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Scratch your average civilian on the street, and you’ll hear horror stories of truly killjoy music teachers in their past. (It’s a theory, but I’m sticking to it.) I hate that. I suspect that it’s a culture, especially in the classical world, that gets passed down, like an unresolved trauma. There is no need for it.
At the risk of commenting on a situation that I really don’t know enough about…
Please, feel free to walk away from a teacher who does not encourage joy in playing. Be ambitious for a better situation that involves LOVE of playing and LOVE for your child. What is the point, otherwise!?? Do we play the harp because it’s good for us? Under doctor’s orders? Because it’s required??? No, we play for the love of it. So keep the joy in it.
I don’t really know the nuances of strings et al. But if you are shopping for a folk harp, get thee to the Somerset Folk Harp Festival if you can. It’s in New Jersey at the end of July. I agree with the sentiment expressed above: it’s the individual harp that matters most. You know how one mother and one father repeat the same model over and over, yet get wildly different kids? Similar thing. (Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration…). Play the harp you’re gonna buy. At Somerset, you can walk around the showroom and play harp after harp from many different harpmakers — and meet them too! Doesn’t that sound amazing?? Go!!
And while you’re at it, be sure to check out my current favorite harpmaker, Marini Made Harps. I own his “UltraLite” model: a sound that is near perfection to me (& I’ve been harping for over 40 years), a remarkably lightweight harp, and very reasonable prices.
JanetEach harp is different, but generally I do like Musicmakers’ harps. However, if you can check out Marini Made Harps, you should. I am a HUGE fan of their harps. Alex Marini started out using Musicmakers’ blueprints, so his harps tend to be related to Musicmakers. They are superb, and reasonably priced. I own an Ultralite, which has a perfect sound, and is also very light, amazingly so. A student of mine bought an Affordable Regency, and it is wonderful. Go Marinimadeharps!
PS, I’m really not that active here on the Harp Column, so if you want to contact me, email me directly: janet@newyorkharpist.com
I’m keen to know where you go with this, Rachael!
Janet
Hi Rachael, Yes, I HAVE heard of Kenny Bostard, quicken my heart!! My first folk harp ever was a Kenny Bostard, and it was very special. I owned a 30 string, and then I bought a 36 string Kenny Bostard harp, and they both were superb harps, with gorgeous sounds. However, they both broke, sadly. I forget how old they were when they broke, maybe 10 years, I dunno. The little one, the soundboard bellied up and burst, and the larger one, the neck snapped. For years I kept the “corpses” around because I had such an attachment to them. And in fact, right now, the larger harp is at the shop finally, getting a new neck. I haven’t heard it in so many years, I can hardly wait to get it back. I had someone put a new board on the small one, and it was a dud, and then the neck broke on it too… So I’m not sure what will happen with that one; my harp repair guy made me an offer, to repair it with no obligation on my part at all, which is weird, but we’ll see.
Rachael, if you found a Kenny Bostard harp for sale, I’d recommend that you check it out carefully. I think he made extraordinary-sounding harps, but check their structure. You might be able to enlist the help of a harpmaker to fortify it without losing the sound (kind of like lining up a good vet when you adopt an animal!). If you decide not to proceed with it, let me know about it! I might be interested.
I don’t know if Kenny Bostard is even still alive… Back then — and it must have been in the late 80’s/early 90’s — he was really difficult to deal with, because he lived off the grid, without a telephone even. We communicated via hand-written notes that were barely legible… Imagine!
Hi Kate, I was one of the posters here about the Matrix. I have one, and I’m very pleased with it. However, 1. they redesigned the Matrix a few years back, and although I never tried stuffing my semi-grand into it, it looks less harpable. The rear opening is narrower, for one thing. So, if you are looking for a used Matrix, you might have to go back to the original design. 2. I have stuffed a passenger in the front, but they haven’t had much leg room.
In the end, you have to take your harp to the dealer and try it for yourself. BTW, I did put a CG into my Matrix, you can do it. But your passenger might feel crowded…Thank you all for your kind words. The recorded music at my website was all done on my classical harp (LH 17, if you’re interested). Ellen, that’s a Deborah Henson Conant piece, you can buy sheet music from her – she published one volume with many different arrangements of this single piece according to skill level and instrumentation, so it’s suitable for everyone. Sonya, email the Marinis to ask them down to Southeastern, maybe you can persuade them to go. Else, plan on coming up to the Somerset festival in NJ! You too, Iris!
A long time ago, I posted a whole lot about the wonders of the Toyota Matrix for transporting my LH 17 (a semigrand). Well, I still have my now aging Matrix — they redesigned it, and the new design looks less harp-friendly. It still is amazing how much I can get in there.
Now, you aren’t really trying to stuff a harp into the trunk of a car? You need some climate control where the harp is; in a closed trunk, it’ll just get hot! You don’t want that, right?PS, we saw Ray again at the recent Somerset Folk Harp Festival, and he’s now invented the jack clamp, so that you don’t have to drill a hole in your harp’s base to securely install the jack, if making a hole in your harp offends you. It looks very cool.
Hi Stephanie, my friend Maria and I both brought our pedal harps into NYC to have Ray of Dusty Strings install his pickup on our harps, last year when the AHS Conference was in NYC. We are both pleased with the pickup (I dare speak for her!!).
I gig weddings mostly, so I’m not looking for the same level as Maya above. But I find that it’s easier to pump the sound out than it was with the Fishman I was using from Deborah Henson-Conant’s kit. It covers the full range with ease, which a single Fishman pickup does not, to my ears; although in fact, I need the DHC kit’s pre-amp to tone down the bass, which can be overpowering. I also love just plugging the jack in — I had Ray drill a hole in the base of the harp so that it is reeeeeallly permanent. Maria did not do that, and some tech person pulled too roughly and damaged the end of the jack (Ray helpfully is sending her a replacement part — he is Top of the Line for customer service!!). We both felt that it was a good thing to have Ray install it himself: he has such a fine attention to detail, and we watched him do it, there was a lot of subtlety to choosing where this and that… or so it seemed to us. I note Maya’s comment that it was easier to install than would seem by the instructions… perhaps!
In the end it was admittedly a pricey investment for me, and I could second-guess myself that in these slower times, the Fishman would have been good enough for my gigs. Yeah, probably. And I was a little taken aback by the brightness of the sound — I had muffled the too-bright Fishman by inserting layers of double-sided padded tape between it and the harp, and I can’t do that with the DS, because Ray used permanent glue, yikes. But every time I use it now, I’m pleased. It just feels easier to deliver a big, balanced sound when I need help pumping it out. And that makes playing the harp in a noisy room that much more pleasant for me (it’s just a drag when I can barely hear myself…), not to mention that I can do a better job for my customers. Maria has performed as well as gigged with hers, and she’s very pleased.
We are both deeply impressed with Dusty Strings — Ray and Sue — with their passion for excellence and innovation. They are pretty amazing! ! I mean, have you looked at their website? It explains their choices about everything, down to the bridge pins… impressive, I think.
Also, if you have a problem or doubt, an excellent harp technician lives in your state, and you could consult with him:
