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By ‘lower active’ did you mean to type ‘lower octave’? If so, the answer is no, even if you could put them up (doubtful, since the holes will be too small), because you risk damaging the harp by doing so.
Okay, you seem to be understandably confused about several things. First of all, there’s really no such thing as ” a 47 string lever harp.” Most lever harps have 36 strings or less; a few go up to 40 strings.
More strings will not allow you to play more chromatic music. That’s a function of the mechanism. In this case, I think you mean you want a 47 string pedal harp. 47 strings is the usual range for a concert grand pedal harp. The Salvi Daphne is a pedal harp; i.e it uses a series of foot pedals to make the sharps and flats, unlike a lever harp where they are made by flipping a lever by hand.
The secondary harp market is actually pretty flooded right now. There are many, many instruments out there. If you don’t know what you’re looking at, there is also a lot of potential trouble out there.
Frankly, especially if she is “ambitious”, your daughter should be taking lessons from a competent teacher who can make all this clear and help you to find an instrument. Buying before you know what you really need can make for unhappiness later. Get a teacher first and go from there.
Well, I think it has better audience appeal, but an awful lot of harpists do use the Dewey Owens version.
There is a flute and harp arrangement by Dewey Owens, but in the interests of simplicity (I assume) he took away all the nice parts of the accompaniment and gave them to the flute, so it’s not nearly as effective as playing the original piano/flute version. It is easier, though.
You can use any brand of pedal harp strings, but of course that string may look different and sound a bit different than the bow brands do.
Tacye, what would you think of the greatest pedal harp in the world if suddenly you had to move up for sharp and down for flat. Sorry, but this is a pretty well-established convention by now and it’s always been a failure when people have tried to make people go backwards.
If you never ever ever play anything but your own harp and don’t mind having to do the opposite of what everyone else is doing in a workshop or whatever, they may be great levers–they look very well made–but he can’t expect to have wide adoption by doing them this way.
I just ask the hosts what they want. I have a New Year’s Day gig every year and it’s her holiday party so she wants holiday music, for example.
If you are looking to move outside the holiday mindset, the answer is whatever you normally play.
Nope, nope, nope. Sorry. Pilgrim tried this years ago and learned a quick lesson.
The problem is that it only works if you never have to play a harp by another maker, which is not true for most performers, who are the ones who drive interest in a particular design.
Also, levers that are up are more vulnerable to whacks when moving the harp.
I’m not sure I understand how these work. Do they go down for sharp or do they just stick out more than the average lever?
I would be surprised if the hand specialist at your hospital doesn’t know of someone. Ask him/her, specifically about that.
I’m really sorry about your injury, Amy. I agree with Jennifer: you need someone who specializes in treating musicians’ injuries, at least to help them plan what to do for you. It’s a more widespread specialty than you might think, although the most important treatment centers seem to be Boston and NY.
