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Vince- Very nice story. Congratulations on drawing the family into what you are doing with your life. BTW, I was 16 when I started the harp, and I’m sure many of us here got very late starts. Ray Pool was in his 20’s when he started, so anyone who really wants to do it can.
5 is awfully young to start any instrument, mainly because of the size of the child. But it’s not impossible. Was this the first time your little brother had a chance to play any instrument? At this stage, maybe it’s just playing an instrument, any instrument, that he would enjoy. If you can find a competent teacher on piano or some other instrument that he could start with, then that may satisfy his desire at this time, or at least keep him busy until he is bigger and can start harp. Maybe there are some general music classes for young children(Carl Orff or Kodaly for example) that he could participate in. At least he would be getting some important musical education that would transfer to harp if he takes that up later on. I’m sure he adores you and probably a part of this is that he wants to do the same things his big brother does. Try to use that influence to get him started on some aspect of music that is practical for his current situation and location.
Thanks David and Karin- It is interesting that some of the motifs that later found their way onto the style 22 and 23 were already in place on this instrument. The feet(front and back), the shape of the baseboard, the whole bottom part of the column, as well as some of the top. I don’t know when that originated or who came up with it, but it’s lasted a long time.
As for Wagner being on the column, I have no idea who thought that one up. I’m also unaware if any other composers ever found their way onto the column.
It sounds like you may have to prod them to create a lever harp division. It would be unfair if she had to compete with pedal harpists.
Vince- You just gave me two very interesting pieces of information. Emmanuel Ceysson must be doing a lot of concertizing here in the States. he’s coming to Boston January 6. He’ll be playing at the Gardner Museum. El Paso must be a seperate trip for him because he’s principal harpist of the Paris Opera.
I hadn’t heard that Grace Cloutier was now playing in El Paso. Good for her. She’s a very fine harpist.
Karin- I’m the one who made the comment on another thread about people with inadequate technique attenting workshops. There are I suppose all kinds of workshops, and I’m assuming here that most workshops you see promoted have to do with playing some syle of music, like ‘Getting Started Playing Pop,’ or even the excellent harmony workshops that Ray Pool gives. The point that I was trying to make is that you can’t be struggling to simply find and play the notes if you are going to benefit from any of these workshops. Before signing up for a workshop, I would suggest you find out what the minimum technical level is the teacher there expects. Ask the person teaching it to name some pieces that reflect the technical level of the workshop. Another thing you can do is take a hard and objective look at your own playing. Can you play your pieces smoothly, without constantly stopping and starting? Can you hold the tempo all the way through? Are you fishing for one note at a time, either on the melody or on chords? If you are, then you probably need to focus more at this time on improving your playing skills.
I think it’s a great idea Evangeline. You should contact Paul Knoke and see what he knows about such databases already in existance. It may be better to expand on an existing site, like one that deals with historical harps, where the information will all be gathered into one place then to have different sites for different antique instrument makes.
The swell doors would be visible on the back of the body. If you can’t see swell doors, then there are no swell doors.
Evangeline- My sense is that the Erard Grecians, and all of the Erard Knockoffs of the period(Dodd, Cousineau, Erat, etc.) probably had swell doors. I’ve been told that they don’t really make a discernable difference in the volumn, at least to modern ears. I had always thought that the Erard Gothiques never had swell doors, but that apparently is not the case. Some of them did. But the whole Swell door thing was eventually abandoned,partly because they just didn’t make that much of a difference and partly because they were prone to rattling or buzzing. I have an unplayable London Erard Gothic here as well as the Paris Erard on the other thread. Neither one had swell doors.
David- Congratulations. You got yourself a lovely harp. The most important thing though is that YOU are happy with it, and the company who made it. The Kresiki’s are good people and very honest and personable in their dealings with everybody.
There have been questions on the HC forums from time to time about “what is the ‘best’ instrument out there?” Or, “What does everybody think of this or that make or model of harp?” The answer is: There are lots of makes and models out there, and each make of harp has a feel and sound that is unique to that maker. And what one person thinks is a great feel and sound another person won’t like or will criticize. Trust me, everyone has their own concept of quality, estetics, and sound. So every person who is in the market for a harp has to try a variety of instruments of different makes and models and find the one that makes them happy.
I’m really glad your so happy with your harp David, and I hope I get to hear you play it someday. Joyeux Noel!!
Barbara- I know that most of the carts have the harp sitting entirely on the rear feet, but I don’t think that stresses the feet and the pedestal the way something that clips onto the rear feet or pedestal does. For one thing, the gadget that I saw that clips onto the pedestal had small wheels which are going to be more prone to snagging on carpet, jumping on doorsills, etc. But the most important difference is that, with a cart that the harp is sitting on, you are pulling the cart, not the harp. With those small clip on wheels, you’re pulling the harp and that alone will stress the pedestal and rear feet more. There are only 4 bolts holding the pedestal onto the base of the instrument, and under the best of circumstances the bushing they are screwed into can get loose and pull out. And there are only three screws holding each of the rear feet onto the harp.
In my 30+ years of repairing harps, I have seen people move their harps frequently(4 or 5 times a week or more) with insufficient covers on the instrument, and the result is a lot of cosmetic damage that is difficult and expensive to repair. I have seen people do the same thing with gold harps, and they’ve often said to me that they want the dings and scrapes repaired. They are then horrified at how much it will cost to do the repairs. In both cases, using a column cover and base cover would have eliminated almost all of the damage, but they didn’t want to spend the money or take the extra 3 minutes or so to put all of that stuff on.
I have seen many MANY harpists not bother to humidify the instrument during the winter months, probably because they were too cheap to buy a humidifier and too lazy to go out and get one. The result is baseframes pulling out of the harp, checking and crazing of the finish and soundboard, and premature aging of the instrument. So please forgive me if I sound strident when someone puts up a post about something that will in all likelyhood damage the harp. When I said that you should set your priorities, I meant that you should put your health and safety and that of your harp first. After spending all that money for the harp, don’t get cheap by not using the proper accessories(humidifier, base cover, column cover, proper cart, etc.) because you deam them too expensive or too much of a bother.
I understood your post perfectly well. You asked about moving the harp with small wheels that attach to the rear feet or the pedestal. It doesn’t matter where you want to use them. They are, under any circumstance, a bad idea.
I have a K-2 harp cart which I love. I use it, without any of the belts(took them off years ago) to move the harp up and down stairs, down long hallways or sidewalks, or simply to reposition the harp in the livingroom. it’s much simpler and quicker than attaching something to the rear feet or the pedestal, and I would guess it weighs about 15 pounds.
Over the years I’ve seen different types of wheels that snap or clamp onto the back feet or into the pedal slots. This is a very VERY BAD IDEA!!! You’re putting a lot of stress on the rear feet and on the pedestal with this type of device, and there is not much holding the rear feet onto the pedestal or the pedestal onto the harp. The larger harp carts with a tray that the harp sits on may be more bulky and less convenient, but there is almost no chance of the cart damaging the instrument. Get your priorities straight. You are moving an instrument that costs anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000 or more, and you’re willing to do serious damage to it with cheap wheels that are easy to carry around?? Did I undeerstand that correctly?
I am not criticizing the Camac device. I’ve never seen it. It’s entirely possible that it works very well and safely on Camac harps. But I have seen other devices that clamp into two of the pedal slots or onto the rear feet, and on any other make of harp that’s a really bad idea.
