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I have my own arrangement of this for lever harp but I can’t imagine it’s much different than the one you’re using. Hang in there. It is possible to play the piece up to tempo. Isolate your trouble spots and work it out. You can eventually conquer it and it will be lovely.
Yes, green is what you need. Try an auto parts store. They should have it in stock.
ONE drop of the green stuff. If you get too much it’s very stiff for a while.
Each color indicates how the stuff works. The wrong stuff will be worse than the floppy pedal.
I do this on a L&H 30 built in 1975 and a 23 from 1978. I’d guess your pedals are similar. Don’t use too much. Start with ONE drop. It doesn’t take much.
Threadsealers come in different strengths. Be SURE you use one that is temporary. I find I reapply this about every 18 months. My pedals stay where I want them. Use very very little. If they are too stiff at first, work them up and down to get them moving again.
Pay attention to the instructions and color. It comes in red and blue strengths too. Read and heed instructions for use.
David, this is a fantastic summary. Praise teams DO have their own secret code. I think it is fostered largely by the inability to read music or play without a capo. Glad you made it through.
Ah, it depends on how one defines portable, doesn’t it? So many places are handicapped accessible now that moving a big harp isn’t a terrible ordeal.
One of my former adult students sold her pedal harp a few years back and is now using her large lever harp in an amateur orchestra in the area. They play a lot of the classics and a pops concert or two a year. She’s an accomplished musician and has become quite good at adapting parts for her lever harp. You must remember that there aren’t very many orchestra parts that can be played as written on lever harp. If you are fortunate enough to find a conductor that will let you alter the parts to fit the instrument (and you’re able to do so), you could use a lever harp.
How you’ll use the harp makes all the difference as to what is the best harp for the job. That’s why so many people end up with more than one size of harp.
Nobody mentions Bernard Andrés. He’s got some wonderful music available to us that pleases audiences.
I got a call from a company a few months ago that addresses this in the contract they used. I could send them my own contract too, but their legal department required that I also sign theirs. They paid their fees to SESAC but they wanted me to play nothing but Big Band era music. I checked online to see what SESAC covered. You can look up individual titles. So few of what the client wanted was covered by their SESAC agreement that I declined the job. There was no way to comply with both requests. They apparently buy their in house recorded music from a supplier who complies with SESAC so they didn’t have a problem until they brought someone else in.
My understanding has been that if at least one of the collecting agencies was being paid, that everything was covered but the legal department in this case was convinced otherwise. I would have had to submit a playlist verifying that everything I’d play was covered by SESAC and they went as far as to deny anything public domain because it wasn’t specifically covered under SESACs agreement with them.
Patricia, thank you for this detailed answer.
I think it’s only going to get stickier. Legal concerns have a lot of companies trying to cover all the bases. I had another place require that we have a $3 million liability coverage on any vehicle brought on their property to deliver the harp and coverage on the harp in the same amount. They were treating all outside contractors the same, so the requirements for the harpist were the same as for a contractor coming in to do construction work.
The one time cost is higher than buying the fabric already cut, but it’s always on hand and after the 4th time you change them, you break even. Plus, it’s always at hand when a hole is worn through. The thickness of the different brands differs.
http://www.kardwell.com/billiard-cloth.htm (Mali cloth)
http://www.poolfelt.com/felt_by_the_yard.html (2 yard minimum)
http://www.bestbilliard.com/catalog/1004.cfm?Prod_ID=1
(Forstman billiard cloth is 80% wool/20% nylon)
http://aetnafelt.thomasnet.com/viewitems/felt-pool-table-felt/mali-pool-table-and-billiard-felt (5 yard minimum)
I found some felt from a supplier for pool table felt that is more dense than what L&H sells. Look around and you can find a place that will sell it by the yard. Some places only sell 8′, what’s needed for a whole pool table but some suppliers sell yardages. You can choose any color you wish and it does hold up better.
We use a Passat wagon as our primary harp moving car. We have a Jetta wagon as the back up. The harp (L&H 30) has to go in bottom first and rests on the back of the passenger front seat but it fits. We always try cars on. You might take the harp to the dealer and see if it fits in the lot. They’re always curious that we don’t want a test drive before we slip the harp inside.
