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Thanks to everybody for your replies. Patricia, I’m just under 5′ 0″, so I would feel very comfortable with a smaller harp. Sid, I never heard of that model or the Williams Gallery either. Good to know. I seem to be finding out what’s out there in the way of harps that are no longer made purely by accident. And at this time I cannot afford any pedal harp. (But at least I just had my Troubadour I regulated, cleaned and restrung, and that has certainly brightened my unviverse!)
Sarah, I don’t like harps that require stands either, but there is this advantage to them: if you drive a VW New Beetle, as I do, you know they’ll fit in the back of your car with the back seats down. That matters if you’re going to go out and about with your harp–join a folk group, say, or take your harp to lessons.
Well, I’m not the person to ask about fluorocarbon strings, really: I had just one brief experience with them. They are denser than nylon or gut and therefore thinner, which felt strange to me. They are more resistant to humidity, aging &c. than nylon or gut. They take longer to stabilize (hold their tune). The sound is supposed to be “best of both worlds.”
Someone else explained tension pretty well, so I’ll just recap briefly: higher-tension strings feel firmer/tighter, more like a pedal harp. Medium- or low-tension strings have more give, which can be good or bad depending on you. I think of it as like the difference between a classical guitar and a flamenco guitar.
Troubadours were originally intended for players who would go on to pedal harp, so they have a firmer tension, though they are perfectly capable of playing folk. They are also fairly large (currently 66″, though mine is an old model and only 63″), a consideration if you want to transport it in the back of a car.
I played a Triplett just the other day, not that particular model. It had a good feel; the sound leans more to the warm/mellow than the bright.
Question of tension: if you’re strictly interested in folk music, especially Celtic, you might be happier with a harp of lighter tension and folk spacing.
Mine came with nylon strings and in this hot and humid climate (Florida), that was just as well. Gut strings cost a lot more and are more susceptible to temperature and humidity, but it’s generally agreed that gut strings sound better. Well, maybe I shouldn’t say “generally.” Another possibility is fluorocarbon. Some of the Camacs are strung in fluorocarbon.
Levers: I like Camacs way better than Lovelands, and I’ve heard good things about Truitts.
No. Anything from 33 strings on up, assuming it goes down to the C two octaves below middle C, which most of them do.
Well, it involves firmer (higher) tension for one thing. A little like classical guitar as opposed to flamenco guitar. Some people prefer it even if they don’t intend to go on to pedal harp. Supposedly you can get a louder sound from such a harp, but there are plenty of reports of folksier harps that project just as well. There are differences in string spacing too. Folk harp tension is supposed to be easier on the fingers. In the end it’s just a matter of what you prefer. Try a Lyon & Healy Troubadour (for example) and then try a 36-string Dusty Strings (folk harp tension).
That’s Andres Izmaylov’s kid, a fourth-generation harpist. If you visit arfist’s channel, you will find a lot of other examples played by the father.
Ideally, you should have a chance to try them out side by side on the same model of harp. I guess that’s not an option?
As I understand it, Salzedo was not actually Basque by birth (as Zabaleta was) but identified with the Basques because of living among them.
As I understand it, Salzedo was not actually Basque by birth (as Zabaleta was) but identified with the Basques because of living among them.
As I understand it, Salzedo was not actually Basque by birth (as Zabaleta was) but identified with the Basques because of living among them.
