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Biagio, amen to the bass strings made of bronze with a nylon wrap! My Dusty Strings FH36S has them, in addition to being strung with nylon the rest of the way (nylon wrap over nylon and solid nylon). This is my first experience with this kind of bass strings, and I absolutely love them, both for tone and that they are so easy on my fingers. I can tell a real difference when I go back to the pedal harp with the steel bass strings–the calluses grow overnight, ha, ha!
I played several Dustys strung in gut and found them to be very beautiful, but I prefer the nylon. To me, the nylon has the characteristic bright Dusty sound that I crave, and the gut sounds more like my pedal harp. I love the DIFFERENCE! Also, my FH36S is made of cherry and has a very warm tone, which would be too mellow with gut but is just right with nylon.
Elettaria, have you checked out any Dusty harps? The Ravenna 34 is much like the Camac Hermine, but strung in nylon, which I think feels better to my fingers. Also, the Ravenna is a great little harp with a reasonable price-tag to match.
Best thoughts,
BalfourThanks, Jerusha and Erin, if you were talking about my recent experience with the 98th birthday party and the fire alarm story! Last year, I did send in a funny story about a wedding I played for at a local “castle” that has not been published yet by Harp Column, so maybe this would make a good story for them–any more feedback on writing a story for HC and getting it published?
Best wishes everyone,
BalfourSylvia, that was a great story! We LOVE your wedding books! Jerusha, it is too bad that you don’t play for weddings; that is where Sylvia and we, too, get so many good stories to tell, ha, ha!
About two weeks ago, I played the harp, “Cherie,” for a gentleman’s 98th birthday party at a local retirement home. His niece actually put 98 large candles on his huge sheet-cake, and while they were all burning, it accidentally set off the fire alarm, which no one heard because we were singing “Happy Birthday” to him. In about 5 minutes, here came the fire brigade, about eight young men who were SO GLAD there was no fire. They had their pictures made with the birthday “boy” and were treated to pieces of cake with harp music! Lucky guys, right? It was a great experience!
Best wishes and Happy Easter,
BalfourSmall harps placed on a good stand can feel very secure, which can solve that problem I have had with the lap harp on “knee bones” or straps. I owned a Christina therapy harp for quite some time, and played it at the bedsides of hospital patients, sick friends, or people under Hospice care. A nice stand like Biagio makes would have been wonderful to have back then!
After I purchased my Ravenna 34, I stopped playing the Christina, since she lacked the bass octave which Ravenna has, and because Christina was just about as difficult to move around as Ravenna was, even though Christina had only 25 strings and Ravenna had 34. I also kept running out of strings on Christina, and the low string tension made me feel like I was plucking her strings right off, ha, ha!
So, all harpists seem to have their own peculiarities about what kind of harp they enjoy playing on. To each his own, I always say!
Happy Easter, and my very best wishes to all of you,
BalfourKaren,
The 85 Concertino 47-string harp is a nice harp. I chose the 85 GP over the Concertino because the GP was a bit smaller and more resonant because of its lighter weight and construction, plus the string spacing is a bit more narrow which suits my small fingers. The GP weighs 69 lbs. and is 69 inches tall, and it loads real well in our 2015 Subaru Forester. There would be enough extra room for the Concertino in our car, too, so I think that would be a really good choice for you. There are the usual two lowest notes, C and D, without discs, plus the highest G without them, which is pretty standard on all harps. Some have the discs on the highest G, like the L&H 23.
In answer to your question, yes, there are 42 strings out of the 44 that have discs on my GP. That was the main reason that I chose this harp over the Camac Clio. There was a beautiful Camac Atlantide there when I purchased my L&H, but it was very large and expensive! I am just 5′ 6″, so I can sympathize with all of you who are small. I also agree with Gretchen about the extended soundboard being a great feature when you choose a harp.
Tacye, great advice about moving the harp up and down stairs! I have the 6-wheeled cart for moving my harp, and it climbs stairs beautifully.
Carl, thanks for the great explanation about the rods being in the different order than the pedals. We all have learned a lot from this thread!
Thanks everyone, and have a great day!
BalfourCarl, how interesting that the rods are in a different order than the pedals are! I never knew that, so thanks for clearing that up.
Just posting an update to this older thread. Tournier’s “Soupir” is absolutely gorgeous on my new Dusty Strings FH36S lever harp. I tune in the Key of C, so I play the piece in E instead of E flat, and the wonderful Camac levers sound as good when they are engaged as the discs do on a pedal harp!
Also, be sure to check Seraphim Music for two new beautiful pieces by Brook Boddie!
Warm thoughts,
BalfourHello, Karen and all!
Interesting thread, and I shall add my “two cents,” for what it is worth, ha, ha! I played the large 47 string harps for years until I finally landed upon my delightful L&H 85GP 44-string harp. This harp, which is not made anymore, has an ideal range, from Low D up to High E. Additionally, every string has disc mechanism except for the lowest and highest notes, that D and E. When I last played the 44-string Camac, it was lacking discs on the bottom THREE strings, and the top string, four strings without mechanism! That simply would not do for me! I even wish that my harp had discs on every string. But at least I have a fully chromatic range on mine, without having to retune too many notes without discs to fit my musical requirements.
Occasionally, I have tuned the Low D down to a D flat or C when the printed music requires it, but I have never needed any note above that High E. Some pedal harp literature glissandos do go up to the High G of the 47 string harps, but one can end the glissando on a logical note on my harp and it does not sound lacking. Other harpists may disagree, however! I can imagine that if one got used to the 47 strings, less strings just would not do! I certainly feel that way about the 36 strings on my lever harp, as mentioned in another thread just now, ha, ha! And, each string MUST have a lever, unlike some of the lever harps which are available.
Carl, didn’t you mean that the pedals are in the order DCB EFGA? I just noticed the reversal of the B and E. If one of you wonderful harp builders could put them in the “C” order for me, I would LOVE it! (CDE FGAB) That is one reason I am really beginning to PREFER lever harps! Of course, I am so used to the regular pedal order for all these many years that I really could not change over at my age, ha, ha!
Cheers to all of you,
BalfourSaul, it is indeed an adjustment to make between playing a heavy pedal harp and a smaller, lighter lever harp. The older I get, the more I like smaller and lighter in a harp, including the string tension. I keep both knees gently against the sides of my FH36S and she does not move unless I need her to. I can easily play very vigorously, with glissandos, etc. and the harp remains very stable, gently resting on my shoulder and between my knees.
I am not fond of lap harps, however. I never feel that they are very secure, even with “knee bones”, straps or any other way of supporting them. Also, 36 strings are about as few strings as I can get by with, ha, ha! I need that five octaves and use every string. I really missed the upper two strings on my Ravenna 34, and always wished for the 36!
Best wishes to all of you,
BalfourYes, Gretchen, the “new” strings that I put on before my harp regulation were several years old. Tom thought the upper ones in the 2nd octave could be “improved on” so he put those new ones on for me, and so far they have been great except for that highest E that just broke. I replaced it with another “old” string I had, and so far it is doing well. Only time will tell, I must say!
Has anyone else had experience with the new Premier strings?
Happy Harping,
BalfourThanks, Gretchen, for the string update. I was just wondering how your new Premiers are doing! I will definitely remember this when it is time to restring my L&H pedal harp. So far, only one new gut string (the 2nd-octave E) has broken since Tom Bell put that octave of new strings on for me when he regulated my harp last May. I am not sure what kind of strings he uses, but I assumed they were Bow Brand. My first octave is Artist Nylon, and none of them have broken. Are yours gut in that first octave?
Best wishes,
BalfourThanks for posting Davy playing his beautiful new Merlin harp! I am not familiar with these harps, but in appearance and depth of tone, it resembles my new Dusty Strings FH36S in cherry. Davy looks like he loves his new harp, and you all can look forward to harp and flute duets or harp and violin, two of my favorite instruments to play the harp with! I am also a concert organist, and have even played organ with a few harpists over the years, even though the organ can easily overpower the harp in the wrong hands, ha, ha! With the proper registration, harp and organ can be a beautiful combination, so we wish you the very best in your music-making.
Cheers to all of you,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)Very nice thread, all my friends! I also play both pedal and lever harp professionally, and right now if I had to pick one over the other, I would choose my new Dusty Strings FH36S in cherry. “Cherie” has the most delicious tone and feel of any harp I have ever played, and I just want to play her all the time! She is also very much more portable than my L&H pedal harp, and requires much less effort to play and get a beautiful tone out of than a pedal harp which has a higher string tension, of course. So, I am ONE pedal harpist who could not do without a lever harp. Hope this helps, and I wish you all the best.
Cheers,
BalfourThanks so much for posting this! I, too, love when a family enjoys making music together. My wife and I are blessed with two cousins “sons to us” who are professional musicians, and we enjoy doing concerts together as well as just “jamming” around the house. We wish Davy all the best with his harp studies, and know he has a wonderful future ahead!
Best wishes,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)
