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Thanks, Jane. I’m fairly tall too (5’8″) so I’m concerned about how some of these smaller harps would fit me. I’m renting a troubadour right now and I like its size but I feel like it’s very hard on my fingers, although I’ve only been playin for a couple weeks. I’m very interested in the Thormahlens, the Serenade in particular, but I assume I’d need to order the taller feet on it to fit me better. I like that it is only 20 lbs! And I think its tone and looks are beautiful. I just don’t want to feel like I’m hunching over to play. It’s going to be hard to make a final decision. I appreciate everyone’s input.
Thanks so much! I’m already loving it! I’m trying to just go slowly and pay close attention to my technique so I don’t start bad habits. I’m really enjoying playing even my simple little beginner exercises–the problem is that I have to force myself to stop and not play too often or for too long so my fingers don’t get too sore! I wish I could keep playing longer!
Just to clarify, the Merlin rental isn’t $480 per month. It would cost me a total of $480 for a 6 month rental. It costs $60 a month for a minimum 6 month rental ($360), but it would also cost about $120 in gas to travel to pick it up and later return it since the renter isn’t local, so I added that into the total rental cost for me which would end up being $480 to rent the Merlin.
Similarly, the Troubadour rents here locally for $40 a month with just a 3 month minimum rental commitment, totaling only $120 for the rental.
Ditto to Jennifer’s question. 🙂 I’m 5’8″ and thought Jennifer’s flat-footed Serenade seemed at a reasonable height for me, but I really have no idea how to determine proper height.
And again, thank you, thank you, Jennifer, for letting me come meet you today and get a feel for your harp!! You are so kind! And I really appreciate everyone else’s helpful advice too as I get started! I just left a message for the harpist here to let her know I do want to rent her Troubadour!
Thanks, Brooke. How does the string spacing on the Troubadour compare to the Serenade? Are they about the same?
These are all very helpful comments. Thank you for sharing! Sounds like there’s no reason to pass up the much more reasonable rental price of the Troubadour.
Thanks for your reply, Gretchen. Great analogy. So you don’t think that learning to play on a concert-strung Troubadour would be more challenging? Or that then transitioning to a looser-strung folk harp would be difficult after getting used to the Troubadour? I have only read about their differences, so it’s hard for me to know really how different the two types of harps are and how that would affect my learning. I really appreciate your advice! It would definitely be cheaper and easier to rent the Troubadour!
Thank you for all this information! Everyone here is so kind and helpful! What a wonderful community and resource! I’ve been reading through old posts regarding the Thormhalen Serenade and I’m definitely leaning towards it right now. The other one I’m considering is the Triplett Sierra, but I honestly like the look of the Serenade much better and the sound clips I’ve heard online are beautiful! Just from hearing samples online, I think I much prefer the Serenade to the DS Crescendo. Maybe it’s just me, but it sounds like the bass notes of the DS seem to sustain too long almost.
Jennifer, thank you so much for your offer! You are so kind! That would be very helpful especially since one concern I have is the Serenade’s flat back. I’ll message you soon. Thank you!
I was looking at the Serenade earlier today online–it looks great! It has a lot of the traits that I was hoping for, but I can’t find anywhere that would rent one. 🙁 I heard that the string tension is fairly loose on Thormhalens though. Do you feel like it projects well? I know the Ogden is considered to have tight concert tension, but really how different are these other lever harps’ tension compared to the Ogden? I’m worried that the Ogden would hurt my fingers and not be as easy to play.
Thank you, Jennifer. I’m in Omaha. I’ve left some messages with Mary Bircher since her website says she rents L&Hs, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get in touch with her. Thank you for those other references!
It sounds like maybe I’ll need to plan to rent an Ogden to get a feel for the harp and learn on since that’s what’s available locally, then later decide what to eventually purchase. I was just hoping to rent locally the harp that I might eventually purchase. I did find a place to rent a Merlin in Kansas City 3 hours away. I wish I could rent a DS Crescendo 34 or Triplett Sierra locally. I was browsing the websites of the stores Talia mentioned in Colorado. It looks like there would be a larger selection there to look at, but I’m not sure they would rent to me from so far away–but it’s worth looking into. Thanks!
Thank you for all these helpful insights!
Last night I discovered online the Triplett Sierra 34 with camac levers. It looks like a great price for its size and the camac levers. Does anyone have experience with the Sierra 34?
Thank you, Donna. Your insights about the Ogden and Crescendo are much appreciated! And it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who doesn’t care for the looks of the Ravenna. 🙂
Unfortunately, I don’t have the option of traveling to gatherings so far away. I like the sounds of the Dusty Strings that I’ve heard online, but I haven’t been able to find a really great quality recording of the Ogden. I think my main concerns about deciding between a Dusty Strings (Ravenna or Crescendo) and the Ogden are the differences in string tension (as well as strings breaking on the Ogden). I’ve heard that the Ogden is much tighter with tension like a pedal harp. I don’t want my fingers to be sore! I don’t plan to move to pedal harp. Although I’ve also read that the bass notes in the Dusty Strings tend to sustain longer than desirable. But it sounds like people have fewer issues with the Dusty Strings. I just wish I could play each of them to get a sense of really how different the string tension is and see which one just feels better. I honestly don’t like the look of the Ravenna at all. I don’t like the two-tone color, but I want a wood look–not any of the other colors the Ravenna comes in. That’s why I’m considering the Crescendo!
