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The eyelets are plastic, and they aren’t damaged at all. I’m thinking its probably a combination of the weather and the age of the strings. The replacements are about a year old, and the set on the harp in general is about a year and a half old (since I don’t do a lot of playing publicly I don’t see a need to replace them until they get to be about 2 years old).
Another thing that is odd (which I am thinking might be a weather factor) is that the worn places on the strings (from lever usage) are moving. They’re getting closer to the bridge pins.
I’m probably going to replace the whole set in the next month or two anyhow. It’s just odd because I’ve never had my other harps act like this.
Tried that. It’s not sharp at all. Completely smooth.
When it breaks at the soundboard/knot, sometimes it is above the knot and the knot (with anchor) go flying out the back or bottom of the harp. Sometimes when it breaks, the knot itself comes undone in the breaking (so I can’t really tell exactly where it broke). But all the same, the string is in two pieces. So far the replacement of E2 that I put in the other day (the 2nd one for that day) has held. ::crosses fingers::
I’m thinking it is probably the weather. Weather here in Kentucky is really crazy in the springtime. One day it is dry, the next it is humid and raining. Things went from cold to moderately warm very quickly, and it is getting a lot more humid. I’ll ask a few other harpists in my area if they are having similar troubles.
Harp is just my hobby, but here is my experience as a flutist:
I admit… I’m a perfectionist. But I know when to let off a little and accept what I’ve accomplished as being good enough for the time being. Notice: “For the time being.”
Perfection is something that can’t be achieved. Ever. And I’ve come to accept that. But that little facet of my personality is what has helped me rise so quickly in my skill as a flutist (going from mediocre high school level playing to a genuine professional level in 3.5 years). Furthermore, perfection is in the eye of the beholder. Once I have a piece technically “perfect” I then mess around with it a little, and make it imperfect. I don’t make mistakes that way, but give the music my own little twist so it isn’t so mechanical. Imperfection is what makes music come alive and thereby you can communicate with an audience.
When it comes to teaching, I still have a problem with this. But I’ve learned to accept “progress” instead of “perfection.” That is what is important I think. If you only push students and pick, and pick, and pick, you discourage them. You have to teach with love, passion, and wisdom. Perfectionism is not among those qualities. You have to push them to be better or else they might settle for less than they really want. But you can’t do this in a way that it discourages or belittles them. I have found in my experience teaching flute (Harp is just a hobby of mine), that if you strike this balance the students not only think you are quite the task master that never settles, but generally they also become more and more excited for their lessons every week.
Harp is just my hobby, but here is my experience as a flutist:
I admit… I’m a perfectionist. But I know when to let off a little and accept what I’ve accomplished as being good enough for the time being. Notice: “For the time being.”
Perfection is something that can’t be achieved. Ever. And I’ve come to accept that. But that little facet of my personality is what has helped me rise so quickly in my skill as a flutist (going from mediocre high school level playing to a genuine professional level in 3.5 years). Furthermore, perfection is in the eye of the beholder. Once I have a piece technically “perfect” I then mess around with it a little, and make it imperfect. I don’t make mistakes that way, but give the music my own little twist so it isn’t so mechanical. Imperfection is what makes music come alive and thereby you can communicate with an audience.
When it comes to teaching, I still have a problem with this. But I’ve learned to accept “progress” instead of “perfection.” That is what is important I think. If you only push students and pick, and pick, and pick, you discourage them. You have to teach with love, passion, and wisdom. Perfectionism is not among those qualities. You have to push them to be better or else they might settle for less than they really want. But you can’t do this in a way that it discourages or belittles them. I have found in my experience teaching flute (Harp is just a hobby of mine), that if you strike this balance the students not only think you are quite the task master that never settles, but generally they also become more and more excited for their lessons every week.
Harp is just my hobby, but here is my experience as a flutist:
I admit… I’m a perfectionist. But I know when to let off a little and accept what I’ve accomplished as being good enough for the time being. Notice: “For the time being.”
Perfection is something that can’t be achieved. Ever. And I’ve come to accept that. But that little facet of my personality is what has helped me rise so quickly in my skill as a flutist (going from mediocre high school level playing to a genuine professional level in 3.5 years). Furthermore, perfection is in the eye of the beholder. Once I have a piece technically “perfect” I then mess around with it a little, and make it imperfect. I don’t make mistakes that way, but give the music my own little twist so it isn’t so mechanical. Imperfection is what makes music come alive and thereby you can communicate with an audience.
When it comes to teaching, I still have a problem with this. But I’ve learned to accept “progress” instead of “perfection.” That is what is important I think. If you only push students and pick, and pick, and pick, you discourage them. You have to teach with love, passion, and wisdom. Perfectionism is not among those qualities. You have to push them to be better or else they might settle for less than they really want. But you can’t do this in a way that it discourages or belittles them. I have found in my experience teaching flute (Harp is just a hobby of mine), that if you strike this balance the students not only think you are quite the task master that never settles, but generally they also become more and more excited for their lessons every week.
Furthermore, if you needed continuous music, and couldn’t change selections, you could always transpose them to the key you need. Many a time I have done this. I play Greensleeves in like… 4 different keys. One thing that is helpful is to get software that you can notate the music in, then with a couple of clicks you can transpose the whole arrangement.
Aaaahhhh!
I realized when I watched it again that it wasn’t quite a 23, but couldn’t see it clearly enough. It’s nice to know what it was though! And what an honor to be part of that.
I had a friend who played principal oboe in the olympic orchestra at the winter games in Salt Lake City (2002).
If the pedal harp look and sound is what she wants in a lever harp, I think it’s the best way to go. I own a Prelude 38, and tried some Prelude 40’s. The 40’s model is really nice. It’s a sturdy instrument, and often times they have a big sound. The only ones I have tried out were brand new though, so their sound was still quite green, but they seemed like they would probably mature nicely.
“Weather changes affect my harp.”
Ditto! Every time a storm is about to get here, or the atmosphere changes suddenly, I hear a loud PING! And when the storm leaves, I almost always here another string go PING.
Where can I buy that abrasive cord at? I’d like to give that a try so I can see if it will help any. (I’m in the U.S.).
If you are looking at the Ana, I would give the L&H Prelude a look too. The 40 string model is rather nice. I personally have a 38 string Prelude (and it has a sound like you wouldn’t believe), but the 40 string model is definitely better than the majority of the 38 string models. From what I have played between the Ana and the Prelude models, the Prelude tends to be a little bit “brighter” in sound, but this is certainly not the rule.
My only caution about the Ogden is that it is really short. You would probably have to sit on a really low footstool to have it at the proper height. I personally prefer the sound of the Prelude over both the Troubadour and the Odgen, but that is just my personal taste.
Regardless, you have chosen very fine instruments to get started with. And don’t be intimidated by an instrument. In all reality, it’s just wood and sheep guts. Nothing to be afraid of. 😉
This is also a problem with my LH Prelude 38. Even though it has “Concert” tension, it is considerably tighter than any pedal harp I’ve ever played. In comparison, pedal harps feel like “folk/lever/light” tension, and folk strung instruments feel like spaghetti.
So even though my Prelude has extremely high tension (and for some reason it only breaks strings at the soundboard, and never at the levers), I love the tone. Even for a Prelude it has an extraordinary sound. It has all of the volume and tone of many of the 40-44 string pedal harps out there. So maybe the string tension being so tight has something to do with it. Maybe, maybe not. I just know that when I bought it at Vanderbilt Music, the shop owner was somewhat reluctant to sell it because she liked it so much (and it was so different than the other Prelude 38 models she had played). I know I personally will never part with it!!!
Oh, and that wasn’t meant to imply that my teacher wasn’t a gifted teacher. She was. I just chose another career path. I would happily study with my harp teacher again. I was just saying: If I could study with anyone in the world, who is someone that inspires me? I would study with that person.
