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My advice to anyone buying a harp would be… don’t part with your money until you find the harp you can’t bear to leave behind. That’s what I did and I’ve never regretted my choice. It’s different for everyone and its a big investment, so take your time and get your hands on any harp you can in the meantime.
So Tim Gusters harps can be seen at
http://www.timguster.com.au, he has both a classic and celtic style harp both 39 strings.
Brandden Lassels can be found here http://www.harps.com.au
And Keith Harrison at http://www.harps.co.nz
Oh and I have actually seen a Triplett in the flesh here in Oz. It’s a nice sounding harp to be sure but nothing so vastly superior to what we have here that would would warrant spending a fortune importing it. I would venture to say I preferred the sound and feel of the Tim Guster over it. But then I like the high tension strings and pedal harp sound which the Guster and Thoms are very good at replicating. The Tripletts do have a more ethereal sound and folk look. So it’s all a matter of what you are particularly after.
Didn’t you recently buy a Thom harp? Or am I confusing you with someone else? Well apart from those there are also the Tim Guster (SA) harps which I have heard and played. If you want a nice all wood harp with classic good looks and a sound to match you really can’t do much better. Also very nice looking harps which I incidentally haven’t heard but have a good reputation would be Keith Harrisons harps in NZ. The exchange rate alone would make it worth your while to check out and ship. If you flew there from Oz you could put it in the hold as excess baggage on the way back and save a packet on shipping.
You may also want to chat to Branden Lassells in Gosford NSW, a very reputable luthier here who also has a good reputation for lever harps. He also does repair and restoration work on pedal harps, so he’s very knowledgable.
Well I don’t own a Troubadour but have play one and can honestly say I don’t think it’s anything special. At least to me. That’s not to say it’s bad, just that I have heard and played nicer harps than that one. If I were buying a lever harp I wouldn’t be investing in a troubadour, there are many other harps for the money I’d prefer.
I have never heard nor played the Korrigan.
Made of a silvery wood incredibly light for the size of the harp with mithril silver strings. Will play itself if left on a riverbank under moonlight
Actually I”m a techie by trade, but incredibly lazy and so I record my harp using my iBook inbuilt microphone and audacity (free recording software) by placing the mac on a chair directly in front of the harp. Works pretty good. Much better than I thought and very little background noise.
Well my only question is, if you are so sure your one finger technique is right for you, why are you even questioning it? I personally don’t care either way how you play your music, it’s your music. I very much doubt any harpist will agree with you and say “oh that’s a great technique and no you’ll never have a moments trouble with it”.
By playing with only one finger you are limiting the music you can play. Because there is a great deal of music that does actually use two or more notes in the melody hand at the same time. You are also missing out on being able to play rolled chords with both hands which is a recognisable “harp” sound.
I won’t tell you to learn proper technique out of any elitist attitude as I am also not a classical player. I am encouraging it purely from the point of view that you will have more versatility in whatever style of music you play. There will come a point where finger pecking as you call it, won’t be able to keep pace with the music.
You might be interested to know that there’s not a harpist on the planet who thought the traditional four finger techniques were natural and easy the first time they did them. Like anything it takes time to develop it. There are hobby woodworkers who never take the time to learn how to use tools properly. They have fun with wood but don’t turn out the most satisfying work. I think the same can be said for all hobby’s. Just because you don’t earn an income from it doesn’t mean you necessarily need to be unskilled with it.
I think I can answer you about guitars Jennifer. In general guitars and cellos are allowed onboard even though they are over the size of carry-on baggage mainly because they are so delicate. The airlines won’t take the responsibility of baggage handling them to avoid costly claims. They generally have to be strapped to the seat next to the passenger and the passenger usually has to buy that seat for their instrument. I think this option is only not available for harps simply because no-one has ever asked before. Obviously a full concert grand pedal harp will not easily fit into an aircraft cabin but the smaller harps would.
Items under the seat have to fit well under there and not be near your feet. This is so in the event of an evacuation everyone in that row can exit the row quickly without anything hindering their progress. It will be a very small harp indeed that would fit, but as you say the Stoney End one might.
The big problem with getting harps onboard is their height. As even small harps are still quite tall (they have to be for the harmonic curve). Unfortunately we have to be very strict on cabin baggage as once those lockers are full there’s nowhere else for luggage to go. All the aisles, rows and exits have to be completely clear at all times to satisfy airline regulations. There’s not really a lot of room for 200 or more passengers and all the stuff they want to bring onboard, especially in the age of laptops.
I have two cats who all but rip apart my furniture. They have never touched my harp. The smaller one jumped on top of it once, but not once have they ever been inclined to put a claw near it. My harp lives in the same room with them uncovered permanently. I don’t think harps are particularly attractive scratching posts.
The 32 string model is quite small and undoubtedly easy enough to move around the household. Certainly from room to room you will have no trouble moving this harp out of harms way or just for your own peace of mind.
I hear you about being able to get on a plane with a harp. I work as crew on planes. Unfortunately I’ve never been able to find a harp that would comfortably sit in the overhead locker AND allow me to be comfortable leaving it there. Since passengers do tend to just push and shove their stuff into those lockers, even crushing other passengers luggage at the same time. There is no way I would ever trust my ($1500) harp in an overhead locker, and I doubt the serenity will fit under the seat. It’s not just a matter of getting it there. It has to stow completely under it, away from your feet. Otherwise the crew will never let you leave it there. The dimensions of the serenity suggest to me it’s just too long to fit under a seat. Now if you could get a hard case made for it that would allow you to stow it in the hold, you’d be onto a winner there.
I think seeing a teacher first would be an excellent idea.
Jennifer is right you can learn on a smaller harp there are just some additional limitations to it. Most teachers recommend a harp of 30 strings or more for a first harp to learn on. It has a range that covers all the learners material out there and allows you to develop posture and playing technique without having to worry about balancing a harp. It’s also nice to have the larger range when practising arpeggios (you’ll do a LOT of them) and rolled chords (you’ll do a LOT of those too).
On a smaller harp you may have to simplify the left hand a bit because of your range and play music an octave higher than it is written. If you are already a practised musician then you’ll do this easily. If you are not it may just add enough frustration for you to pack in the harp completely. There is some music out there written specifically for small harps although not a lot of learners books are for those harps.
Having a portable harp seems like a lovely idea, you can easily imagine yourself driving to a nice park and practicing under a tree etc..And it seems lovely to also have an instrument that you can pack away in a cupboard if you want to. But honestly I have a harp that I rarely take out because of it’s size and weight and I don’t miss the portability at all. While its still an attractive idea for me to practice in a park I also know that the few times I’ve played outside I haven’t got much practice done because of the onlookers and constant questions. A nicer idea than it is in reality. Think carefully about how often you will actually travel with a harp. I think I take mine out less than twice a year.
Most floor harps, 32 strings and above fit easily into compact cars, across the back seat or in the hatch with the seats folded down. Because harps are mostly flat they fit quite easily into smaller spaces. For me personally the choice to make my learning experience easier or having portability, I would choose the easier learning experience every time.
The dreamweaver is a very compact floor harp and the same price as the serenity anyway. To my mind it is much better value for money because of the additional range and therefore larger repertoire it will give you access to. Having levers isn’t necessary in the very beginning stages most learner books are written in C and you can tune your harp to that manually. I had my first harp for a year before it became necessary to go to the expense of levers. C & F levers only will give you access to a great deal of the folk music out there.
I also agree that perhaps the neighbour is not completely out of line. The harp is our choice not everyone’s and I can understand anyone who might find it annoying. I find the sound of small children particularly annoying but that doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t have them, or that I am a particularly abhorrent human being.
Some people like peace and quiet and are quite sensitive to any noise. But repetitive music can really grate. I’m not saying you shouldn’t practice just be aware that not everyone on the planet will enjoy your lifestyle choice. Strange but true. Yes you are entitled to practice just keep it within the allowances of the block. Living in an old house is never easy for any of the tenants.
One cat goes belly up in front of the harp whenever it is being played. The other likes to sit on my knee and occassionally put her teeth against the vibrating strings. I think it has more to do with being involved than it does with the quality of my playing.
Wow what a can of worms! But I guess I can assume that a great deal of music is playable on a single action harp and really I wouldn’t miss out on much if I didn’t have a double action one. Just that a double action harp would be more convenient in some respects.
Thanks for your input everyone.
Claire
Its funny because there was reluctance to take up the camac levers when they first appeared ( truitts were superior for so many reasons and even some harpists preferred lovelands!) and now they are the new darling of the lever harp world. A with all things it takes time and perhaps a design tweak before acceptance is widely gained.
I would be willing to try these new levers if I had a harp that didn’t already have levers.
