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Well, I don’t know about clarinet, but I seem to recall sections for harp with other instruments, including vl and cl, in the catalogues of Lyon & Healy, Melody, and one another catalogue. Sounds like a nice combination.
Not exactly what you meant, but I have practice books for things I’m working on on want to work on in the near future. I xerox them and encase them in transparent covers and put them in one binder. Further afield, I have folders for Anglo-American and Scottish music, Judaeo-Spanish, &c, but these are not specifically for harp.
If I play harp (or guitar or banjo) in a room floored with Mexican tile, the resonance is increased enormously from playing the same instrument in a carpeted room. The same would probably be true of a wooden floor as opposed to carpeting.
Projection is how well the sound reaches your audience–did I put that right?–and you can judge it best by having someone else listen to you at some distance away.
There was such a thing as tab for the harp back in the 16th or 17th century (in Spain, at least, but the harp doesn’t really lend itself to tab the way lute, guitar and banjo do. Harpo Marx’s son developed some kind of notation for his dad, who never learned to read music. I think it would be easier just to learn to read music.
But don’t let that stop you from learning to play the harp! You will find that your ear gets better and better even if you don’t learn to read music.
Yes, dwell is sustain, but I can’t think of an actual definition for resonance off the top of my head. I remember someone saying that square-backed harps tend to have more projection (that’s basically how they reach your audience) and roundbacks have more resonance. Bernhard’s explanation was more technical than what I was looking for, but as he said, you know it when you hear it. I think I’d better hit the dictionary.
Having just recently heard a Wurlitzer for the first time, I can understand your excitement. Congratulations!
Sarah, the Troubadour was designed as a transition to pedal harp, and the tension is that of a pedal harp, but that’s not to say you can’t play folk music on it. I do. I also like to play classical and can’t afford a second harp. If you search out “Loreena McKennitt” on YouTube, you’ll see that she’s playing an original Troubadour I, which is what I have. It has only 33 strings, but that includes the C two octaves below middle C, and is 3″ shorter than the Troubadour of today.
As for the sound, it is a mistake to say “as good as”: it depends what you want. There are many good harp sounds. I just had mine regulated and completely restrung two days ago and it sounds wonderful. (Several people on these forums, as well as the harp technician, have given as their opinion that the Troubadour I had a better sound than the Troubadour II-III-IV-V-VI.) It’s also built like a brick you-know-what.
In your particular case, though, I think you might be happier with a folksier harp. Your interests lie so completely in that direction.
I think you’ll have to contact Aquila (the U.S. division) directly and ask them what they need to know in order to supply you. I could not find anything on their site, which doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
What I know about them comes mainly from banjo players (yes, there are nylon- or gut-strung banjos). There are two basic Nylgut sets for banjo, for minstrel (a fourth low) and modern pitch. Nearly everybody raves about them but says they take a good long time to stop stretching and settle in. I would expect the same to be true of Nylgut strings for harp.
