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Have you considered a Dusty Strings Double Strung? If you have a Ravenna, you would probably like it a lot. Same tension, same spacing, and in your price range. I have one and I love it! Mine is Maple with a Koa board. Anne Crosby Gaudet just bought a cherry one and has put up a recording of The Ash Grove with it on YouTube and on the FB Double Strung page. Cynthia Shelhart has also posted videos on the FB page with hers. I have recently ordered a double strung Blevins Skydancer – there is a video on their website. I have a Blevins 26 string that I use for harp therapy work and like quite a lot so I wanted a double for the same thing. That being said, the Stoney End doubles are very nice, but be aware that their string set up is different than the other harp makers. Their strings are much closer together at the soundboard than the other makers and angle out to the tuning pins. If you look from the pillar side toward the neck, instead of parallel, you will see more of a V. That is NOT a bad thing at all – and in fact some people think it’s easier to see the strings. I, personally, have a harder time going back and forth between my pedal harp, my Dusty single strung and the Stoney Ends because of it, but many people don’t. Carolyn Deal has YouTube videos playing just about every model Stoney End makes (with good instruction as well). Laurie Riley has recorded extensively with her double Rees. All of the makers are reputable and make good instruments – it’s pretty hard to go wrong!
I have always had my harps professionally regulated on a regular basis. Sometimes, however, a student (or school) cannot afford it or a harp needs a repair. I have always been thankful to my teacher who taught me how long before there was a guild with traveling technicians. L&H used to publish a booklet called “Happiness is a Contented Harp,” a prized possession complete with instructions and diagrams. They also sold a tool kit that included an assortment of things including the pedal felt blocks.
That said, when I replace a disk, I unwind the string a bit so that the screwdriver doesn’t damage it. I use a small, short, thin screwdriver and haven’t damaged a string yet. There is a trick to loosening the disk with a straight screwdriver without touching the string, but I can’t figure out how to explain it. You can find me at EverythingHarp on Facebook and I can show you how.I have been a professional pedal harpist a bazillion years and was religiously trained to play what was on the page – I could also make my own arrangements with lead sheets – but I don’t think that is what you are asking about.
I bought my first lever harp about 6 years ago and that was when I really was hit with the desire to be able to improvise well and comfortably and was facing the same problems as you are – the hands down best thing I found that got me started was Christina Tourin’s Creative Harp on her Emerald Harp Website. It gave me a starting point and I took off! I can improvise for hours on end and it’s so fun!I have one I would be happy to mail to you as I never use it – it came with a harp. Its quite pretty. Just email me at harpladymama@gmail.com.
My student has a beautiful Venus and she had a really nice padded cover made by Four Seasons Harp Covers for a reasonable price. If you are gigging in Washington state, you want a base cover as well – because it’s rainy and wet a lot!
Contact Paul Knoke, a harp repairman, in Rochester, NY who could probably fix it for you (You can find him easily on FB or via Google). Feel free to email me if you need further assistance via the Syracuse chapter of the AHS.
Interestingly, I read the original question just before I started to do a 6 week run of Peter Pan, which I have played twice before. I would swear that the original scoring and key signatures were chosen with the harp clearly in mind and everything fits nicely, the pedaling is organized, and the glissandos take advantage of all the enharmonics available. BUT, it was also written for a woman cast as Peter Pan. This production decided to cast a young man. . .and all of the songs Peter sings have been transposed and then shift back to the original key when someone joins him. Consequently, all the pedaling, instead of being in lovely pairs – one on each side of the harp – has now been shifted to one side of the harp, most of the enharmonic options have been eliminated, and perfectly demonstrates Paul Knoke’s excellent explanation of why the pedals are set up the way they are.
I teach at a couple of universities in Upstate NY – one school provides pedal harps, one school does not, so the students share the rental costs of a pedal harp. One school offers only a degree in pedal harp and the other offers a degree and/or a minor in either pedal harp or lever harp performance with different ensemble and repertoire requirements. I think you need to have a clear idea of what you want to do with it, what type of music you want to play, and who you want your audience to be. If you find that you are always wanting to play music that’s more “doable” on a pedal harp, try to go to a school that is going to supply the instrument, although that can make it harder to gig. Otherwise, go for the more affordable option – a lever harp – and learn to edit and play pieces in keys that enable you to take advantage of enharmonic options (A flat instead of G sharp, for example).
My older students are such fun and are generally quite motivated and disciplined. That said, they also tend to be a little self-conscious, which translates into tension. Consequently, the thing I focus on the most initially is relaxation. I also try to study their hands carefully (what’s stiff, what’s not, etc) and create a set of unique exercises for them. I have also found that pretty exercises are more fun and faithfully practiced. Good technique, with careful editing, is essential in order to avoid injury in these older students. The other thing I have my older students do is get a large, inexpensive Tupperware type of bowl and fill it with clean playground sand. As part of their warmup, they warm it up in the microwave and dig in and pick up a handful and hold it for a few seconds (like grabbing a handful of MMs) and then release it. It teaches them to close their hands while the warmth helps get rid of any stiffness and is very relaxing.
I have a new 34 string Stewart Harp from New Zealand. It weighs 17 pounds, has a wood body (African sapele) and soundboard (western red cedar) with Camac levers, but the rest of it is carbon fiber. It’s pretty indestructible and the sound is absolutely, positively incredible. If you would like to talk to me about it in more detail, please feel free to contact me at deettebunn@yahoo.com. It would make a great busking harp, I think, and traveled perfectly to the US in checked baggage in a soft cover with a couple of pieces of styrofoam on either side.
FYI:There are two other ways I know of to get flight
cases –
http://www.raydohertycases.com
http://www.sligoharps.com/hardCase.pdfYes – I had an issue with them as well. I ordered a case and 1 year later they contacted me and said it was ready. Then they told me it was going to cost close to $500 to ship it. An empty lever harp case costs the same to ship as a pedal harp? Right. I told them to forget it.
I have used the Happiness in a Contented Harp for years! Great book with great pictures. Wish L&H would reissue. Saw a copy on eBay for more than $100 dollars!
