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Good luck, Charles! Congratulations on your purchase of the new Telenn. A new harp is so exciting–I rememer my own experiences fondly every time I sit down to play them. I have said it before “they are like magnets drawing me to them!”
Harp Hugs and blessings,
Balfour and Carol LynnPlease check with Angi Bemiss, Simply the Harp in Atlanta, GA, USA. She and I have done some simple arrangements of THE SWAN for lever harp, and she can place them in any key you desire. My latest arrangement is entitled “Essence of The Swan,” and is available from Angi. It does not require any lever changes! She and Rhett Barnwell enjoy playing it on harp and cello together. Hope this helps!
Harp Hugs,
Balfourwil-weten—Thanks so much for enlightening ME. I thought “decime” must mean a 10th, so I appreciate knowing that new word, too!
I prefer pedal gut on my Camac Atlantide, but also definitely prefer nylon on my Dusty FH36S. I love the difference in tone between my two harps.
Have a wonderful day, my harp friends!
BalfourBiagio, that is a very interesting point I had not thought of–the thicker the strings with the same spacing, the smaller the distance between strings!
I just measured the distance between the lowest C on my Dusty FH36S and the 10th above, E. It is 5 and 3/4 inches. I did the same (for the same notes) on my Camac Atlantide and the distance is 5 and 7/8 inches, one eighth of an inch greater. As for me, I do not notice such a small difference, and I go from one harp to the other with no problems. Wil-Weten, I assume you were talking about a 10th? I had never heard of a “decime.”
Charles, I agree that the best harp for you is the one you select for yourself when you are able to test-drive them at your leisure. Spend some time doing this and get someone to play them for you so you can just listen for the tone you like best. As you play them, see which is the most comfortable harp to hold and how hard the strings are to pluck. I personally do not prefer carbon-fiber strings–they are more rough and harder on my calouses than gut or nylon. For example, all the strings on my Dusty are nylon or nylon covered, very nice for the fingers and almost effortless to play for very long periods of time.
Best wishes everyone and Happy New Year (almost!)
BalfourThe information on Breckenridge looks wonderful, but does anyone know about sleigh rides in Ohio? Ma and Pa’s looks nice!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone,
Balfour and Carol LynnHi, Alyssa,
I agree with Gretchen, I love the part of your program you have already selected! Are you familiar with THE YOLANDA KONDONASSIS COLLECTION? There are wonderful pieces in it that might complete your program, thinking of different periods of music and audience appeal. The Gymnopedie No. 1 by Erik Satie, as well as his Gnossiennes 1, 2, & 3 are very nice, on a quieter, Impressionistic side. Then something with flair, as has been suggested! There are also three Sonatas by Scarlatti in Yolanda’s book.
Wishing you good luck and happy holidays,
BalfourElizabeth, this sounds like a wonderful opportunity. Oh, to be young again!
Best wishes for a great holiday season,
Balfour and Carol LynnOkay guys, if all else fails, look at the Subaru Ascent. Our Forester would obviously only haul one concert grand harp, and you need something bigger. The Ascent, like all Subarus, has all-wheel-drive, thinking of Boston, Carl. We have to have that for our mountain roads here in NC in the winter time, many of which do not even get scraped before the spring thaw! If only some locals would offer sleigh rides, you know. We may have to travel to Vermont this winter!
Happy Holidays to all,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)At least that was easy to play, Carl! I cannot believe things like that are actually written, ha, ha!
Best wishes,
BalfourThanks, Harpist 123. We will check this out online. We do hope there is a sleigh ride closer to us in NC, though!
Harp Hugs,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)Thanks for mentioning me, Emma! I hope you are doing well.
Biagio, I just saw your post come in as I was about to say very much the same things about the Ravenna!
Charles, I loved my Ravenna so much that the only reason I do not have her anymore is that I had to trade her in on my Cherie FH36S (for financial reasons–the FH36S in cherry, fully equipped, is a very expensive harp!). If you look on Dusty’s site at the “testamonials” you should find mine about the Ravenna, and then two or three more I wrote about my Cherie. I just cannot say enough good things about Dusty and their harps!
Well, I hope this helps. Good to see all the posts here, my friends, now for the Sleigh Ride thread!
Harp Hugs,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)Before there is an “outcry” from my harp friends, I better add that I prefer Camacs except for my Dusty Strings FH36S in cherry, my “Cherie.” One of the best things about this harp is that she has Camac levers–the best, in my opinion.
Charles, I know you did not mention Dusty as an option, so that is why I neglected to mention this. My apologies to Dusty and all my harp friends who must have thought that I had “taken leave of my senses,” ha, ha!
Best regards and harp hugs,
BalfourI prefer the Subaru Forester for my concert grand harp. I refer to this car as “the smallest car that can comfortably hold a concert grand!” My wife and I ride very nicely in the front seats, with plenty of room in the back for the harp, bench, cart, luggage, etc. Who knows, Subaru may come out with an electric Forester!
Howard, I have a pianist friend who owns a pick-up truck and a trailer just for transporting his Steinway B grand piano! That is a seven-foot grand!
Happy Holidays everyone,
BalfourHello, Charles and all!
This has been a nice thread. I just want to add that I prefer the Camac harps also. It is great that there is a shop where you can try those out. I do not own a Camac lever harp, but I do have a gorgeous Atlantide Prestige pedal harp that in my humble opinion is pretty well unequaled. I have played most of the line of Camacs, both lever and pedal, and I feel that you would be very fortunate to have one (or more!) of their beautiful harps.
Happy looking and buying one,
BalfourK–maybe you would like to rent a Ravenna 34 in order to live with it a while to see how you like it over time.
B–that’s quite okay about the “confusion” over the windings on Tripletts. I have never understood why they wind them on the pins toward the outside instead of toward the neck. I do know that one can restring them the normal way since I have seen a Christina done that way. Dusty and L&H seem to do the neatest job on stringing, and I try to duplicate that when I restring. Complete stringing instructions can be found on the Dusty site.
Have a great day my friends!
Balfour
