Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
What’s the value of the notes in question? Half notes? Quarters? Maybe it means a kind of tremolo (4141414141,etc.) to fill out the note value?
Sam- I’ve seen this from time to time on various instruments. I’ve always assumed it was either from the perspiration of the harpists hands(maybe too acidic?) or from something the harpist used on his/her hands, like hand cream, cologne, etc. But the fact is I don’t know what causes it. However, it always seems to happen right where the harpist places his/her palm on the instrument.
It can probably be spot finished. The gummy part would have to be scraped off. Then finish applied and rubbed out. It shouldn’t cost more than a couple of hundred dollars at most. You’re not too far from me. Give me a call and I can take a look at it.
What are the strings made of? Are they natural gut or some sore of synthetic or carbon fiber? I would like to see how many pounds of tension one of these strings exerts as compared to the same gut string, or even nylon for that matter. If the tension is much higher than gut than it could do a lot of damage to the instrument. That’s the problem I have with the Savarez carbon fiber strings.
You need to complain to your government. it’s not like Canada has a thriving harp building industry that needs protection. And you can’t expect dealers in Canada to match prices in the US. After all, they have to pay all those fees and taxes too. You’ll never get a harp across the border from the US because the Canadian authorities will demand that the person driving it across the border put up virtually the whole cost of the instrument. They will be assuming that the American is bringing the harp into Canada to sell it, and they want to get their money up front. Maybe you can get someone to stick the harp in a boat and move it across the St. Lawrence in some remote spot. Or better yet, have the harp disassembled and brought across in pieces, one piece at a time, then reassembled in Canada.
I’m not certain from your description if it is the neck that is warping, or the column warping, or both. Columns do not generally tilt when the neck is warping. Most commonly the neck warps(mostly from age) but the column stays straight. However, if the column is warping, the neck may in fact be straight but looks warped because of the column tilt. In that case, if the column is straightened, then the neck is fine.
Whatever it is, you need to address this soon. You’re going to have irreparable damage to the action if you wait any longer. I would suggest you take it back to the Venus Company. If the column is warped and has to be replaced, then they are in the best position to do that.
Liam- My dremel is so old that it is one speed only, and that speed is almost as fast as a router. A variable speed dremel would be great.
Geri- Nice to see that you like the Art Nouveau harp that I built a couple of years ago. I’m thinking of building a second one, so start saving your pennies! If you ever get to Boston, the original one, pictured on my company web site(www.swanson harp.com) is in the suburbs of Boston. I’m sure the owner would love to show it to you.
I would not recommend using a dremel. Those rotate very fast and unless you have a very secure hold on it it could spin out and damage the eyelet or even the surface of the soundboard. I think a hand drill was a good choice because it’s easy to control. I’m glad it all worked out.
Don’t get too technical about the explanation of the harp. Show how it works mechanically and let it go with that.
I haven’t played a lot for children, but when I did, I found that, just like adults who have never seen or heard a harp before, I had to give them some reason to listen actively to the piece I was going to play. That means a short explanation of effects if that’s appropriate, or better, explaining the piece as a kind of story. Here’s an example. I frequently play three movements from the Mother Goose suite of Ravel. One of the movements, Little Tom Thumb(Petit Poucette) tells the story of a little boy who has gone into the woods to play. He leaves a trail of bread crumbs as he goes into the woods so he can find his way out again. But when he’s ready to go home he discovers that the birds have eaten all of the crumbs and he’s now lost in the woods. Ravel characterizes the little boy in two ways: first, the piece is written very high on the harp, like the high pitched voice of a small child. Second, he uses thirds that wander throughout the whole piece to characterize the little boy’s steps. I then demonstrate the opening measures of the piece to show that. Ravel also has bird calls(again demonstrate) and the sound of wind in the trees. Things that would scare a small child. But Ravel tells us how the story ends happily with the very last chord of the piece. With that explanation I’ve had 30 children, ages 7 to 12 or so, sit in rapt silence, and then talk to their parents about it afterwards.
There’s a Bach Gigue I’ve used for recitals too, and when I use that I explain that this piece is a kind of magic trick. Because Bach makes you think that you are hearing a melody, a counter melody, and chordal accompaniment when in fact, from the first note of the piece to the last, you are never hearing more than one note at a time. That’s enough to make any audience of non-musicians sit up and listen actively.
The most successful piece I have ever performed, and which is a HUGE hit with men in particular, is Tournier’s Lolita the Danser. I simply explain that French people go to Spain for vacation like we go to Florida. Tournier went to Spain and this piece is his tribute to Flamenco Guitar. The point here is to give your audience, children or adults, some little fact that makes them want to listen to the piece.
Avoid at all cost phrases like: This is a gorgeous piece. This is one of my favorite pieces. Everyone loves this piece. That tells them nothing and gives them no particular reason to listen.
If the hole is that big then maybe you can just push or hammer something smaller than the hole through and push the knot back out the back.
In that case, I would just drill the string out. Here’s how to go about it. You’re going to have to unstring a lot of the strings below D5 so that you can position the drill correctly. Unwind each of the wire strings until they are slack. Then, without straightening the string out, remove the string from the tuning pin using needle nose pliers. When it’s time to reinstall those strings, make sure you wind the string on the same way, so that the loops and curves of the string end are positioned on the tuning pin the way they were before. If you do that, the string won’t break when you pull it up to pitch.
When you have enough strings out of the way to position an electric drill at the D5 hole, remove the C5 string completely and find a drill bit that slides easily into that string hole. Cut the D5 string flush with the eyelet. Now put the bit into the drill and run the drill down through the eyelet. Run the drill very slowly at first to grind up the visible string end and find the center of the string eyelet. Once the drill bit is securely in the hole in the eyelet, just run it all the way down the hole until it comes out on the underside of the soundboard. That will clear the hole.
All of this makes me wonder what kind of knot you made in the string. For a D5 string you don’t need any cross piece. And the hole in the eyelet and soundboard should be just barely bigger than the diameter of the string. I can’t imagine how a 5th octave string knot was able to pull up into the hole.
Before you put another string in there make sure you are tying the knot correctly.I too remember a piano “buried” behind a forest of harps. I don’t know what became of it but I’ll ask Geraldine Ruegg next time I talk to her. She’ll know. I’ll also ask her about the Gershwin provenance. I never heard that story and suspect that it is another of Mildred’s tall tales. The tallest one she told was that a small 18th century harp she owned belonged to Marie Antoinette. It was a plain little thing by 18th century standards. I’ve seen 4 harps that did belong to Marie Antoinette-they belong to the French Government- and they are decorated beyond anything you have ever seen and are just gorgeous. Again, Mildred was an entertainer and rarely if ever turned off that switch.
