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I have an 85CG and it fits nicely in the back of my Subaru Outback. I’m a tall guy (6’1″) and I can adjust the driver’s seat to a comfortable position with no problem. I put the column at an angle from the back of the driver’s seat to the opposite corner and there is still some clearance to the back window and room for the harp trolley, music stand, etc.
I’ve just upgraded to a Lyon Healy 85CG and it fits fine in the back of my 2017 Subaru Outback. As far as I can tell, the 2019 Outback has the same cargo space dimensions. I’m 6’1″ tall and I don’t have to move the drivers seat at all from my normal position. There is still a couple of inches to spare in the back. The post of the harp is at an angle rather than straight back. This leaves plenty of space in the back for my harp trolley and other items.
One thing I note is that the rubber mat in the cargo space should be removed (it came standard on our Subaru, others might see the mat as an option). The harp with it’s transport cover does not slide well over the rubber mat.
Kim — Yes, of course backup is needed on the desktops too (and cell phones). My desktop is a Mac, and the provided TimeMachine software automatically does a backup every hour to a separate hard disk or network storage. No doubt there are similar apps on Windows. Cloud backup is OK too if you trust the Cloud.
Deborah — The ForeScore app is $14.99 on the Apple App Store. No “pro” version, just the regular version. The link for the technology tips is in Kim’s reply (5 replies up from this entry).
I used the Mobile Sheets app when I had the 10″ Samsung tablet. However, I did not use it much because the 10″ tablet was too small. I chose the ForeScore app based on several articles in Harp Column magazine (see links referenced by Kim).
Yes, all the music lives on the iPad as others have mentioned. Access it anywhere without wi-fi.
Backups are important! With ForeScore, you can make backups of your entire data base including your notes and markings! You can copy that backup file to your desktop computer by connecting it via USB cable to your desktop. Back up your entire iPad using the iTunes app (works with both Windows and Mac desktops).
I’ve also noticed that music scanned with a scanner and desktop are much better resolution than with the tablet app.
By the way, you can often buy refurbished iPads directly from Apple. Search for “refurbished iPad Pro 12.9” — I found one for $589 and it comes with 1 year Apple warranty.
I started out with a 10″ Samsung tablet, but for me the page was too small to read.
I bought an iPad Pro 12.9″ and it’s great! I use ForeScore and highly recommend it. The image on the screen is the same size as a sheet of paper (the ForeScore software makes it easy to crop the blank margins off of the music). Get the Apple Pencil so that you can mark up your music with notes, fingering, pedal info, etc. Now I have all my music on the tablet. I don’t play in the outdoor sun, so no comments on that.
To scan the music, I use a cheap ($75) HP combo printer/scanner connected to my desktop computer. The printer has a document feeder so that I can scan multiple pages at a time. Any scanner should allow you to scan multiple pages to a pdf file (I use the “Preview” software that comes standard on any Mac computer). Then send it to your tablet and import into ForeScore. You can also use the tablet’s camera to take photos of the music directly with the ForeScore app. I’ve done that a few times when I was at a rehearsal and someone brought new music. However, the contrast of the photo was not as good as when scanned on a printer/scanner.
I’ve tried pedals for page turns, but I’ve got enough pedals on the harp. Instead I do a quick tap to the screen with my little finger and that works very well. ForeScore allows you to add “buttons” on the screen for repeats, D.S., etc.
ForeScore makes it easy to have multiple “Libraries” of music, put any number of tags to find music with searches, and have as many playlists as you like organized into groups. Yes, it takes some time. Rather than scan everything at once, I scan songs as I need them and after a while I had most of the songs I use regularly on the tablet.
I would encourage you to look at the ForeScore web site and read up on it. Yes, an Apple iPad costs more but I think that the 12.9″ size is the only way to go for music. The ability to mark up your music with the Apple Pencil is most important to me.
I started 3 years ago at age 65 (having some music background with classical guitar). My teacher started me with the “Levers Up, Thumbs Up” book and that worked well for me.
Several suggestions:
Have an instructor (even if it’s via Skype).
Rent a harp before buying (if at all possible).
Look for used harps in good condition.
I also recommend a floor standing harp.I really like the Amy Turk video so I decided to purchase the pdf to give it a try. Although it looks simple on the printed page, I suspect it will take time to get used to doing the finger snaps.
If the problem persists, it’s best to see a doctor who specializes in hands. Once you know the cause, you’ll know more about the best way to deal with it.
I also had trigger finger on my left hand index and ring fingers. I finally had surgery to correct the problem. It took much longer than I expexted to get back to playing as strong as I wanted (about 6 months). But now I can play without any pain.Since there have been no replies, I decided to go ahead and buy one of the apps. I chose the Notion software because they’ve been around for 5 years and also because their web site has some short videos on how to use the program.
After I’ve used it for a few weeks, I’ll do a review and share my thoughts on the app.
There are two ways of going with this — Income producing hobby or business. As has been said, you need an accountant to talk you through the pros and cons of each approach. In general, an income producing hobby requires you to report income which exceeds direct expenses (materials and supplies). It does not allow you to do depreciation or deductions for home office. As a business, you will be able to depreciate your capital assets (i.e. harp) and expenses for a home office or studio (if you teach, for example). This will require you to fill in a schedule C on your tax returns and will cost you more for an accountant to keep you straight on the fine points of the tax law.
I’ve had a business for many years (woodworking) when it was a major portion of my income. Now that I’m “retired” I’ve cut it back to income producing hobby.
The comment “L&H strings their pedal harps with gut in the 2nd octave” is not correct. When I bought mine 2 years ago (Chicago Petite 40) it came with nylon in the 2nd octave.
At the 1st year warranty regulation, the tech recommended I change the 2nd octave to gut prior to the next regulation as he thought it would improve the sound. I just changed them two weeks ago and he was right — to my ear it was a significant improvement in the sound for my instrument.
When I installed the new gut strings (Bow brand Burgandy), some were a bit white when bent and some were so clear after tying the knot that I thought they were nylon. I called the place where I bought them (Kolacny) and they said the variation in appearance was common depending on the batch that the strings came from. On the back of each envelope there was a colored dot that indicated what batch the strings came from. They said they did that so that if they had customer complaints about thr quality of strings they could trace it back to a particular batch of strings.
I measured the distance from my nose to the music on the stand (30 inches in my case). I told the optometrist I wanted a prescription for that distance. I wanted the entire lens to be that prescription (not bifocals). They had a pair of temporary glasses that they could put test lenses into. I tried the prescription in the optometrist’s office and confirmed that I was able to focus on a page of text at that distance. Then I was off to Costco to get the prescription made.
Thanks for the reply. Sometimes the Amazon comments are not always reliable or give conflicting information.
Thanks also for the tip on wrapping the pole.
Contacting Laura Riley sounds like a good idea. However I suspect she might not be traveling to Arizona any time soon. I see from her web site that she does Skype lessons, but I don’t think that Skype is the best way to get a good close look at the finer points of hand position and finger motion from all angles.
