[byouke]

Thanks all 😉

[byouke]

Hi

thanks for the replies guys 😉 , i’ve got some experimenting to do.
I’ve also read somewhere of a person who did put a mic in the soundboard instead of pickups. Has someone had experience with this?

[byouke]

Hi there

I tried some carbon stringed harps. And indeed I also found the fluocarbon much richer in tone than silkgut (too “muddy” for my taste).

I’ve been on the Salvi titan gut and silkgut, and the camacs isolde / excalibur and mélusine (nylon). (all harps here are medium tension harps)
My preferance in sound was excalibur first, isolde second, melusine third and last salvi silkgut.

I asked the seller, and normally the camac isolde and excalibur should have the same kind of carbon strings, but the soundbox is bigger with excalibur, so sounds richer.
I also asked about the top octave (like you said if it’s too thin for your taste). Normally you could replace them with nylon strings for sound (like most harps have, see camac mademoiselle and korrigan, or salvi ana and egan, they are gut-strong harps, but their top octave is in nylon).

Nylon sounds more nasal and a bit rougher around the edges, the carbon strings are more rounded and more sparkly. Depends what you like of course ;).

—
I’m a newbie so don’t take me too seriously, it’s all about taste. ^_^

You could always replace the top octave with nylon, and save your FC strings. You could then always switch if you’re not certain you like the sound.
You could also buy some silkgut if you really want to try them for the top octave, I don’t think it will very expensive for those couple of strings. But I wasn’t sold over with them. Gut and silkgut, day and night!

[byouke]

Thanks SueBlane, Andelin. Happy to hear al the solutions!
Basically most songs are playable with some occassionaly tweaking. ^-^

[byouke]

Thanks everybody 😉 for all the replys.

Just ONE more question. Say you want to play in Db, and like Sueblane said, you will have to changes a lot of keys and changes the sheet, but you don’t want to. Is it possible to just change that extra flat key manual with your tuner, and voila, play smoothly without flipping keys, or won’t this work? Just thinking outloud 🙂 .

[byouke]

Thanks SueBlane for the fast reply 😉

Do you tune by ear? Or can you tune it by digital tuner, if you wanna tune your harp in the key of C?

And if you wanna play in the key of D flat? There all flats, or would it then be easier to play in the key of C sharp? Or will this sound terrible different?

[byouke]

Yes, I certainly did put my fingers on the “excalibur”, and I was very pleased with the sound (see other forumtopic from me >> https://harpcolumn.com/forums/topic/harp-camac-melusine-normal-vs-concert/)

The Isolde and Excalibur aren’t that much different in sound, until you look at the soundboxes. In a big room, the excalibur resonates more (is MUCH more impressive in sound compared to the isolde or korrigan, …).

It’s less sharp than nylon, and (too me) bolder in sound compared to gut (too feminine for me :D)

The harpseller was a very friendly man, I could ask anything, and he had the answer for everything. He suggest, for carbon strings, you could changes them every 2-3 years if you feel the need for them (so, less expences, yippie).

Weightwise, quite light: 13,8 kg (under 28 pounds)
Sizewise: 147cm (under 5 feet)
Offcourse it’s a bit broader because of the bigger soundboard, and lenght will be offcourse also be a bit bigger compared to a 34 string harp.

I would say, measure your car from the inside, write it down, and compare them to the diametres of the harps. And if I should trust the harpseller, this harp should fit easily in every car (probably not in a “smart”). And they have transport bags too, if your not sure that you would damage the harp while putting it in the car.

And if your not sure, try there other harps, you should be a 100% happy with the harp before you buy it. 😉

[byouke]

Hi Greenjudy

I’ve been going to harp shops (Salvi-Camac) these past weekends, looking for my first harp.

I’ve heard the aziliz, it’s nice and bright, but I can’t remember wich travel harp I touched the strings of. It was either the aziliz, Janet, or Hermine (I know it was a 34 string harp), but it had quite a light string tension.

Haven’t heard the Donegal, so I can’t say anything about it. I did hear the Titan in silkgut (also synthetic string), but I wasn’t sold over.

Why don’t you also try a camac isolde or excalibur (medium tension), it also has carbon strings like the aziliz and donegal, but has 38 strings (I’ve been browsing through harps with a least 36 strings for full octaves), and they are not more expensive then the the ones you looked at. I liked the sound very much, but thats my personal opinion. Some prefer gut (camac stivell or Salvi Titan “gut”) or nylon (camac melusine) over it.

I would say, gooo to the shop and try them all. ’cause there is a big differences between youtube clips and “live”. And my taste, isn’t necesserally your taste.

Hopefully I was some help to you 😉

[byouke]

Thanks for your input everyone.

Yes, I’ve been comparing some models like you guys said. There is indeed quite some differences in sound between models and/or brands.

Been on the road these last weekends to the different shops in the country, pfeww what a drive. Been driving between the two shops a couple of times to compare.

Salvi in Ghent, and Camac in Antwerp. (LH is in Mechelen, but they are famous for their pedal tension on lever harps, and I prefer a bit lighter tension)

Been listening to the student Salvi Titan and the pro Salvi Egan. With Camac I’ve listened to the Mélusine (they hadn’t have to concert version in the shop, but they could import it if you really wanna compare the two), Isolde celtic, Korrigan, Excalibur, Stivell, and a classic pedal harp to compare.

I, personally, wasn’t impressed with the Salvi harps. They’re good, but I didn’t fell in love with them.
Then with Camac, I must say, I loooooved the excalibur. I heared it on the expo, and it was impressive to hear (partically because of its bigger soundboard, and the high walls of the chamber).
I’ve listened to the other harps, and relistened to them again in another weekend in the shop, in a normal chamber, and I still prefer the excalibur to the rest (Mélusine came second for me).

I ain’t that fond of the gutsound I must say after hearing them. It’s a good sound, but I like the sound a bit more bolder. So I’m very pleased with the excalibur and her carbon strings, and I can play it when it’s summer without worrying that a string will pop.

So, a couple more months of saving, and I’m going back to the shop for my first harp. Yeaah, I can’t wait. 🙂

>> a sound-clip (http://www.camac-harps.com/en/harps-eng/lever-eng/excalibur-eng)

[byouke]

Hi Biagio

thanks for sharing your knowledge on the subject 🙂
Now, I can choose a harp without worries. Yippie!

[byouke]

Thanks for the fast reply Biagio 😉
It all ends up to personal taste, isn’t it.

My only concern is, in time, lets say I would take a camac harp (http://www.camac-harps.com/en/harps-eng/lever-eng/excalibur-eng), that it falls apart in 10 years or so… that’s the only worry that’s on my mind.
But that couldn’t happen, right?
A dusty string crescendo (http://manufacturing.dustystrings.com/harps/about-dusty-harps/woods-materials/#5216-tab-0) also isn’t made from solid wood, but that doesn’t mean that it would break faster? If break at all?

They are big companies, they couldn’t make something to displease their customers in the long run (I hope).

[byouke]

Hi Biagio

I just went harp looking (for next school year) these last weeks.
Went to camac and salvi.

And there was a comment about the woods used in harps. The one about plywood isn’t as good as solid wood.

Me eye (and more especcialy my ears) fell on the camac ecxalibur and the salvi egan. The salvi dealer commented that camac uses plywood and isn’t as good as salvi. (maybe dealer talk)

If it’s true I don’t know (that’s what I want to ask you), but to me the camac excalibur sounded deeper, richer than the egan.
Could be the strings (carbon vs gut)? Soundboard was about same width (42-44cm), but to me the excalibur sounded louder, bolder.

I listened also to some new “silkgut” strings on a salvi titan, but they were a little bitter sharper in sound than gut strings.

Maybe you or somebody has some more info abouth this. I deffinantely will go again to these stores through the year to listen again, before I decide.

[byouke]

thanks karaskovalada. Pfew, all those choices,… I guess I will have to compare some harps. Maybe gonna look into the “celtic isolde” or the “stivell” in the shop when school starts again. To bad their isn’t much video clips of these compared with the mélusine. Oh well, decisions, decisions, so difficult.

[byouke]

Thanks for the reply everyone.

karaskovalada have you ever used carbon strings? How do you feel about those? Because I’m looking towards a harp with more of a celtic sound, not a classic sound.
Any advice is appreciated.

[byouke]

Hi Liz

Thanks for the video 😉 . Watched your other video also. Yes, the sound is indeed nice and rich.

[Author]

Posts