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In November Bose had a big sale on speakers. I bought the Companion 20 speakers. They have a very clear sound with the Zoom recorder. Well worth the money.
You will not have have to worry about insufficient memory. Yes, there is a pretty big upfront cost to getting the ipad, stand, etc. There is also a lot of time involved in scanning music etc. I would just do a little every day. In the end, it is worth it. Be sure to have a back-up system – icloud, external harddrive, or computer.
Ellen,
Thanks to Barbara, I have forScore on my Ipad. It is a fantastic program and so easy to use. Unfortunately, it is only available for the ipad and not android devices. There are a lot of tutorials on youtube and the program is pretty easy to navigate once you have it set up.
My playing has improved dramatically because I don’t have to stress over the annoying page turns. I use the Airturn foot pedal. It is a night and day difference between struggling with paper music. My biggest complaint is the ipad is small. On some music I have had to literally cut and paste it before scanning it into the ipad to make sure the music isn’t too small to read. It can be especially annoying if you play duets and need your partners’ music. Although not perfect, I cannot imagine harp playing now without my ipad.
I also bought a great stand at http://www.standzout.com. It has a flexible gooseneck and you don’t need to take the ipad out of the case. The base slips easily under the harp.
Sam,
I think your comments are right on target. Practicing efficiently to me is key. You may get more done in 15 minutes than a couple hours. You need to design your own practice system to fit your learning style and time you have available.
I know one musician who does best working instensely on pieces for great lengths of time just before performing. I cannot do that. I do better if I start work on a piece six months before I am to play, put it away after working on it for a month or two, and then pick it up a month before playing. Therefore, I work on Christmas pieces in July and August and then again before I am to play in December. I play at a local church regularly so I try to get the schedule in advance of when I am to play. I make sure to keep a few extra pieces practiced or have something easy to play in case something comes up last minute.
I will practice until I either physically or mentally can’t do it. It might be a few minutes or a few hours. But I find I need to quit when I get sloppy or I just ruin whatever gains I made in working on a piece.
I had a shoulder problem two years ago caused by a broken hand so I am very sympathetic to your plight. From that experience and doing physical therapy, I am willing to wager that you are playing with your elbows too low and perhaps, in addition, your hands too high on the strings. You may want to find a hand physical therapist to work with you to figure out the ergonomics of your hand and arm position.
Elizabeth,
You are very generous to post your arrangement. I was looking for a piece to play with a singer, too.
And thank you, David Ice, for making your arrangements available.
PS. Louis Trotter has a good version of Summertime for pedal/lever harp that could be adapted to harp/voice.
Oh, jeez, you guys are creating a problem where one doesn’t exist. David has wide spacing on his harp. That will kill a harpist not used to it. Besides that, he will have removed his pedal caps – or at least the B and/or F – for the convenience of any harpist who might use his harp. He could also wrap a bicycle lock through his strings.
Mystic Bells – Sean Calhoun (youtube for ordering info)
Reverie – Daniel Burton
Quiet Soul – Stephanie Curcio
Gypsy Rondo – Stephanie Curcio
Mist and Wind – Stephanie Curcio
Two Hymn Preludes – Dewey Owens (Lyra Music Co.)You may want to try Simple Gifts for Organ/Harp arr. Daniel Burton. He also has a two-harp arrangement of Simple Gifts.
Pieces that are rounds can work well with piano and harp. You can experiment with two harp arrangements. A Christmas Canon by Janet Witman is a two-harp arrangement that sounds good with piano and harp.
The Salzedo harp/piano piece name escapes me but you can hear it on Soundcloud if you do a keyword search. I do not know how anyone ever played the piece. I have never heard anything that difficult.
I use a full set, too, of Salvi covers. It really protects the harp and is worth the money. I will not move my harp out of the house without its full suit of armor on. It does take storage room for the main harp cover although it can be squashed into a manageable size. You can buy a couple of sail ties to wrap it up. The Salvi base and column covers store easily. However, the base cover is in two pieces so you need to have a doormat or something else under the base if you unload the harp onto a wet or messy surface. I leave two lightweight doormats in my van, both for harp moving and to not mess up the interior during general use.
Harpists on HC have liked the Four Seasons covers so you might want to look at that. I am going to buy one of their half-base covers to prevent dings when I leave my harp on our local church’s stage.
Marco,
You are the only harpist on Harp Column who plays using fingernails. Because everyone else uses their fingertips, to me it is difficult, if not impossible, to discuss your particular technique. If you don’t have tendonitis or any other issues, then you must be playing correctly for your style.
Erika,
You did not say where you live but I am presuming you are in California. Salvi Harps is based in the LA area. Perhaps you could contact the manager and inquire about borrowing a harp trunk or buy/borrow/rent a shipping box to protect your harp. You could also get guidance on properly transporting your harp in a truck. When I shipped my harp, I made sure it was strapped inside the truck to prevent it from sliding around. I had a metal case for it. However, my new harp arrived in a huge cardboard box which the kids down the street turned into a fort.
I hope you have a trust fund for the repair bills on any German car. My husband just ditched his Audi and we will never have another German car. Most everyone we know who had a Mercedes got rid of the car due to repair costs. (Sorry for all of you who love your G-cars). PS. You can buy a lot of harp strings for a car that uses regular gas rather than a car that uses premium gas….
Another good arrangement is in the Christmas Present book of carols by Whitney Dobyns. There are no lever/pedal changes.
As an aside, I think her version of In the Bleak Midwinter in Christmas Present is the best one I’ve found.
Lyn,
Go to harp store websites like http://www.harpconnection,com, http://www.folkharp.com and others that show the first page of music. Then you can see for yourself if the music works for you. I believe you are in the UK. There must be harp sites there that show the music. Some of the US online sites have PDF versions of music so you can pay for it via credit card and then easily download the music. I would suggest typing in the names of carols you would like to play. I know a number of them come as solo pieces as well as in carol collections.
