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Hey Watershed!
I know what you mean by wanting a small harp to play outside in nature 🙂 and 22 pounds is on the light side of a harp, but it’s juuuust a bit too heavy to hike with on a whim
Personally, I have never tried the Eve harp but I’ve heard a lot of good. Harp teacher and reseller Carolyn Deal sells that model in double strung : you might be interested in the possibilities that it has to offer.
(With two rows of parallel strings, your hand never bump into each other. This means that you can play a lot more on a double-strung 22-string harp than on a single string 22, or even 26-string harp!)Even if you want to stick to a single strung Eve, you can have a look at the videos to have a feel of the sounds and structure.
Here’s the link to the demo, but she plays it in a lot more videos as well. And she plays different models in different wood types so that’s something to consider too!
She also demo’d the Ena harp, based on the same shape as the Eve but different string.
You can also check out her other videos of other double-strung harps by Stoney End (like the Brittany and Brea, 22 strings as well, shaped like the Brian Boru, are apparently heavier than the Eve and Ena).
Other lightweight harp exist too!
I’ve played a little of the Camac Bardic 22 strings : although they’ve just stopped making new one a few month ago, many harp shop still have new models in stock (and you’ll find it second-hand too).
Here’s the link to the Camac Bardic 27 but the 22 is the same, only smaller.
Camac is a great, reputable French brand, and if you’re in Europe you should definitely take a look.Lewis Creek makes the Nightingale harp, and I’ve heard a lot of great things about it : Nightingale – Lewis Creek
There’s also the Christina by Triplett Harps : again, haven’t tried this model myself.
Triplett ChristinaThat’s all I can think of right now concerning extremely lightweight harps but other people might be able to give more links. (And definitely browse the forum archives).
As usual, the only way you’ll be able to make an informed choice is by trying out the harps yourself, since the videos can never tell you everything. If that’s not possible, I hope I’ve given you a little bit to go on!@ Biagio, although we are not on topic, it still is very interesting to read your inputs.
On the topic though : personally, my harp teacher explained on lesson 2 or 3 that the harp was tuned in E-major. But when you’ve never done any music theory whatsoever, I guess you just take the information as-is, and move on.
I’ve found myself facing a score that had almost everything in flat : and when you see for example an “E-flat” and then an “E natural” (called “bécarre” in French, a complicated word) you don’t instantly think about “sharping the D” to get the E-flat.
The teacher can, and should, come back to music theory when needed. But beginners want to touch and feel and play the instrument, not spend 2-3h just listening to a teacher droning about abstract concepts.
What I mean to say is : do cut us beginners some slack 😉 Some people just never learn any music theory, although I personally feel that they should.
Hello Adrian,
Unfortunately I know next to nothing about that particular topic, although I am French.
My advice, however, knowing what it’s like to write a thesis : come to Paris to research the topic.
You should be able to ask for a grant or scholarship, depending on your country and your university. Look into uni partnership to find possibilities of exchanges.Le Magasin de la Harpe – Budin is a good place to start, as a shop they have a lot of books and might be able to give you pointers.
Lots of beautiful, public libraries (you might have to registrer to get a student pass) will have information you’re looking for.
The Bibliothèque Sainte Geneviève will have history books.
Whereas the Bibliothèque du Conservatoire de Paris will have more information on music, but you’ll find historical references.
Most of the source material will be in French, yes. But with google translate, and by building up a repertoire of key vocabulary words, you’ll get by, since French and English are quite close languages. (I’m assuming that you’ve studied the French language, otherwise I’m not sure why you would undertake such a thesis)
If you play your cards well, you might even be able to meet up with musicians that have played in such circles, or composed for them.
Good luck!
Hey Josh, thank you for coming on the forum!
Well, I guess we won’t know for sure who was the composer of the song. Worth a try though! Thank you all!
@ Wil Weten, yes, you’re right, the accidental is only for the accompaniment (I’ve actually taken it out and changed the arrangement, because the lever flip isn’t convenient on the double strung harp).
The plots thickens. Well, if anyone comes up with something, let us know!
Biagio, do keep us informed of Josh’s answer 🙂How odd that the videos got mixed up! Will-Weten, your link does work now. Weird! Glad we cleared that up anyway 🙂
The tune is not in The complete Carolan Songs and airs Book and CD arranged by Caitriona Rowsome either by the way.
Hence a general consensus that the song is an hommage to O’Carolan, and/or later mis-attributed to him. I have no notions of musicology but people that have studies his tunes say that this Air doesn’t sound like him : the accidental are one cue.
@ Wil Weten, I’m afraid your link is broken but I would like to have a look at it.
@ Emma Graham = I might be mistaken but you have posted the same video as I have… And I agree with you : O’Carolan’s Welcome is a well-known Carolan song.
And as you said : it is not the same air as the Paret version, shown by Layne. I’ve tried listening to various versions, slower or faster, but when none of the notes and patterns are the same, it’s a stretch to assume it is.I’m surprised to see these responses that assume I haven’t searched around and listened to O’Carlolan’s Welcome. I mean, if I’m asking here, it’s for a reason, and it’s not hard to listen to 2mn of the Josh Layne version.
Here is another version for those who don’t want to watch the Josh Layne video : this is a harp teacher that plays the whole of the Betty Paret book for her students.
Any thoughts?
Hey Jerusha!
I fell in love with the duet that Mason Williams plays with Deborah Henson-Conan, really good stuff. Is your adaptation closer to the solo guitar part, or did you also include a different harp part?
If you’re willing on going all the way up to 27 strings, I would also advice that you take a look at Dusty Strings’ 26 strings harps.
However, if you want to play on your bed like your image, any 26 or 27 strings harp will be too big. I personally play my 26 double-strung dusty as a floor harp (with the feet).
If I take the feet off, I will kneel to play it ; but I cannot carry it as well as play it.
22 strings is the maximum there!If you’re looking for light harps, it’s a different story : Lewis Creek makes extremely light harps such as the Nightingale.
You can also look for non-wooden harp with a light body.Otherwise, the cardboard Waring Harps are said to have a great sound (haven’t tried them myself).
Hello Sarah,
You seem frustrated by the harp repertoire but I, like many others, feel that these critics are not warranted. For sure, when you take the whole range of instruments, people are going to think that harp music is more “angelic” than drums. However,like you said, harp music is much more than that.
Like others above have said, some artiste like Sacha Boldachev alternate classical piece with pop music. Here at 1h22mn in, there’s punk.
I would argue that a lot of harp music cannot be described as “whimsical” or “soothing”. Most of the classical of Celtic repertoire can be adapted in many ways. Jigs and reels, of with there are plenty, are not “angelic”.
As for “Epic Harp Music” or “hauntingly passionate harp music”, well.. that is a question of interpretation rather than actual repertoire. There’s a lot of
Omnia is a Pagan Folk band and their harp is not always whimsical : here, the song Tine Bealtaine.
Other metal pagan bands have included the harp in some way, like Eluveitie.I believe that you are asking for something different with the harp :
Tristan le Govic Trio is a great example of jazzy music with harp :
Definitely look into them.Others have mentioned Deborah Hanson-Conan. You can also look into Cécile Corbel, but that might no be the style you are looking for.
Please give us feedback concerning the different artists that have been recommended to you so that we can understand your frustration better.
Hey Oxalis!
Absolutely Agee with what has been said so far :
– Ask your teacher for advice
– Look at renting harps at least for a few month. It ends up being cheaper in the long run because you buy the harp you really want, instead of buying harps again and again.
– Look at second-hand great quality harp : quality harps don’t deteriorate if taken care of, so it’s a real bargain.
– Make a list of what you really want in a harp in terms of sound and feel. Nylon or gut strings? Bright or deep sound? Etc.
– Always try a harp out before buying it because internet videos simply don’t give you enough info to go on.
– If possible, go to a harp festival and take the time to try out everythingAs usual, I recommend this website to get an idea of what you want. Celtic Harper – What type of harp should I get?
I haven’t tried the models that you’ve narrowed down but I concur with the others about the Camac quality. You can also look at Salvi and Dusty Strings.
Keep us informed of your choices!Oh, yay! That’s the composer!
I’ve never heard of this website but I’ll explore it now. Thank you Gretchen!
Hello Sage!
Actually, lots of brands offer this small harp :
The Camac Bardic can be found both in the 22 strings and the 27 strings models and is a great instrument : you can check older posts in this forum to find reviews. Camac themselves have stopped producing them at the end of last years but I know for a fact you can still find them in many harp shops.
Here is the presentation sheet (in French, couldn’t find the English one) : https://www.camac-harps.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/10/Bardic22-fr.pdfThere is also Stoney End’s lap harps : http://www.stoneyend.com/lap-harps.php.
You can even get them double strung, which, as soon as you get used to the principle, enables you to play as much as you would with a harp with more strings.These are just two brands : I would advise that you decide first the type of harp range you want (starting on C? On F or G?) and perhaps the price range.
Wow! Very nice!
The song is lovely and your son is progressing amazingly well from video to video.
Thank you for including the reference to the music score as wellHello all!
Thank you for your various advice. I’ll stick with harp covers in that case, especially since it doesn’t seem to be causing problems at the moment (hardly any sunlight and the daylight is too short).
@ Talfryn, super les harpes!
@ Wil-Weten : this is the double-strung, I haven’t changed nor bought a new one (it’s very much a complete instrument!). I just figured that the fact that it is double-strung doesn’t add anything to my question here.
