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And to add: “Attitude is Everything”! (with special thanks to my niece, who is wise beyond her years)
Karen
Well, it looks like I’ve got one of the last wood Dragonhearts ever built then. I too seen this email, and the last time I spoke with Dave, he had many orders for the CF harps. The only other harpmaker I know that offers CF in their harps is Andrew Thom, but they are not entirely made of this material. So you could say that Heartland is the only harpmaker in the world that makes harps entirely of carbon fibre. If I had the money I’d be buying the Infinity myself- what a great travel harp it would make!
Let the dust settle a little on this newsbreak though- once Dave gets caught up and/or finds help (?) building these, it may be possible to request a custom wood harp. It’s not like he’s going to forget how to build them, you know. You could always give him a call and ask.
Karen
I’ll chime in an agreement here with the strong harp/flute connection. I’ve played flute for over 20 years now, and picked up the harp a little over 5 years ago. Also added the hammered dulcimer, irish whistle, bodhran, and various wood flutes to my musical menagerie. Love the flexibility of being able to bounce between strings, percussion, and wind instruments. Thinking of taking on a lute or mandolin for fun next.
I think learning different instruments makes you a well-rounded musician. Winds have taught me melody, percussion rhythm, and strings harmony.
The lowest cost levers that Musicmakers has are Jordans, and they do have a tendency to break, being made of plastic. I built my Voyageur without levers and ordered Truitts which I installed at a later date. I’ve had Lovelands before and had the plastic break on them as well. Not sure about Universal levers, but if they are buzzing wouldn’t raising or lowering the guide pin fix that? I’ve heard good things about Camac levers too, but they are too bulky looking for my tastes and I’ve heard they’re very hard to install. You can get Truitts at http://www.dragonwhispers.com
They were fairly easy for me to install, and I’m not an expert by any means. Also got the gold-plated eyelets too- I like the fact that they and the levers won’t tarnish over time. Hope this helps!
Karen
I built one of these for a friend. The sound was very soft. It is a good beginner harp, suitable for hobby harpists or children, in my opinion. Hope this helps.
Karen
Ok- here is what stymies me. In your original post, you stated this is happening to harps “less than ten years old”. If
I think a combination of easy listening non-specific music works well, and I always make sure I have some of these in my repertoire for fill-in. Pamela Bruner’s Midsummer Meadow has some nice pieces (‘Gathering Dusk’ especially), as well as Frank Voltz (Summer Rain). And songs like Amazing Grace, Be Thou My Vision, etc. Anything meditative and soothing. For my father’s funeral I paired the Scottish highland song ‘Farewell’ with ‘My Heart Will Go On’. ‘Into The West’ from the Lord Of The Rings is also a nice memorial piece.
If you know the nationality of the family a homeland song is always a nice touch. If the family has an Irish or Scottish background, there are several slow airs that would do nicely, like ‘Land O’ the Leal’, ‘Ae Fond Kiss’, ‘Inis Oirr’, and ‘The Wild Geese’. These songs are nice for any memorial, in my opinion.
Karen
Oh goodness yes! I’ll never forget the time I had to play at a country club that had this god-awful checkered carpeting. Absolutely horrible time trying to see the strings.
I agree wholeheartedly with your statement “We have to be careful consumers”, David. I wrote a whole paper on this in college in fact. It was entitled “Buy an import, buy a job”, and it was all about consumer responsibility. We can belly ache all we want about jobs being sent overseas and shoddy parts built in China, but really it’s all up to the consumer- we’ve gotten into the mind-set that everything should be cheaper than it is. Until consumer sentiment changes we’re stuck with this predicament, I’m afraid. We have literally devalued ourselves through our spending habits. As far as America is concerned, if this trend doesn’t change soon, the only way you will be able to buy American will be at an antique store. So save those old harps, people- they’ll probably last longer than the brand-new ones being made by those major companies now…
Thanks for the heads-up Carl, and I have a pretty good guess as to who this MAJOR COMPANY is. They are literally turning into the Walmart for harps. Pretty sad. I’m glad I was never tempted to buy any of their models, preferring instead to deal with a smaller, one-man operation for my custom lever harp. The name means nothing without the quality to back it up. It must be frustrating for you as a harpmaker to have to fix the shoddy product this MAJOR COMPANY is now putting out. Hopefully other prospective harp buyers will take heed of your warning.
Well, from my experience with lever changes, this is usually accomplished with the left hand, a few beats before the accidental occurs. Sometimes you may have to “damp” or stop the string from vibrating before you do this. Most lever
Just did a quick search on this- I think I’m just merely double-jointed. But, I believe the very act of plucking the harp strings would be a form of physical therapy, and what a beautiful sounding reward! Of course, consult your pediatrician or a certified physical therapist about this, as I’m definitely not a qualified professional on this subject. I can say my hand strength overall has improved drastically by playing harp, and I imagine the results would be the same for others who play.
Karen
