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Veronika, no, you cannot dye metal. Depending on the string supplier you may be able specify what colors you want. For the time being if this is a real issue you could try just painting the strings with Dykem layout fluid (since I assume you don’t want to take the strings off your harp). You can find that in many places including Amazon, and it is also available as pens.
You could also try oil based marking pens which wire players sometimes use – Sharpie provides several shades.
“Painting” is not entirely satisfactory (it will rub off eventually) and dulls the tone slightly, but it’s probably the best solution if this is really an impossible issue for you. Actually the best solution is probably to get used to the standard color scheme.
Biagio
There is no rule about how strings are colored and if they are clear nylon that can be done with ordinary fabric dye. For gut and fluorocarbon that are not factory dyed you might try a magic marker for gut and pattern makers layout fluid for FC. Here’s my method for nylon (there are others but I find this the easiest):
Mix up a concentrated two quart batch of Rit(tm) with a tablespoon of salt and one of a soft detergent such as Dove(tm). Put that in a slow cooker along with the clear nylon strings, set it to “high” and go read a book or something for an hour or three. Check on it from time to time and when colored satisfactorily just rinse them off and dry. You can save the formula mix and use it again and again.
One note for other readers: use Rit commercial red, the retail type comes out more like mauve. Navy blue retail however is OK.
Biagio
Returning to the original topic: leaving aside the question of certification for the moment, it is well known that certain timbres, frequencies, and modes induce certain emotions (depending on the culture, of course). Lower frequency tones with decernible overtones are more soothing than higher ones. So a harp such as the Musicmakers Gothic would be a good one to choose for that. It’s not so much a question of “how many strings” but of the lower range, and as Saul observed not even of the specific instrument.
For any considering music therapy or thanatology, I would encourage them to watch the movie Departures, a Japanese film by Yojiro Takata scored by Joe Hisaishi and consider closely their emotional reaction (it does have subtitles). Playing for the ill or dying can very stressful, so I think it wise to be sure that is something you want to do. The theme (“Okuribito”), you will note, is on cello, but it is also lovely on harp.
As for the ongoing controversy wrt to “music therapy training” – it is utterly unfathomable to me that anyone, musician or magician, would consider themselves qualified to perform in a medical facility without some basic to advanced training in health care protocols.
How that is acquired is a different issue from whether or not it is necessary. In the US at least, a facility could easily lose it’s license if it did not require this for anyone, volunteered or paid professional.
Biagio
Andelin, I don’t have any specific references for you but here is a place to start:
http://www.harpspectrum.org/folk/History_of_Latin_American_Harps.shtml
You/she might also try contacting some Latin American harp virtuosos specifically: two whom might be helpful are Alfredo Ortiz and John Lozier.
Geoff Welham has published a string chart for his Paraguayan harps that might possibly be helpful:
http://www.harpsatsang.com/harp_design/data/para36stringchart.html notice that the range includes Bb and Cs are blue, Fs red.
Hope this can get her started….
Biagio
That is good news Aria, so glad to be of assistance.
Not to sound like a broken record (OK, yes, but it bears repeating), when we can actually see what is happening with the string band design we can also see why the harp sounds as it does to some extent. Of course barring major surgery we can’t do anything about the vibrating lengths or sound board, but that handy little program and some understanding of underlying principles can allow us to customize to a surprising degree.
The Musicmakers Voyageur is an excellent example. At $1400 it’s pretty good as a kit harp but with customized strings and a custom made spruce sound board – about another $400 plus $600 for full Truitt levers – it will rival a $5000 instrument. Not bad!
(Full disclosure: I have no relation with Musicmakers).
Have fun with your “new” double and best wishes,
Biagio
You are very welcome Aria. It is a handy little tool to have in a harper’s kit I really do believe, if for no other reason than to help in evaluating a new harp before purchase. Sound samples don’t tell the full story:-)
Incidentally, if a string type (such as Nylgut or yellow brass) is not included in the default list I just “cheat the sheet” by plugging the correct parameters (density and tensile strength) into an unused string type. OK, not elegant but it does the job:-)
Happy harping,
Biagio
Aria, Larry Fisher’s conversion is pretty good, or/and you could go to Rick Kemper’s (Sligo Harps) but understand that these are specific to their own harps. If you want to really understand what is going on you really have to delve into the mathematics.
The Reader’s Digest summary is that for a given frequency and vibrating length tension is a function of the string density and diameter. For a thorough discussion, see Rick’s “String Theory” on his website:
You can take the intellectual approach above, or just cut to the chase by getting the analysis spreadsheet available from Musicmakers:
http://www.harpkit.com/product/cowart.html
This is a downloadable Excel spreadsheet and is free. Musicmakers has changed their website and I did not see the instructions listed but I’m sure it is still available.
Biagio
Teifi makes excellent harps, that’s for sure, and you should have no trouble selling the Ravenna. Honestly, that’s what I would do if the Loveland levers really annoyed me and I were willing to grade up. The Ravennas are the best harps around in their price range IMO, but not in the same class as Teifi.
Biagio
Ha ha, Balfour my friend like several harp “issues” (e.g. string design) mounting levers or changing them sounds a lot more mysterious and perhaps frightening than it is. Honestly I sometimes blame we harp makers for that – after putting in many hours deigning the instrument we are perhaps loathe to see it modified!
On the other hand makers operate under certain constraints of time and tools which a player does not have to deal with. I personally see no reason why a player should not modify their harp to their liking:-) Most harp makers will be willing to offer advice as well.
Cheers,
Biagio
You are correct Jennifer, in that the Teifi and Camac mechanisms differ. To whit, double pins versus beveled bearings, but the effect is the same, compared to those that push the string up or down (e.g. Loveland, Truitt, Rees, Robinson etc.). Anyhow, please do let us know what you decide!
Biagio
Many teacher who I know have several harps, some of which they purchased as student rental instruments. In a few instances the student has an option to buy it. I suppose it depends on the teacher and the prospective students but for many a decent lever harp or two is a good investment. And/or as Gretchen says a smaller pedal harp can also be nice to have.
Hi Jennifer,
It is certainly possible, but it will of course be expensive relative to the original cost of your Ravenna. Levers designs such as Teifi, Camac, and Salvi (in principle, at least) should have a truer tone than the Loveland and Truitt types – I think you can count on about $25+ each assuming that you have a technician do the change.
If you live in the US you might ask DS about installing Camacs, if you would accept those in lieu of Teifi. Not that I have anything against Teifi, just thinking about convenience.
Best wishes,
Biagio
Aria, I very much doubt that you would have to change those Truitts, but check with Betty at Dragonwhispers.com. At most you would have to change the fret (and add a stop if the new strings are wound).
Best wishes,
Biagio
Aria, a couple of follow-up thoughts that occurred this AM:
-If you like the upper range, why replace them? If I’m right in guessing the harp make the upper octave is already quite thin with nylon and I’d doubt that changing to FC or Nylgut would make much difference.
-I built a series of double 23s (46 total G up to A) and while the lowest 4 pairs (G-C) were acceptable as nylon monofilament I preferred having those wound NN. This raised total tension about 60 lbs. total down there. OK for my designed SB but dong that on yours would void the warranty, I’d expect.
-If you want to give that sort of thing a try though, be aware that you might have to change the eyelets and levers to deal with fatter strings.
-Changing those to FC improved them somewhat but not as much as I liked although they were somewhat more mellow.
-It is true that FC takes a long time to stretch in but on the other hand it is less hydroscopic than nylon.
Best wishes,
Biagio
You are welcome indeed Aria.
Most small harps, whether single or double, “suffer” in tone compared to larger ones. The only exception in my experience in the Timothy Niamh which he designed specifically as a concert grade instrument: high tension, wide spruce SB, etc.
On others we just have to accept their design limitations and modify our technique accordingly. To quote Harper Tasche, “Play the harp in front of you.” He means that kindly – I’ve heard him get sounds out of some harps I could never have imagined were in there!
Best wishes,
Biagio
