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I buy from harpconnection.com quite often. They also have most of their pieces scanned a bit so you can look at the first page. They are a nice company to deal with.
Briggsie
Lee Greenwood may be “Proud to be an American” but when I read things like I have read in this thread, I certainly am NOT. I voted for our current Pres……he needs to do something, and NOT calm the fears of the insurance execs…he needs TO DO SOMETHING NOW!
Can you say “single payer system?”
I’m so sorry you guys are suffering like this.
Briggs
Here is my biggest gripe about lever harp arrangements — and that is you will expect a certain sonority in a chord but the arranger has left something out to make it easy for lever harp and it sounds just awful. I have a few like that and as far as I’m concerned, they are fire-starting material. I refuse to play them….or I mark them and change them all around to make them palatable. I can’t STAND that kind of thing. It’s so cheesy. There seem to be quite a few like that……thin chords or even worse….wrong chords. I guess there is a reason certain pieces were not composed for lever harp….or shouldn’t be arranged for lever harp.
Briggs
No I haven’t tried the 18th century harps. He had many of his harps at the AHS convention exhibit hall, but I only tried the harps which I could afford, and I fell in love with the Cecelia. He had me try a smaller harp first, but I just didn’t like it as well as Cecelia. I love this harp. It is exactly what I needed, so I just didn’t play the bigger harps he had. All his harps are really very well made. He is an ultimate luthier who uses his brain, hands and EARS most of all. His harps are all really really nice. I love his shop. It’s very “Bill.” It’s small, but everything he needs is in there. I’ve been down there twice since it is in the city where I live. He also put levers on my Stoney End Eve harp this past winter. He is a cool guy….quiet, smart, eccentric…..and most of all fair.
Briggsie
I’m glad you were able to rehab your harp and make it easier and more pleasant to play. It’s important to know as much as one can about one’s instrument to keep it in shape. I think that’s a big part of being a musician. I’ll never understand someone who doesn’t do the work to figure this out. I’m glad you did. My little Eve came with original strings from 1993….filthy, rusted zither pins. The first thing I did was clean up the wood. It looks so beautiful. Then I restrung it, and while doing that, I used some very gentle emery and lightly brushed the pins so that the rust was for the most part gone. I cleaned all around the pins and put on the new strings. The harp looks like brand new, and sounds exquisite for such a tiny little thing. I’ve been acquainted with harps for just over 3 years. I wouldn’t yet want to dismantle anything but a string or a tuning peg on my pedal harp, but I have learned to use the doohicky to regulate it (Camac) and I change the strings as needed and regularly. There are so many people who thinks the strings are permanent….like a piano or something. It just freaks me out, as changing strings when they need it
I bought a lap bar for my Eve and it works really well. There is also a a shoulder harness you can wear. I have both but the lap bar is easier for me. A stool wouldn’t work very well for me as I am very tall. I don’t want to have to lean down, so it would have to be a very high stool. I prefer the lap bar.
Briggsie
I bought my concert grand from the Va Harp Center. I bought my Webster from the builder. Both of them were built and could be played…..I would hesitate ordering a brand new harp unplayed since each harp is really so unique.
I use a standard L&H harp cart for my concert grand Camac. I use a Staples $52 fold-up cart for my Webster Cecelia. The Staples cart holds 250 lbs., but I wouldn’t put my big harp on it because it isn’t sturdy enough. They both work great for me. I wouldn’t want to do stairs with either one though. I do get them down a threshhold at the door, and a berm in the garage, but not a lot of steps. I always wondered about those 3-wheeled things. They are intriguing to me.
Briggsie
