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Hi Allison,
“Gwalchmai” or “Gwalchmei” is Welsh; in Aturian legend also the name given to Sir Gawain. Wikipedia has this to say about the figure:
Gawain is often portrayed as a formidable, courteous, and also a compassionate warrior, fiercely loyal to his king and family. He is a friend to young knights, a defender of the poor, and as “the Maidens’ Knight”, a defender of women as well. In some works, his strength waxes and wanes with the sun; in the most common form of this motif, his might triples by noon, but fades as the sun sets.
Sounds about right for a small but powerful harp:-)
Cheers,
BiagioReally pretty Allison! You certainly are making this one your own, and that is good to my eyes to see. Somehow I seem to play better when the harp is “me” and I am “it”.
If I’m not mistaken you found a broach and earring…at least that is my plan (grin). The 26 does not have a name yet, I’m thinking it will come to me when some stones have been added. It has a tiger eye agate in the front yet needs a bit more, I’m not sure what until she’s been played some more.
BUT…decided to do a little 22 string clarsach and she will have a name: “Gwalchmai” – the Hawk of May:-)
Had one of that name once, a double 18, but gave it away. Glad I did, so now the name is free again!
Blessings all,
BiagioHeck I’ll comment on that one as an American. This country’s incredibly stubborn adherence to an archaic measuring system based on body parts just drives me buggy batty!
Interesting point Janis; perhaps the neck would be a bit too short for a cross but as I wrote to another friend recently there’s nothing to say you can’t mess around with a kit to suit. If a cross strung interests you a good place to study them would be Dan Speer’s at Argent Fox:
http://www.argentfox.com/index.php/instruments/crossstrung
Speaking of kits and messing with them….Music Makers still sells the plans for their discontinued 3 octave Shepherd (range G below middle C to g). It’s too bad the kit is no longer available, because that model is a prime candidate for a bronze strung harp, if you drop the range almost a full octave (A2-A5 using the scientific notation).
It would also make a nice double if you beef up the neck and board a little.
Tempting – about $200 total for a nice little 3 octave clarsach, maybe $400 for the double version! But you’d need a few tools to scratch build from the blue print.
Biagio
Mae, your new harp is one that of which you should be very proud! The harp looks very professional for all the trials and tribulations – and it is unique. So kudos multissimi!
Allison, yep, Truitts are much easier to mount than Lovelands – which is why I charge the same even though Truitts cost me 3 times as much:-) When you order your first set Betty will send you detailed instructions. Just be sure that you consult with her before ordering to make sure you get the right sizes.
Truitts press UP on the strings so that tension will hold them in place; Lovelands press DOWN so as our courageous Mae discovered, you need three hands unless you’re really used to them!
Here are a few additional tips on Truitts that differ from her instructions:
I remove the lever after marking for holes as it is very easy to nick a string or (horrors!) any winding.
If you don’t have and “egg beater” drill use an electric one at slow speed; most of us do even if we have the manual kind.
It is a good idea to tap the hole about three turns, though a lot of people don’t (including your truly if I’m in a hurry). I have a long handled tap wrench but you don’t really need that, an ordinary one will do or just twiddle it by hand.
Go slowly, be patient, and you will be very happy
I think it’s just wonderful that you two are doing this!
Biagio
Well, anyhow you did it! Quite a saga, I assume these were Lovelands?
Now anyone who might have wondered knows why we charge so much to lever a harp.
HA! Balfour it sounds as though your “next harp” if any should be a Kohner harmonica!
Wow even a pipe organ. And I thought my apartment was stuffed with instruments:-)
By the way, your harp looks to me as though it was made from the Music Makers’ plans for their Limerick model. A nice little harp and in fact my first one too. You may find that you need some support for it as it is rather large and heavy, awkward to simply balance on your lap. One approach would be to sit on a (padded) board and let the harp rest on the projecting end. Another would be something like the Blevins LeStik. A third are so-called “knee bones” which I do not recommend.
A number of professionals have my folding stand. I have a few spares still (I don’t make many harps any more) and in all modesty they love it. Here’s a picture of that one:
http://www.harpcolumn.com/members/biagio/media/
Have fun!
BiagioCongratulations Filipa!
Many people begin with “self teaching” and a smaller; if they decide that they want to delve more deeply they move on to a larger instrument and individual instruction. I think most would agree that the latter is practically an imperative since good technique is absolutely necessary beyond basics and it is very difficult to master that on one’s own. That has certainly been my experience.
For the present however There are some excellent self teaching materials. My personal favorites are those of Pamela Bruner (Play the Harp Beautifully series) and Yolanda Kondonassis (On Playing the Harp). If you can read italian (I assume you can) I’d also recommend Grossi’s Metoda Arpa. Grossi and Kondonassis are oriented toward pedal but most is perfectly applicable to a lever harp. They are mainly exercises, and excellent.
It would also be worth while to broaden your resources. Again there are many but two I’d suggest are 1) The International Society of Folk Harpers and Craftsmen and 2) the Yahoo! group Virtual Harp Circle of which I am an “owner” and moderator. You can find both easily on-line.
Biagio
Picking up on the recent history….here’s an opinion (grin). Those “early” designs reflect IMHO the experiences of the makers. Mark Bolles – harpsichord; Roland Robinson – South American; Caswell and Witcher – Celtic. The L&H Troubadours and Folk Harps of course were designed around pedal harp parameters and assume pedal harp technique.
Very different playing techniques and it took a while for the pedal world to recognize that these other styles were both different and “legitimate” instruments in their own right. Sometimes I think that recognition is still a bit wanting among players, but makers such as Salvi/L&H, Camac, etc. “get it.”
When you’re ready I’d love to hear it Allison! When does she get a real name?
It’s too bad that Music Makers discontinued their little 3 octave Shepherd but they still sell the plans. It’s a sweet little harp and very easy to build – bronze strung from A2-A5 it would be just great.
Every once in awhile I ask Jerry to resurrect it as a double but just not interested I guess. But maybe Balfour, you could talk him into a bronze version?
See, here I am with six harps in the house and still fantasizing. Maybe I should get married, huh?
Sheesh!
The recent evolution of “folk” harps – at least in the US – interests me as a student of human thought. Most of the first designs in the 1970s were actually wire strungs (or South American style); then nylon/gut surpassed those in demand…and now we seem to be coming full circle. For example, one friend who is an accomplished pedalist has fallen in love with the clarsach; another recently converted her Triplett Zephyr.
The harp it seems is still the “queen of the strings”!
Biagio
Aw, come on Balfour, what’s another harp more or less? Seriously…I think that’s Jerry’s Limerick model you mention, strung with steel. Works just fine and with steel you can get away with levers too. Some people have wanted it in brass or bronze and that will be OK too if you use tapered pegs where the bridge pins would normally go and drop the range a couple of steps.
So heck, go ahead my friend, ask Jerry about one when you see him next:-)
Biagio
Allison, I’ve finished the design, actually making it will have to wait until I’ve sold some of those I have. Space is getting tight here! Just for giggles, here is a picture of my 26 string wire harp before stringing and with F sharping blades installed:
http://www.harpcolumn.com/members/biagio/media/1/
Sigh, it’s an addiction:-)
Biagio
I’ll continue the hijack very briefly then get back to wire strings. HIJACK: I’d go for Music Makers’ 10 string steel lyre over the Reverie, you can do more with it. For that matter, buy my double strung 23 for the same price as the Reverie; you can do a lot with that too!
Most if not all guitar strings are steel which don’t sound as good on a harp compared to brass or bronze, if you ask most clarsairs (me included). Thing about any wire string is that they snap very readily if not properly sized for the intended tension, so it is definitely best to stick with what the designer has put on it. Harps in any case only sound good at much higher tension relative to tensile strength than other stringed instruments. For the lower bass strings, some may be wound to keep the harp from being excessively tall (tension is a function of length and mass for a given frequency). Caswell’s Gwydion for example has five or six wound strings; gorgeous harp by the way! I don’t recall if they are bronze over steel or whatever. Patrick Ball’s harp of about the same size has solid mono bronze bass strings, but it is also taller.
Biagio
