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It made my day too. Though I think only the Pakistani Harp-Shaped Objects deserve to be treated that way.
Forgot to finish a sentence in first paragraph. If you pay a little more, you can get the Ravenna in all black. Still more and you can get it in burgundy or green.
The Finnish or Baltic birch is why the Ravenna is cheaper than other Dusty Strings models. That goes throughout the industry: harps that are all solid wood cost a lot more. FWIW, Heartland Harps offers a 10-year warranty on their solid-wood harps but a 3-year warrantee on their Dreamweaver (Baltic birch)–though they say that a Baltic birch soundboard is inherently stronger.
At the upper end (pricewise), I’d consider Heartland Harps Sylvan (36 strings) or a used 36-string Dusty Strings. Also a used Josephus Harps 38-string model, probably hard to find. I like the Heritage model, but you might like the Dayspring model (more Celtic) better. They also have some smaller, less expensive models. In the middle, R Harps Merlin model. This is not solid wood all through, but it has an awesome sound. At the lower end, there’s the Dusty Strings Ravenna 34 and the Heartland Harps Dreamweaver (34 strings). At the lower end these are mostly glorified plywood, but well-built and will do the trick. I think the Ravenna is unattractive, but it comes with options that
If you visit Harplust List, you will get the URLs for all of these and more and can see them and in many cases hear them in situ or on YouTube. You don’t say where you live. All the ones I mentioned are U.S.- or Canada-based. It makes a difference in terms of shipping costs, taxes, &c. Also check exactly what they’re offering: case or levers or extra set of strings thrown in? Size: can you fit them in the trunk of your car? Do they only become floor harps when you put them on a stand or you sit on a very low stool? Do they use strings so expensive that a replacement set becomes a problem? What is the string tension like?
Here’s one that’s not on the Harplust List: Gerhard Wanney of Thetis Island, Canada. Unusual Celtic-style harp. Also within your budget only as a used harp and hard to find as such.
Don’t know much about them myself, but Thormahlen Harps and Blevins Harps come well-recommended by other folks on this list.
Can you tell? I’ve been shopping around myself.
You startled me for a moment–Brokenstrings is my user name elsewhere. No, 15 strings in that time is not normal. Are you sure you’re not tuning too high? Discuss the matter with the person or institution you are renting from. After all, you’re paying for the replacement strings, right?
Renaissance lute & vihuela music, Purcell, Monteverdi, Bach (J. S. & P.D.Q.), Vivaldi; Mediaeval carols; folk and ethnic music of all kinds–Greek songs in 7/8 time, Scottish, Israeli, Mexican, Russian, Sephardic-Jewish, Anglo-American. Would like to try blues and Portuguese fados on the harp.
Individual favorites? Skye Boat Song, the Great Selchie of Sule Skerry, Los Bilbilikos (La Roza Enflorese), Maria durch ein’n Dornwald Ging, Yerakina, Dodi Li, Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor (though some of the chords give me a serious headache)……..
Cheryl, can you sing in tune? If you can, you can use familiar songs to check your tuning. Congratulations on the Duke Ellington. If you can sight-read that, perhaps you have more musical aptitude than you think you have.
Just looked at the Thormahlen site. They have the best and clearest pictures of the three kinds of levers.
It was the 7th competition, in ’07. The 8th will be this year. I suffered along with Maria Krushevskaya the last step of the way. Did you notice, since we were discussing jewelry just recently on this forum, that some were wearing necklaces and/or earrings? Myself, I feel naked without earrings.
Yes, it was nice to see the harp get that kind of exposure.
On a YouTube video, Cynthia mentioned that if you played guitar and therefore had long nails on your right hand, you might want to play the wire-strung harp on your right shoulder. I heaved a sigh of relief, because I might one day want to play wire-strung harp, and I have long right-hand nails for guitar and banjo. (Well, a compromise length, actually.)
