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When you want to do something that a conference order form doesn’t let you do, in my experience the best thing is to email the conference organizers and ask about it. Here’s the link for the AHS conference:
Sure, it’s fine to start on pedal harp. For many generations that was the only way to do it, and it worked out fine. The only reasons not to do that are financial, or if you’re too small for a pedal harp, or if you already know you prefer a lever harp or aren’t sure which you’d prefer.
But if you know what you want and can afford it, go for it.
With the little input cable they sell, you can use any tuning pickup you might already have, or connect to built-in pickups if you have those. (This also works with cleartune.) I do think all the apps are oversensitive to overtones, though.
Ack–sorry for the typo, Sherry. Incidentally, I think whoever does the enchanted harp cases will do pretty much any kind of custom case.
One thing to take into account though is that you have to trail that harp along pretty low with a wheeled case in order for the wheels to work right.
Hi, Sherrie. Enchanted Harp sells cases with wheels:
Otherwise, you could contact triplett and ask who makes their cases.
If money is tight, I’d really consider looking for a used harp. Surely your son’s teacher can help to evaluate harps for you, and used harp prices have probably never been as low as now.
There’s no simple answer to that, because it depends on so many things. Tacye has had a lot of experience with harps that are much older than those of us in the US normally see.
How much the harp was used, how much it was moved, how well it was cared for, how sound the wood and workmanship were, all these things play a factor.
Well, then I would go ahead do it, although for sure back in the early 90s when those were made there wasn’t any such thing. Maybe they’ve been seeing failures from the higher tension strings.
However, you might like lever gauge on that harp, too. It might be easier to play and might prolong its life a bit, since there will be less tension on the soundboard.
I don’t think there were any Salvis that used lever gauge strings back when the heather was made, so I doubt you would have damaged it. For sure the teachers I know who have them are using pedal strings on them. Lever gauge stringing wasn’t a very common concept at that period. Folk harp makers who used lighter strings had unique strings made specially for their harps; there really wasn’t a generic lever gauge available back then.
It’s a normal part of life for levers to get out of adjustment over time, so that’s usual, too. Those nasty set screws were the bane of the old Salvi levers. You can leave them off, but then the lever is prone to spin when you flip it. I forget what Kolacny advises, but I’d go by what his book says to do.
If you look at the bottom of the page she has a preview of the first couple of lines. Those are pretty representative of the difficulty. It’s basically pretty much the same as the three-page version sold by musicnotes, and you can see a whole page as a preview there. Both omit the key change and what I guess you might call the bridge section that’s in the complete piece.
Yes, they’re only about 2 hours away from you, so I’d definitely make an appointment to go see in person.
That’s the way it goes, I’m afraid. L&H has usually raised prices just about every year, with some exceptions.
If nobody comes along here who can tell you for sure, I’d contact Robinson’s. They know an awful lot about what strings were used by different folk harp makers:
