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Hmm, well, if I ran into a child-size Erard double-action like the one I saw in a museum in Vienna, I might be tempted away from the classic lever harp &c. But I admit I like the slightly easier action of some lever harps. (I’m assuming the Erard I mention also has a slightly easier action.)
Do you mean curved back or staved back? It’s generally agreed that straight-backed harps project better than round-backed, but staved-backs are OK.
Huh? 34-string harps have the low C too. So does my 33-string harp.
I agree that the wood matters more than any decoration. A walnut 36-string Dusty Strings is nowhere near as bright as a maple (and it weighs a bit less too). Which is better? The one you like better.Apparently we brought lovely weather with us. Prior to that, Vancouver had been having what locals were calling a “bummer summer”: cold weather. I think it went with us too.
Comparing with/to the only other WHC I’ve been to (Prague 1999): the biggies were all there, but the smaller European manufacturers were missing. Heartland Harps and Gerharps were there, but R-Harps and Josephus were not. Dusty Strings and Rees were.
Unlike Prague 1999, where the venues were all over the place, both sides of the river, the venues were pretty centralized. There was a convenient Japadog cart two blocks away (that’s s a hot dog with Japanese fixings) and about as many Starbucks or other coffee places as in Seattle.
I would have liked to see more lecture/workshops, in particular on antique harps.
High spots for me: Sylvain Blassel playing Bach; Mariano Gonzalez playing “Pajaro Campana”; Celso Duarte Sr. & Jr.; Maire ni Scathasaigh (sp?); Cristina Braga; and a Dutch group playing blues.
As I’ve told elsewhere, it was the sight of two old Irish harps in a common room at college, coupled with the desire to hear what they sounded like, followed by a concert with Susan Reed playing the Irish harp. It was many years before I actually owned or played a harp.
