question, ha, ha! Since I own the most beautiful 47-string concert grand pedal harp, I play that harp when I want or need the full range of the harp. Yes, I always miss those extra 11 notes when I play my Cherie 36-string lever harp, but I adapt quickly, “pull in,” and realize the 11 strings just are not available. With any size harp, you just play the strings that are there. Oh well, I guess I just cannot have a 47-string lever harp!
My best wishes to you and everyone here,
BalfourGood to see all your posts, my friends! On a lever harp, I would need to have either all lever harp strings, or all pedal harp strings. In addition, I would require levers on all the strings. My Dusty FH36S meets these requirements beautifully, with all lever harp strings and complete Camac levers. Camac levers would avoid the problems you would have with other types of levers buzzing when used for very low strings. There is plenty of string clearance in these ingenius levers.
Harp Hugs,
Balfour
