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Well, I know it’s not good for the string to be resting on the wood. The metal eyelets that are broken/cracked should be replaced. You may want to contact Venus and let them know what’s going on with your harp and the strings. Hopefully they can send you replacement parts and offer suggestions on how you or a skilled luthier can replace them.
Glad you decided to keep the gut strings on till after your concert.
Regarding the regulation, with your concert next week as the main consideration:
1) forget about what you prefer and tune to 440 till you get your harp re-regulated to 442.
In preparation for a re-regulation to 442, put your new nylons on and start tuning your harp to 442. After all strings become stable in the new tuning, take it to your technician and say specifically that you what it regulated to 442.
The harp has a memory – it will want to return to 440 if you don’t pre-tune to 442 prior to regulation.
With or without the backrest:
I tried one last week. Didn’t spend much time with it, but I thought it was a good sounding harp, given the fact that it was still very new. Pedals were stiff, but those can be adjusted.
Just ran this by my HarpTech and he said if you’re really slow at changing strings, you should take them off one at a time. This will keep the board more stable. If you’re fast at changing strings, then you can remove more strings.
There’s no reason to wait between each string change. I found it easiest to take about 3 or 4 strings off at a time, string them through the top of the soundboard, tie the anchor then thread through the tuning pin and pull it up to pitch right away. Then do the same to the other strings.
I don’t really understand why you have to pull the pitch up slowly, unless the board is fragile and there’s a possibility of it ripping. If the harp is in good structural condition, the strings are nylon, gut or wire wound, there’s no reason to delay in pulling the strings up to pitch right away.
You know, since you have a “rent to own” take the harp back to L&H and have them fix that burr. You don’t want to void your contract by using abrasive cord.
My husband wrote an article on changing strings that you can access here:
http://www.harptech.com/Articles/Strings/Strings.htmlHe also has available a DVD showing how to change strings. More info here towards the middle of the page:
http://www.harptech.com/Store/Store.htmlYour string could be breaking because of a burr inside the string hole. Mitchell’s abrasive cord, sold by HarpsEtc., Kolacny Music and other harp stores, will de-burr that sharp point/edge. USE SPARINGLY. You don’t want to reshape the hole.
HTH
I think you’ll like Ravelry a lot. Members tend to be very active, and there’s a lot of enabling going on there
.Here’s the link to the above reply:
Here’s an article that goes through replacing a pedal rod, with adjusting the length for overmotion at the very end. It’s more info than you need, but it has diagrams and pictures if you are more visually oriented. I’d read through the whole thing so you understand how everything is connected.
Good luck. Best thing is to have your technician take care of it.
Since it’s a new harp, you can always check with the manufacturer.
I don’t know if there’s one right method, but you always want to tune with your pedals in flat position. Some like to tune all the Cb’s, the Gb’s, Db’s, etc. Some just go from middle Cb stepwise on up and then from middle Cb on down.
How to “season” a harp has as many opinions as there are harpists. I would recommend always playing with good tone over all the octaves, i.e. arpeggios and chords. Keep the harp in a room with the correct humidity. And maintain your harp in good working order – keep it in tune, out of direct sunlight and big jumps in temperature and humidity.
I believe these volumes are still under copyright, so you’ll have to locate a copy that someone would be willing to sell. Look above – Janet had an extra copy.
Barbara
Geri,
Are you on Ravelry? https://www.ravelry.com/
There’s a forum for harpist/harpers there called “Playing with Strings.”
Barbara
