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I agree with those who want a serif font (they’re supposed to be easier to read, though I can’t recall why). Georgia (in a larger size) would get my vote too, and it’s a pretty universal font, so most computers will have it. And yesssss – more contrast! The new forum is much harder to read than my no-longer-youthful eyes are comfortable with.
Actually, I’ve just compared a current live page to a saved screen shot – and there’s no difference! It really doesn’t seem any larger to me.
Personally, I would prefer it even a bit bigger! One other thing – it is possible to make the letters black rather than grey? I find the lack of contrast more of a problem, though larger text would be good. But I can always re-size my screen. I *really* don’t like trying to read grey on a non-white background!
No, don’t bother about turning it off globally – it’s too big a disruption for everybody and as you say, some may want it. I’ll just remember to be super careful to un-tick the box next time!
And if undoing my individual ones in that thread retrospectively is too much hassle, just let them stay as they are. I don’t want you to have to turn the site upside down searching for fixes.
Thanks for such fast responses –
Hmmmm, so we have just under two millennia, give or take a century… guess that’s enough (LOL). Thanks!
One thing: Can we retrospectively remove the notices flagging our past edits? I forgot to untick the “Keep a log of this edit” box, and now can’t find a way to do it. Otherwise, can you please delete them from your end? They appear under a number of my posts in the “Pedal harp strings: Savarez or Bow?” thread in the Harps & Accessories forum.
If it turns out that the “keep-a-log” box I forgot to untick was a global command which applies to all posts, then PLEASE get rid of mine! (I’d rather not show everybody how anally-retentive I am about stuff like that.) Thanks –
The one Edit chance we get DOES disappear after only a few minutes. Grrrrr! Otherwise, I’d have amended my post above to reflect this. I’ve also thought of something I want to add elsewhere, but can’t unless I start a whole new message (which it doesn’t warrant). Please fix this as soon as possible – it’s sooooooo annoying!
James, re nylon (and Saul too, if you’re still following this thread): Do you find Pirastro significantly better than the other brands of nylon in that top octave? Also, it sounds as though you prefer nylon to Savarez up there – any particular reason why? I stop the gut after the second octave too, though I neglected to mention this above.
Good point about not leaving slack on a Savarez string when you begin to wind it on. My main experience with this is in the 4th & 5th octaves, where if you do, it will soon fill up all the available space on the tuning pin as it stretches, and then start to double back on itself, giving you windings sitting on windings (which will probably encourage the strands to separate more than they would on the pin’s smooth metal surface). You’ll only find yourself having to undo the string again just to pull up all the newly-created slack.
I know I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: I’ve just spent a lot of time tuning up two newborn 34-string lever harps, fresh from the maker’s workshop, which are fully strung in Savarez (except for the wound-wire bass). Over the course of two and a half weeks, I was winding up a total of 52 strings, several times per day. And I began to be troubled by pains in my right hand from the key that came with the harps. I know this is an intense tuning load – though nothing unusual for harpmakers – but I started to develop R.S.I. so it’s worth keeping in mind. Fortunately (and sensibly), the pins on those instruments are the standard size, so my own keys fit them and I was able to switch. But it was a wake-up call, which is why I’m writing.
Since your tuning key is your constant companion when you’re nursing new strings, make sure you have one that puts the least strain on your wrists, and doesn’t press into the heel of your hand too hard. The ones I personally prefer are either the Camac T-shaped concert-harp key, or the Salvi/Lyon-Healy asymmetrical “ergonomic” key. In both cases, their handles have enough length that they extend beyond your (or at least my) hand-span, which means its end doesn’t dig into you, and it also gives you better leverage. Both of these keys are covered in rubber rather than hard plastic, and come in an array of nifty colours.
The problem with the original (T-shaped) key for those two new lever harps was that (a) its handles were too short to extend beyond my hand-width, so the lower end pushed into my palm and created a pressure-point which soon became sore; and (b) it was covered with hard plastic rather than the softer rubber. At one point the key slid off my lap and onto the floor, and made an almighty bang. Hate to think what it would have done to the soundboard!
Ahh, sorry! I didn’t make it clear… I mean the composite fluorocarbon-based strings (I tend to just say “Savarez” as shorthand for those, as distinguished from gut). And I only use the multifilaments, lower down on the harp.
In fact, I’ve never actually tried Savarez gut, nor their wound wire. I find the monofilaments better than nylon, but not as responsive as gut in the upper range of the instrument. Also the high harmonics seem to drop off so there isn’t as much “cut” nor (as far as I can hear) carrying power in those.
Thanks for the link, which explains the Bow Brand situation clearly. Guess I’ve just been lucky in my timing!
I still seem to be able to edit posts only once, after which the option disappears. I’ve asked Kim about this, and she’s looking into it. [Later: Fixed now!]
Heyyyy… what happened to the Edit facility? I wanted to get back into my post above to point out that when I say “from 4th E down” in the opening line, I’m referring to concert harp.
Why can’t I edit the above post? I’m logged in.
[I seem to be able to edit this one]: I haven’t had the hassles with Bow Brand that I’ve been reading about here, and the harps in the school of music I teach in use them as well as my own instruments. I buy them in England, if that makes any difference…? (Tacye, any input on this?) But I’ve seen no drop off in tone quality or surface consistency or breakage. Anyway, Savarez in the lower octaves is great for not breaking, so perhaps that’s another reason to try it.
I couldn’t see any explanation for Bow’s problems on that Vanderbilt link, which just seems to be a sale page.
I use (and am very happy with) Savarez from 4th E down to where the bass wires start, and Bow Brand gut from 3rd F up. I have done this on a number of different harps (both lever and pedal) over the past ten years or so, and have consistently preferred it to gut in the lower-middle range. Savarez strings are a harder material, and I find they give a clearer, more focused tone.
The very top Savarezes are monofilament, but from about (? writing from memory) concert 3rd D down, they change to a braided multifilament. I have also seen these strands separate where they wrap tight on the tuning pin, but this has not affected the string itself, nor its tone, and – all logic to the contrary – does not seem to cause breakage. The ones on my harps that do this have lasted for years with no ill effect, and they stay in tune as well as the rest.
So this is a tried-&-true formula for me. Gut tends to sound a bit dull in the thicker gauges, and I find the Savarez brighter and clearer. But: I prefer the dynamic response and subtleties of gut in the upper range. So I’m happy with the mix I use, and don’t notice any real difference in feel.
If you’re going “octave-light” on a lever harp, remember that the monofilaments mean that you can’t (or at least I wouldn’t) start the Savarez higher than 4th E or D anyway – whichever of those is the cutoff point.
It does take new Savarez strings much longer to settle in: they stretch and stretch and stretch, so if you do a lot of tuning, make sure you use a key with a comfortable grip that doesn’t strain your wrist or put undue pressure on any one part of your hand. Voice of experience on that one! I prefer the softer rubber-coated handles to plain wooden ones for this reason. I also find some of the plastic coatings as hard as the timber, so my preference is for rubber. I think it’s kinder to the harp (if you drop the key) as well as your hand.
Re Pirastro: I’ve only ever tried their bass wires on a good-quality lever harp. They cost an AWFUL price, and no, I did *not* find them better. I actually prefer my far less expensive “ordinary” wound strings. I cannot understand why they’re priced so much higher. Never again. Don’t know anything about their gut, but of all the makes I’ve used over the years, I do prefer Bow Brand.
I have a Progress (and love it) and find that if I sit on a slightly lower stool, the balance works out fine (I’m 5’5″). So I’ve had no hassles provided I adjust the height I sit at.
It’s a great harp for folkier, less formal gigs – not just because of its relative portability, but also the more casual image it projects. I’ve strung mine with lever-gauge gut instead of full concert gauge, which gives it a brighter, more silvery tone.
I bought the second one they ever made, and nearly 30 years on, it’s rarely needed a service. Still going strong. (If any of you know me from Facebook, it’s the harp I’m playing in my header-photo.)
Blessed, Blessed Is He Who Cometh from Saint Saens’ Christmas Oratorio is a beautiful duet, not too long, and not operatic. It was a great favourite at my conservatory, and I’m surprised it’s not performed more often.
You can make a superb harp part from the piano-vocal choir score, though I wouldn’t play it in as staccato a style as this pianist does – slightly arpeggiated chords on the harp work wonderfully.
I’d grab it while the grabbing’s good, and would never think of it as “downgrading”. Any original cost is a thing of the past, which isn’t relevant to you now. Also, size and weight are not negotiable factors – if an instrument is too big and heavy for you, it’s too big and heavy. That isn’t a value rating, it’s a simple fact. So are strained wrists & spine, and pulled muscles. Your body’s wellbeing is a far more important consideration than money. (Anyway, if the shop is *buying* the Heartland from you, you’ll earn something back off it – I fail to see how this has anything to do with a secondhand Ravenna…?)
Portability is a crucial issue if you want to carry your harp around with you minstrel-style. I’d forget about any abstractions – if the Ravenna is in good condition (and it sounds like it is) and YOU HAVE PLAYED IT and like its voice and feel, go for it!
For anyone based in the United Kingdom or Ireland, I can highly recommend Iain Hayward (Jack Hayward is his father, now retired, who started the business):
I’m sure it doesn’t mean that you can’t *ever* play – just that you need to treat the pain with caution and respect, as you seem to be doing. It’s when people don’t do this, and just plough on regardless, that the permanence-factors start setting in. Irreversible damage takes time, and it doesn’t sound to me as though you have been at it long enough for that. Bodies have wonderful self-healing properties.
You may need to make various adjustments in your playing – I’ve had students with assorted physical handicaps, which has meant that they’ve needed to altar how they do certain things, or how they sit, until they find something that works for them. Which they do. The horror stories usually only occur after prolonged abuse.
Also note the points made about doing things correctly but with too much tension, or the harp aggravating something that was actually initially caused by another activity. I know this from personal experience – sometimes my computer is my worst enemy!!! I am always careful to sit correctly (and at the right height), keep my wrists level, etc – but if I’m under time-pressure or emotionally stressed, I inevitably feel it in my hands! Tensing up is bad, even when the physical position and movements are right. And you can so easily do it without meaning to.
Most importantly, stay in touch with your doctor so you have a detailed medical opinion – which means getting referred to a specialist. In the meantime, all the other suggestions above will certainly only be to the good. And don’t despair – you’re being careful and aware, and this should enable you to avoid any major consequences.
So get the best professional advice you can, follow it, and keep us posted. Good luck! Your lovely new Thormahlen will still be there waiting for you…
