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I have used it a small amount–just to chop off beginning and end of recordings.
You don’t mention whether you’re on Windows, Linux, or Mac–but all the files are 30-80 MB total. On our company 100 Mbs fiber connection, that’s 3-8 seconds.
If you’re on dial-up (is anyone still on dial-up?) I calculate 1.7 hours.
It will depend entirely on your actual internet connection download speed. It is unlikely Audacity’s hosting servers will throttle any download.
It can (possibly) work, but it isn’t that simple.
1) The lever grooves won’t fit the smaller strings, so you’ll need to replace the handles. Loveland still makes them.
2) Regulation will certainly need to be done afterward.
3) The change from metal core to nylon or gut may happen on a different note.
4) Lastly, if the soundboard is thick enough to support the heavy tension strings, the light tension might not energize the soundboard well enough, so you might end up with a light tension but very soft harp.No matter what, you probably won’t be able to use a Dusty string set directly, but will need a custom set designed for that harp and for the sound/tension you want. Vermont Strings or North Shore Strings or Markwood can help with that, as can several on this board. The string analysis will cost some, but a custom set won’t be appreciably more costly than Dusty’s stock set.
If you’re looking at a brighter sound, I’ve had success with recalculating for fluorocarbon at the same or lighter tension. Being more dense than gut, given a constant tension and length, fluorocarbon will be smaller diameter.
You’ll still have to regulate and change lever handles, though.
How long has it been since the Folk Harp was restrung, especially the wires? If it has been many years, that alone will brighten it up, but they weren’t designed to be as bright as a Dusty.
Then there are all the insects killed when the tree was cut down. And the mammals killed by the truck on the way to the sawmill……
The gut (like nearly all leather) is a by-product. The animals would have been killed for food regardless. Personally, I am glad that as much use as possible is being made of the animals, providing a biodegradable string material from a truly renewable resource. Unlike nylon, which is neither–and which demonstrably kills untold millions of marine animals.
And if there is a problem touching it, you can mention that the strings are encased in clear finish. (Assuming you don’t have Pirastro oiled guts $$$).
So, the obvious question is: have you called Robinson’s? They are still listed for sale on their website.
The concern with “not finding a used harp around here” brings up another point: sooner or later you will need a technician. If travelling to purchase a harp is a big deal–then don’t you really NEED the local dealer to stay in business? Harp technicians are generally even further away than you can find an instrument.
Another consideration for you is that harps are relatively expensive to maintain, depending greatly on which type of harp we’re speaking of. If +/- 3% on the new price is a true problem, then you can’t afford the maintenance to own and keep one in good condition.
And maybe that’s too harsh a statement–but all the techs and builders on here have seen numerous fine instruments reduced to complete junk by no maintenance or by attempts at cheap maintenance.
Two suggestions:
Keep a string log book of what was replaced and when.
Leave the tag end of replaced strings hanging some extra out of the tuning pin. That way when you sit down to play, you know to check tuning on those strings at least. When they hold pitch reliably, trim the end off closely, like the others.If you’re having damp weather with high humidity inside, that’s why the one string broke, and the other was coming apart. I’m surprised you haven’t had any in the 2nd or 1st octave if 4th octave are breaking.
Perhaps it was losing pitch because the screws on the nut were loose, or the disc screw.
You can find information on regulating harps on various websites. Mike Lewis has a series of past articles from Harp Column on his website. The best resource for harpists for all types of repairs is Carl Swanson’s book, A Guide for Harpists. Don’t know if anyone carries that in the UK, but it is worth the postage to send from the US. It covers anything and everything a harpist could ever hope to attempt to do.
The adjustable nut being slanted looks like it is throwing the string off center enough for the string to take a bend around the upper natural prong.
_IF_ that is really the case, then when you tune, you are not tuning the length of the string from soundboard to nut, but from soundboard to upper prong of natural. Then when you move to natural, and the lower prong rotates, it is only shortening the string by the distance between the prongs, rather than the distance from nut to lower prong. That would make it _very_ flat, indeed.
Any regulation (pitch) mistake in natural will only be propagated to sharp, because the natural to sharp distance is fixed. The only adjustment for sharp (in that string range) is with grip.
The strings must be centered on the disc, so that both prongs engage at the same time.
I would also check to see if the natural disc has loosened. If it was not really locked tight, it might have moved. It is hard to tell since the photo is at a slight angle, but it looks like it is quite closed. The grip in natural looks excessive unless that is all being caused by the nut slant.
I would expect all the adjustable nuts to be near their highest point on a new harp, else there would be no adjustment left later on when the soundboard pulls up.
If you loosen a disc, be sure you know which direction to turn the screws and discs on _your_ harp. They turn opposite directions to each other to tighten, but harp makers differ on which ones are RH and LH threads. Yours look like they should be RH on the screw and LH on the disc. Here is a blog on Harp Column about replacing discs which describes the tightening/loosening process. https://harpcolumn.com/blog/article/five-easy-fixes/
Hints: 1) Use a good-quality screwdriver, and don’t slip. 2) Get the string completely out of the way, or you WILL nick it. 3) Don’t over-tighten and break the screw, but in that range they need to be good and tight to hold the discs.
Changing a string should not move anything very far out of regulation. Perhaps something moved while you were replacing the string.
For instance, did the string get caught on the natural and/or sharp disc during install, and move them out of regulation? It is (very) odd that the string would be “touching the [natural] disc (but not buzzing!) when in flat”. That implies the the natural disc is either rotated way too far (maybe you dislodged the locking screw?) or you’ve threaded the string _beside_ the prongs instead of _through_ them. (Yes, I’ve seen it done.)
Beyond that, additional information would help:
What is the brand/model of harp?
Did you replace gut 4D with gut or nylon?
Did you change string brands?
Can you post a photo of the 4D area showing the adjustable nuts and disc?
When the 4D is tuned to Db, how many cents off are natural and sharp?
@carl-swanson will hopefully see this and have more thoughts, and the extra information will help.Charles Nix
Jerusha, first off, I’ve never compared them side-by-side, or even on the same model harp.
I think the Truitt’s are probably the easiest to regulate of any–because they have no “pinching” action, but just fret the string at a different place. Mostly, adjust the bridge pin height, and you’re good to go.
Many people like them: they are easy to flip (maybe too easy) but they have a looong throw. The Camac pinches the string more like a disc, and makes an excellent sound.
I would be reluctant to use Truitts with a harp strung for pedal or lever gut gauges. I suspect, but am ready to have someone disagree, that the string would dislodge from the groove under heavy finger pressure. That said, I’ve seen a lot of Heartland harps that they work fine on.
I doubt anything available now makes a better sound than the Camacs, but they’re fussier to regulate.
Seems to me that if a steel rod, either plain steel or tool steel, broke at the point where it is repeatedly flexed, stainless is one of the _last_ materials I would look at for replacement.
Tensile strength and hardness are pretty much irrelevant–brass would be strong enough. Lack of work hardening is what matters.
Why does it matter that the L&H technician is 300km away? Won’t they just ship the rod directly to you? They come with both ends threaded and ready to go.
If you’re not in the business of repairing harps, it will be hard to justify the tooling cost needed to thread the rod smoothly, accurately, and to the correct thread fit class.
But if you wanted to do it anyway, Carl says above that the material is drill rod.
All levers damp the strings a little–even the forks on a pedal harp. Truitts are good enough that they should not be particularly noticable.
The groove in the roller attached to the moving handle of the lever should be matched to the string size, and they should be gold-colored in the upper range. The groove must align perfectly with the string, both being parallel. The fret pin needs to be low enough so that lifting the lever moves the string enough to stop it off fully. If it only lifts the string a little, it will buzz or be deadened. However, adjusting the fret pin height WILL change your regulation, so the lever position will also have to be adjusted. It is possible that the fret pin is raised too high because the lever position won’t move far enough.
The most likely possibility is that the screw that holds the roller to the handle is loose. That screw must be dead tight, holding the roller firmly to the handle. Any slack at all will allow the roller to vibrate and absorb the string vibration. Be sure to use the correct size hex wrench to tighten. If you must hold the roller, be sure to pad the pliers with leather, or you WILL leave marks.
The last possibility is that the entire lever assembly is not held firmly to the neck. One or more of the screws may be stripped out. At least two (preferably more) must hold completely, clamping the levers to the neck.
Charles Nix
Hard to say without seeing the harp–but was the string “noise” you mention in another post on Gs. Because it sounds to me like the G and A mechanisms are having to overly stretch the lower wires at the sharp disc. Perhaps this is to get the pitches on those strings sharp enough to be in regulation.
Appreciably bending a bass wire will make for a pedal hard to notch right at the last. The harp also could be badly regulated, or not have the rod (overmotion/undermotion) adjustment done at all–and that should be the first thing done in a regulation after felt/leather replacement.
If the leather/rubbers were fine, there is no reason to expect the regulator to replace them–or the customer may not have wanted them included. On my harp, which is felt, I only replace the felts if I see enough wear that I don’t think they will make it to the next regulation. Replacing the felt (or leather) immediately means much more work regulating, which will not last, because it will change as the felt (or leather) packs in.
Do you have undermotion/overmotion? You say the “tuning” is fine. But how is the “regulation”? If you tune notes in Cb major, then change to C# major, is the harp still “in tune”?
While waiting on Carl’s book, you can find other resources of past articles from Harp Column on Mike Lewis’ website harptech.com tabbed Articles Past.
Nearly everything you touch to adjust on a harp will change something else–so you need to understand what to do and why before you start.
