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I agree this new website seems more geared to pedal harpists, but that may be because there’s no longer an official “Amateur Harpists” forum. I had asked about that a while ago, and was told that’s because now there are now forums for How To Play, Performing, and Repertoire instead. Maybe if they brought back the Amateur Harpists forum more people who are not professional harpists or serious young students would feel comfortable posting. I miss that Amateur Harpists forum! We had some fun and fascinating conversations there. How about it, Kim?
Barbara, I had a thought about that harpist with “the conservatory mentality” (what a delightful turn of phrase). Sometimes it makes players like that-with just tons of classical training-absolutely crazy that audiences seem to enjoy hearing a lever harpist play a beautiful simple folk tune on their Dusty just as much or more than hearing them play some really difficult piece like the Faure Impromptu on the pedal harp. I’ve heard one of them comment “what’s the matter with these people? Don’t they understand how hard and complicated this piece is?”
Her snarky comment to you may have come from just a little jealousy. Pretty funny, really.
Hey Sarah, I don’t know who Neil Gaiman is, but I thought that was Howard Stern. Sure looks like him…
I did see Chris Caswell at the Somerset Festival last month and you will all be glad to hear he appeared to be fine health. He certainly was busy there, teaching workshops, giving a concert, and hosting the Carolan Marathon. I had a chance to try the two Sweetharps he had there on display-one sounded pretty good, the other one not so much, and the red one left a bit of dye on my fingers. He said there was a four week wait for delivery. I spoke to some people there about this situation, and the opinion expressed was that Chris came up with this cute and fairly cheap harp and then just got overwhelmed with orders, way beyond his infrastructure’s capability to deliver. So where does that leave everybody? Beats me, I think you need to be VERY patient and then eventually you might get your harp. It’s a sad situation for everybody, including Chris Caswell.
Hi, Sherry-nice to meet you at Somerset.
By Salzedo: in the Art of Modulating book (by Carlos Salzedo and Lucille Lawrence, maroon cover) there are fifteen pieces based on his Suite of Eight Dances which work very well for lever harp (meaning no lever changes)-including my very favorite piece Reverie.
The Pastorale by Grandjany is REALLY nice for lever harp.
Any of these pieces will impress your classical pedal harp teacher. And remember that the “Old Guard” of the pedal harp world grew up in a time when the lever harp was much more limited than it is now. Don’t take it personally when they disrespect you and your lever harp, chalk it up to ignorance.
And let me tell you, one of the finest “professional harpists with a fine reputation” is Emily Mitchell, and she plays a mean bubinga Dusty Strings.
Do you mean Camac levers? Howard Bryan once replaced the Loveland levers on my Dusty Strings harp with Camac levers and he said it was so difficult that he’d never do it again, so I’d find somebody very expert at harp repairs to do it for you. If you can tell us what part of the country you live in, maybe we can suggest someone.
Chris Caswell is exhibiting and performing next week at the Somerset Harp Festival in New Jersey, in case anyone would like to speak with him in person and try his harps. Should be interesting to hear what he has to say. And maybe he’ll have some cases and lap bars on hand for purchase.
Trying to describe a harp’s sound with words is so very difficult. That said, I have tried a few Chicagos and found them rather thin and tight-sounding. 85s have been around a lot longer, I tried an 85P once that was outstanding. But you really have to try them side by side to know which YOU prefer. You could line up 6 Chicagos and they would sound quite different from each other, same with 85s. Until you hear these harps for yourself you won’t know for sure what you like, and all our descriptions will mean nothing. And the one you end up liking may not be the one you expected.
Is this a trick question? If not, then I select ALL of them for my ideal harp. I don’t see why a harp can’t be brightly warm, or warmly bright at the same time, Bright doesn’t have to mean brittle.
Kay, it was always my understanding that the metal eyelets gave a better sound than the nylon ones, which was why L&H used metal eyelets when they came out with their new lower-priced 85 series some years back. When I asked one of the star harp techs about it he said, well of course because it was a “metal bridge”. Maybe Carl has an opinion about this.
If you’re trying to do these on your pedal harp, that is part of the problem. They sound much clearer and are easier to execute on a lighter-strung Irish style harp. Keep your fingers (4,3,2) right near the string and aim to pluck in the same spot, one finger right after the other. The finger action must be quick-you won’t have time to pull your fingers into the palm. Grainne calls these a treble, rather than a trill.
Sarah, I think you are really interested in the wood burning option. Why don’t you give Triplett harps out in California a call-they do a lot of wood burning on their harps-and see what they say. Let us know too.
