Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
At the risk of belaboring this point, please look on the Dusty Strings site under Camac levers and compare the photos of their beautiful, neat stringing with that of Triplett. I feel this speaks for itself.
Cheers, my friends!
BalfourI invite you kind folks to go to the Triplett harps website. Click on “About.” Now go to the left and click on “About Triplett Harps.” Read and scroll down until you get to sharping lever options and click on that. In the photo showing the Camac levers and all the good things said about these levers, notice the stringing on the tuning pins! They are wound toward the outside, not toward the neck of the harp! I assume this is still the way they do this, unlike most other harp makers.
Hi, again! The “Webster” posts concern mainly the Ravennas and the preference for Camac levers over the Lovelands. However, a few thoughts about the Triplett harps without saying anything too bad against them: on the used ones I have seen and played, sometimes Triplett used a “reversed” stringing around the tuning pins. Instead of the strings winding on to the pins toward the neck of the harp, they wound away from it! Also, the neck and column assemblies tended to warp and bend toward the string side of the harp from the tension, over time (many harps do this, but I did not experience it on my Ravenna 34 or FH36S cherry harp.) Also, and this is just my opinion, I just prefer the sound and feel of the Dustys over the Tripletts.
Does the Sierra you are looking at have Camac levers? I know Triplett uses them on some of their harps, which is a great plus! Have you looked to be sure the neck and column (pillar) are straight? Is the soundboard secure? Other than these precautions, if you like the tone and feel of the Sierra, go for it. As you become a better and better player, you will develop your own opinions about which harps you like, and you may trade harps many times over the course of your career.
Hope this helps!
Balfour
Hello Kryptoleadonium!
I would heartily recommend the Dusty Ravenna 34 over the Triplett Sierra. Also, as I have said on other posts here, I would urge you to get the Ravenna fully equipped with Camac levers, since they now offer that option. Check out the recent posts on “Webster Harp vs. Dusty Strings” for some “inside” information from some of us who are professional harpists and “in the know!”
Best wishes for happy harping!
BalfourThanks, Wil-Weten–I forgot to mention that to Molly myself. I did adjust the levers on my Ravenna several times while I owned her. They were regulated very tight when I bought the harp, but were easily loosened with the 1/4 inch wrench. Also, the bass-string “scraping sound” when using the levers can be minimized with a little dry graphite applied to the string where the lever engages it. I used a soft-lead pencil and rubbed it on the string at the lever contact point, up and down on the wrapping and then worked the lever into the graphite. Since most bass-string levers are set up before you play the piece, this worked well. I had no such trouble with the solid nylon strings, which are usually the ones you have to change quickly during a piece.
Molly, I hope these ideas help you to fully enjoy your new harp!
Best wishes and Happy Holidays,
BalfourHello Steve,
I think you have a wonderful idea! Although I now own the two harps I want to spend the rest of my life with, sometimes someone asks me what their harp is worth. They could be interested in selling or trading, so the usual thing that I do is put them in touch with the Atlanta Harp Center. I am in western NC which is about three hours away from the A. H. C. in Alpharetta, GA.
I think a “Blue Book” for used harps would be a valuable resource, either a printed copy or just on-line. I will be interested in reading other thoughts from those who respond about this topic. Thanks, Steve.
Best regards,
BalfourHi, Jerusha and all!
Thanks for all your kind words. I do not believe there is a video on-line of me playing harp with the hammered dulcimer player, but, you never know! The videos “sneak” on there where I least expect them, you know!
Another favorite of mine for this time of year is “Lo, How A Rose,” very beautiful on pedal and Celtic harp. I do a variation of descending arpeggios (Hasselmans-style!) on the second or third verse. Be sure to use lots of fluid, rolled chords throughout the first verse, then maybe a short interlude before the descending arpeggios–it is very effective.
Happy Holidays and Harp Hugs,
BalfourThanks, Jerusha! Sylvia, we haven’t said too much about our un-favorites, I just realized. I have not ever had too many of these regarding Christmas music. I seem to like about all of them! Even when learning a “new” one, I end up liking it in the end. However, I do go through moods each year regarding choosing my current favorites to play on concerts. This season’s favorites are not the same as last year’s, for example. I guess that gives us a nice variety!
Since you mentioned “Little Drummer Boy,” I just wanted to say that a few years ago, I enjoyed playing it on pedal harp for a concert in which I invited the children in the audience to come up for a close look at the harp. They were very well-behaved, some came with an adult, and they loved my drumming knuckles on the soundboard while playing “Little Drummer Boy.” My sweet wife sang along and encouraged the little ones to sing and enjoy this popular little carol. After the concert, several folks told us that this was their favorite part of the program!
Have a wonderful day, my harp friends!
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)I so agree with you, Jerusha! My clients this time of year also expect “real” Christmas music, and only THAT will do. It is fun to try such things as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” (The Christmas Song) on lever harp! It takes a supreme effort to just do that melody with lever flips, regardless of the underlying chords. I stick to sacred favorites and the standard pop Christmas and winter songs, but sometimes throw in a little Celtic like “Wexford,” “Baloo Lammy,” and “Sussex.” I will also relearn “Christ Child Lullaby,” as I think folks would enjoy that this year!
Harp Hugs,
BalfourFor anyone interested, I just found a simple, fake-book version of “Christ Child Lullaby” on p. 35 of A SCOTTISH CHRISTMAS FOR HAMMERED DULCIMER by Maggie Sansone, published by Mel Bay. The book has neat Scottish-style melody arrangements of 28 carols. I have used it in the past for harp and hammered dulcimer duets, a very beautiful combination!
Happy Holidays,
BalfourBeautiful link, Biagio! We love the King’s College Cambridge videos!
Jerusha, I use the two melodies for “Away In A Manger” that you mentioned, plus the melody by J. E. Spilman that can also be used for “Flow Gently, Sweet Afton.” Google this and see many different versions of melodies for this carol that I did not know even existed! Have fun!
Cheers to you all,
BalfourHello, Jerusha and all!
Well, I think all Christmas music is wonderful, but some of my favorites are “Still, Still, Still,” “The Wexford Carol,” “The Sussex Carol,” “The Appalachian Carol” (I Wonder as I Wander, found in Murphy, NC!), and all the ones you listed above as your favorites! I often do a medley of three different tunes for “Away in a Manger,” and I sometimes do “The Birthday of a King,” and add one verse, very softly, of “Happy Birthday” to Jesus. I love this time of year!
Harp Hugs,
BalfourGreat news and photo, Molly! I am so happy for you! That is one beautiful new Ravenna. On full screen, that is a perfect photo–tell your partner, ha, ha! I agree with you about the levers, Camacs are my favorite, but I got used to the Lovelands on my Ravenna, too. There is one advantage to the Lovelands–the “throw” of them is less distance than the Camacs, which helps when flipping them fast during a piece which requires quick changes.
I know you will bond with this beautiful harp and make gorgeous music on her!
Best wishes and harp hugs,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)Hi, Jerusha, my friend!
It was so good to see your post here! I am re-mastering “La Source” by Hasselmans and also working on Christmas music to play for my upcoming concerts. I have also been re-reading POWER PERFORMANCE by our late friend, Carroll McLaughlin, a very informative and inspirational book. She was such a dear person and a most wonderful harpist-performer.
Wishing all of you blessed holidays,
BalfourWell put, Biagio! But I will add that my FH36S sounded as gorgeous back in 2015, brand new, as she does now. When I first put my hands on that harp, I thought I had “died and gone to Heaven,” ha, ha!
My former L&H semi-grand sounded real nice when I got her brand new, too, but she improved even more in the next two years. With my Camac Atlantide Prestige, she has been beautiful all along, too. We will see if her tone improves with age–I can’t imagine a better tone than she has right now! Isn’t it interesting how some harps go through major changes in tone, and then some seem to just “come that way.”
I agree that the harps I have owned with laminate soundboards do not seem to change much over the years, which is good particularly for gigging. However, just having my two harps with solid boards and taking good care of them, tuning is very stable when I take them out on a gig.
Going back to the “budget” thing regarding introductory harps, I still think the best ones ready made are the Ravennas. You also get a staved back with them, which usually makes the price of the harp go up! Being used to the rounded back of the pedal harp, I crave a staved back on a lever harp, and feel “bruised” on the shoulder and collar bone when I have to play a straight back for any length of time. I know, I am spoiled and I have enjoyed being spoiled by these two “ultimate” harps, ha, ha!
Hope you all are having a great day, my friends!
Best wishes,
Balfour
