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Well OK! Plus I don’t like the tone at all either for what that’s worth. The one in the video is G-G I notice. In regard to changing strings generally you really have to know the details of the original – vibrating length, gauge, frequency and composition – before being able to say what would work well. On a small harp it’s unlikly that you will do real damage if the new gauge is close but better to be sure.
Always best for me to decide on exactly what I want and then start looking. Too many people buy something because it looks nice and then end up being disappointed.
Too bad you are not in the US – I know (or knew) of a repaired Raphael in New Jersey and I know the repair person well, it would be a good purchase. Oh well…getting on lots of lists like this one, the Harplist, Virtual Harp Circle, etc. is the best way to find good used harps – many nice ones sell just by word of mouth.
Best wishes,
Biagio
Hi again,
I can’t say one way or the other about the strings; just taking it up a step (from F to G and onwards) would increase the tension and given the age it is possible that the owner dropped it due to some concern. So yes, you would be wise to get a new string set intended for that lower tension and would pretty much want to anyway for the dyed ones. I’d not buy anything used sight unseen in any case. As for the levers you could probably remove the paint with acetone (aka nail polish remover).
Structure and strings aside, I wonder if those legs come off and go back on easily? I’d just hate putting it on my lap with the legs digging into my thighs (unless you can rest it on the inner curve). That would pretty much limit your height adjustment though.
It does seem to be fairly priced, all things being equal. Just don’t commit to buying until you have tried it, I think.
Best wishes,
Biagio
Hi Elletaria,
Given your physical and space limitations, in your place I would be looking at the so-called “therapy” harps most of which are intentionally light and designed for playing while seated. My personal favorite has become the Harps of Lorien Raphael, and it can be ordered in kit form which would save you something on shipping and VAT.
Not too keen on that Morely as you describe it and the pictures show: it seems to be a bit too large for comfortable playing on your lap and that F-F does not appeal very much either. Most people seem to prefer and most music is arranged for a low G or C in a small harp. When I see that range I have to think it was chosen in a 22 mostly with the harp’s size in mind. But I guess it depends on what music one usually likes to play.
Speaking for myself, improvisation is something that I learn by doing, much like playing by ear. There are exercises that will help however. One way is to take a simple tune in lead sheet format and play it all the way through with one pattern. Then all the way through with another. And so on. Over time you will develop your own personal style.
By “pattern” I mean what you do with the left hand taking into account the metre. For example, if the tune is in 4/4: first just one whole note drone with the melody. The fifths. Then a fifth in two half notes. Etc. etc. until you start playing around with thirds and inversions in the right hand as well. One thing at a time!
In a quiet mood and comfortably seated (NOT the dreaded comfy chair) I can spend hours just doing that.
Here’s the info on the Raphael (and the 22 string Sasha which is also F-F):
http://www.harpsoflorien.com/therapy_economy_harps.html
Best wishes,
Biagio
Jacob,
I had earlier mentioned the Limerick as an excellent choice for your purposes. Here’s a used one on Ebay at a very good price.
Thank you Elletaria! Hah, yes having lots of harps can mean lots of tuning, no kidding. From nine, at one time, I’m down to five and hope to go even further on a diet soon. Usually they are reasonably in tune so (blush) if not TOO bad I don’t worry about it at home. Outside or with other people that’s a different story.
Some harps for some reason just will hold tune better than others – I had a Dusty FH26 for a while that just would not stay where it was supposed to be. Which is odd since they make very good harps. It also makes a difference I think where you tune – some lever harps are designed for open Eb, others for C major and of course a pedal harp for Cb. Just a guess there though.
Wire players get adept at transposing, rapid tuning, and “gap playing” (omitting sharps or flats) when playing with others. Among ourselves we are usually in G or C major and some of us have sharping blades (though not the purists). I have C and F blades on some of them – the nylon strungs are all fully levered.
I do lust after an Ardival Rose and would give my eye teeth for a Caswell Gwydion. Heck, as long as I’m dreaming would just love a Triplett Eclipse or Salvi Egan!
Sigh. Too many harps too little time:-)
Biagio
Elletaria, this is an interesting topic but I don’t want to get too sidetracked so let’s start with Jacob’s question….
Yep, I do agree that he might be happier with a decent, small nylon strung harp, especially perhaps a double strung, rather than a wire strung. That for reasons of weight and as you mention being able to see the strings. That being said, as one gets used to a particular harp, what ever it may be, one increasingly plays by feel, rather than by sight. That does take time and practice – a camp fire milieu is probably not the best place to practice (grin).
There are some wonderful little harps out there wire or nylon and one imagines that camping there will be singing as well as other instruments – in which case the harper will be more likely accompanying rather than leading most of the time so we are talking chords, or perhaps the melody mainly in the right hand – or maybe not, I don’t really know what Jacob has in mind, LOL. That said, one can do much more on a small harp than many might think if one has mostly experienced classical harp training and music on larger ones. Harper Tasche (also classically trained) is one of the best known proponents of them – check out his series of compositions written for the 26 string. They are definitely not elementary arrangements (mostly ha ha). Ray Pool would another name to drop wrt to small lever harps….
This is a good segue.
I’ll be going to an outdoor concert later today with Tasche; we live in the Puget Sound area of Washington State. Climate here is somewhat comparable to Brittany and some parts of Scotland (but not usually as cold, thank goodness!). Tasche will be playing his Dusty 36 and will probably pause to tune ever 30 minutes or so. If I took my wire strung it might be about the same. The thing to consider is that a wire harp goes out as the wood shrinks and swells and the pluck slightly alters the string length – so you have that to contend with. That happens on a nylon strung too PLUS nylon absorbs moisture which of course metal does not. It’s all relative – you know the saying about harpists spending 20% playing and 80% tuning…..
Bill Taylor is certainly correct and who am I to disagree? I think though he was commenting mainly in regard to a fairly new harp with the frequency of reaching for your tuning wrench. Bear in mind also that the Ardival bodies are built from a single carved block of wood, they use small #4 pegs, and the joints are loose mortise and tenon – all of which make them more sensitive to changes than a glued up three part construction such as the Tripletts Witchers and Caswells.
You asked about my harps – I played a Caswell and now mostly my own wire strung designss and they all have different “personalities”. One is a rock maple 26 (which is the best at holding tune), another a sapele 22 and the last a “thrown together” 19.
I had some spare wood sitting around and wanted a small “camp fire” type harp so I made the 19 for that purpose – sure didn’t want to lug around an expensive 14 lb. maple thing plus a stand:-) The alternative would have been to make yet another nylon double 23 but ya gotta draw the line somewhere LOL. Did I mention that I got into harping by making the things? So my comments originate from that perspective.
I hope that addresses your thoughtful comments. In fact, before harps I made mountain dulcimers and think those are perhaps a better thing to take camping than a harp – or heck even just pack along a nice little lyre!
Have fun!
Biagio
Elletaria, A chromatic dulcimer is a wonderful idea!
But ( you did know there would be a “but”)…..
No offense, I disagree with your comments re: wire strungs. First wrt to tuning, my wire harps tend to stay in tune better than my nylon or gut ones although I agree that is relative to things like climate. It is also true that an out of tune string is more noticeable due to the far greater sustain but a very small touch will bring it back.
About size though: not all wire harps have that small spacing between strings, only those that try to replicate historical instruments. The main reasons they are typically smaller than nylon or gut harps is that you really very rarely need or want large sustained chords or arpeggios – that gets very muddy on a wire harp. So you need fewer strings for effective harmony. Secondly (or maybe firstly) brass/bronze strings will be much shorter for a given frequency than nylon/gut.
Further, the soundboard is hardwood which makes a large wire harp very heavy; so only a few are more than about 3 1/2 octaves. You can play the entire Gaelic repertoire on 3 1/2 octaves and a good deal of pop, American folk, and etc.
When I go to arrange a piece originally arranged for lever harp the first things I grab are my pen and white out:-)
Cheerio,
Biagio
That’s all good news Ken! They’re very nice harps and as you suggested you may wish to use a lighter tension string set than the original. For further interest, here is a friend (and neighbor), David Michael playing his Markwood 33. It was probably made about the same time period as yours. You will notice that on his the harp has sharping blades rather than more modern levers but David has been playing that for many years and never replaced the blades with levers. So I guess it does not bother him:-)
Best wishes,
Biagio
Good question Balfour! The answer is “a good long time if….”
-You don’t kink the strings (which usually means no bridge pins) and
-Don’t subject the harp to sudden drastic changes in temperature and humidity
Those are true for all harp strings of course, but metal (especially brass and phosphor bronze) are not very elastic, ha ha, and it does not take much of a change to make them go KAPOING!! Or rather KAPOW.
Above middle C those strings are closer to the maximum tensile than is typical on a nylon or gut strung folk harp – 55% minimum and often higher. It does not take much change on those solid hardwood boards…..
On the other hand, I have a Caswell Bard at the moment with 10 year old strings and it sounds just peachy still.
Biagio
Hi Ken,
I’m happy that you have received more feedback, that’s great. Herewith a few comments that I hope are helpful or at least interesting…..
You did not mention the model, but I’ll assume it is Mark’s 33 string. That has a total tension on the sound board of about 800 lbs. or more, concentrated about a third of the way from the base. If the board is cracked across the grain (as I read your note) you may well have to replace the entire board. Check to see if the string rib is also cracked or has separated. Not to diss your technician, but if he has never worked on a harp he may not be prepared to do a replacement. The stresses on a harp are totally unlike any other instrument and often so are the adhesives we use.
If a replacement is called for that in itself is not difficult, but the SB construction and tapering may be problematic – one must use special purpose fixtures and a drying booth for a solid wood board. It may be easier in that case to simply buy a spruce board ready made. These are available from Betty Truitt (Dragonwhispers) and Rick Kemper (Sligo Harps) for about $250.
Another option that is often used in these cases is to replace a sprung board with high density aircraft grade laminate, often called Finnish aircraft birch ply. For a harp of this size one would taper that from about 1/4″ thick at the bass to 1/8″ in the treble – all that is needed for that are a large belt sander or preferably a thickness sander. Labor aside that approach costs only around $150 for materials.
Finally if the crack is not terribly bad you can patch the board internally with thin two-weave (2oz – 7 oz) fiber glass and a strong epoxy resin. Tone is affected with the last two options but since you don’t plan on a performance grade instrument, not that much.
Koa is a popular wood for many lever harps; black locust is related and sometimes that is what “Koa” actually is.
Best wishes
Biagio
Ken, the first question is whether the crack is vertical or horizontal. It is very common for the latter to occur over time and the harp still be playable – indeed with an improved tone. “Short life span” compared to a violin or cello, sure, but a well made lever harp can last for up to 100 years, sometimes more.
And yes, a sound board can be reinforced if necessary. I may be doing that to a Caswell wire strung if the client decides to – in that case with light weight fiberglass (inside).
By all means though have a knowledgeable technician examine it before stringing. Laurie Nielsen bought Markwood Strings from Mark Bolles, who made your harp. Her husband, Glenn Hill, is a respected luthier; it might be worth while contacting them. They are in Oregon. http://markwoodstrings.com/
Best wishes,
Biagio
There are at least four sizes available at Argent Fox – you will probably Large and/or Extra-large.
Biagio
Re: harpsichord and it’s relation to the harp….leaving aside for the moment the question of chromatics it is perhaps interesting to note that there has been a recent resurgence of interest in the wire strung harp, and harpsichord strings are what we use. Structurally speaking it is difficult to design a wire strung to accommodate accidentals though some bold souls continue to experiment.
Biagio
Well OK Alyson, I’ll follow up on that. My nervousness in lessons (and for that matter in circles and retreats) comes right down to one simple thing. To whit: trying to perform beyond my ability and trying to impress – the teacher, fellow harpers, etc. Then Laurie made a comment that went right to the heart of the matter.
“Look”, she said, “Slow down, breath, and play to yourself, not for me or anyone else. Comparing yourself unconsciously to someone who has been playing professionally for 30 years does not help at all. Play to your heart and remember that we are you friends. When you do that your ‘audience’ will feel it, believe me.”
Whew!
Biagio
If you want to see it playable again, have it evaluated by Howard or Carl; then you will have an estimate to give to a buyer. “As is” the most likely market would be to a professional harp maker but he or she would probably not offer very much – a lot of potential work as Carl suggested. Howard is the closest to you, in Lynchburg, VA.
Biagio
