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The Crystal harp,
A harp made of crystal and finely spun glass, and silver strings. Light to carry, strong enough to withstand bumps and bruises, and the luscious sound of the most expensive pedal harps. 🙂
The Leggo my Eggo harp.
A harp made of brightly colored
Hmmm….
It seems to me that John Doe may be a relation to a certain “Santa Claus” character….
I shall investigate.
I just meant how my little “fool them” comment started this big sideline conversation. My comments rarely do that.
My my… how the pot has been stirred. : /
Well, in my area, the trend is still in favor of the pedal harp look. Celtic/traditional shaped lever harps tend to look “fat and ugly” to the people around here. The only exception is when I take out my musicmaker’s studio harp. It has the neck of a pedal harp, but the pillar of a celtic harp. So it’s “okay” for more folk-type venues.
Anyway, I really like the Dewey Owen’s arrangement. You just preset two accidentals, and then through the bridge you have 1 lever change (a c#). Very manageable. The only things I have changed
I guess my tongue in cheek humor wasn’t clear. It wasn’t meant as an attempt to be decietful. Most non-harpists don’t know the difference between lever and pedal. As long as it looks and sounds like a pedal harp, most people are happy. I mean… why haul a concert/semi grand pedal harp to a gig if all of your repertoire is playable on a lever harp? I would rather save my back any day. That way the client gets the look and sound of a “real” harp, and I don’t break something.
But that being said… I would actually have to have a pedal harp.
If money was no object, I would have a collection….
A Venus Premier in natural
A Lyon & Healy Style 11 Gold
My current L&H Prelude
A Blevins Espre with staved back
Thormahlen Swan in curly maple
Musicmaker’s Regency
That way I have all of my bases covered. I would have a pedal harp for gigging, a pedal harp that would suit the picky wedding clients who want gold, a lever harp to fool the uneducated/not picky wedding clients, two lever harps for celtic/folk gigs and a kit to tinker around with. 🙂
I would take a look at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. For most of their programs [like flute and violin] it is quite competitive to get into [and the audition due date has already passed or is very soon].
If $15k is your budget, I would definitely take a look at some secondhand instruments. Also, Venus Harps have a few Semi-Grand pedal harps with extended soundboards for about that much money. And these are new harps. I personally haven’t played a Venus, but from what I hear they are every bit as good as L&H, Salvi, and Camac.
Aside from musicians [like James Galway for example], I haven’t really met any other celebrities.
OH! I just remembered. I did get to meet a few of the actors/actresses that played Munchkins in the Wizard of Oz. The one that I remembered particularly was the one that was in the Lollipop Guild. He was the one that handed Judy Garland the giant lollipop.
Hmmmm…… He’s probably passed away now. He was in his late 80’s and that was over a decade ago….. 🙁I name mine!!!!
My Prelude is named Penelope, my Musicmaker’s Studio Harp hasn’t decided her name yet…..I think that we have gotten away from the original subject.
I would be very careful about how this subject is approached. Even though the student may be a gifted harpist, it doesn’t always mean that their heart will belong to the harp.
Oh yeah! I remember that stuff. I had forgotten all about the whole “That isn’t lady-like” comment that Dwyer’s father told her when she wanted to learn flute. I guess it is just the whole stigma that goes with it now-a-days [i.e. sexuality stereotypes etc. etc.]. I do remember learning about what is and is not proper for different genders to play and why.
