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duckspeaks: Thanks for chiming in. After reading your post, I am unclear….are you saying that you want a petite pedal and are tired of having a large harp with all 47 strings? Are you leaning towards the Clio? I have gotten a great education through these answers. I had no idea that the Clio did not have disks on all 44 strings—that is a huge “game changer” for me!
Balfour…am I to understand that your L&H GP does not have disks on the lowest bass note and the highest octave note? So, disks on 42 out of 44 strings? Thank you. Still trying to understand it all.
Thanks Gretchen. Definitely going with an extended soundboard regardless of which harp I choose. Even my pedal harp has a huge, extended soundboard (Pratt Chamber Harp). Thanks!
Carl (and anyone else interested)…here is the reply from Camac:
The Clio is design to own 6 octave from Sol 00 to Fa 42, (G00 to F42).
Only F42 and G41 ( as well as G00) don’t have disk.
We are not planning to design a new mechanism , I’m sorry.
It’s always difficult to get a small size harp extend soundboard with a full size mechanism.Thank you Alyson. Your perspective and honestly is very helpful. I don’t think I’ll ever venture into the ‘big works’ as you call them—out of my league, and since I am 52 years old, doubtful that Carnegie Hall will be in my future! 😉 To answer your question about why the semi-grand: I am fairly petite and want to be able to move it by myself. I am in a HarpCircle so moving it once a month is common. I have car that easily fits the petite grand and don’t want to encounter needing to buy a new car (like a friend of mine had to). The difference between the petite grand that I like and a grand that I would want is about $7k so that is not a total obstacle, but certainly a factor. $7k for one desired string is significant! Thanks again. btw, if I may ask, are you a student learner as in college age, or an older adult learner? Just interested in your path…thanks!
Thanks again Carl. No, I don’t want a custom harp, though I do think Camac would do well to consider redesigning to include the E 7th oct.
Thanks for your question as to whether or not I indeed “need” this E string. That is the question that I started this ‘thread’ with, and would love more answers to that. I have only been playing (36 string lever) for 6 years, so I am unclear as to whether or not “buyer’s remorse” would creep in were I to not have that E. I far prefer the smaller pedal harps, don’t plan to perform. But, do most pedal harp arrangements require that E? My harp teacher seemed to think that living without the D and C were no big deal, but she hesitates a bit about the E–so that is why I asked our community ‘at large’. Thanks again!Thanks for weighing in Carl…we can always count on you for good perspective. From what I am gathering, the ‘action’ would need to be redesigned to accommodate the string change. Highly unlikely. I do think it would be worth their while to put the effort into it, and offer the Clio with the 7th octave E (giving up the G-00), since the low E seems to be a coveted string. Alas, the harp is perfect in all ways (for me) except for that.
Paul…thanks for your thoughts. As much as I like the idea of the string change happening, it is sounding unlikely.
Patricia, thanks for your insights. Your L&H 14 sounds perfect. Your idea of having Camac string it with an E at the bottom could solve my dilemma. I understand it is possible in that one could string any string anywhere, but do you happen to know if it is structurally sound to string it with a low E rather than a low F and go on up the harp from there? Perhaps if it is done that way at the factory it is ok (as opposed to doing that after years of the harp being strung a different way). I would love to hear Carl Swanson, and/or Bryan Howard give their thoughts on this. Thanks for the suggestion Patricia. This could be a great solution.
Give a look at Pratt Chamber Harps, and Pratt Empress Harps. Amazing craftsmanship, booming sound (extended soundboard on a lever harp!), concert spacing, concert (high) tension, and gut strings. Great sound….as close to a pedal harp as you can get without pedals.
http://www.prattharps.com/Thanks Biagio. Since the Bourrée was over $3k, I am thinking even more simple that that. A harp simply for when I go to workshops, and don’t want to rent one.
These look perfect (they were around $300), but from some reason, Don Peddle stopped making harps. I know a harpsicle could work too for travel, but I am not that drawn to them.
Check this out:
Update on traveling with my Blevins Bourrée. I have tried every way possible to find a flight case for it. Because of the lovely 37″ point that it comes to (which allows its’ fabulous base wire strings, allows it to have 28 strings), it is really off-sized for travel. A flight case that will fit it, and keep it safe is going to have 72 linear inches (height, depth, width). The airlines allow 62 linear inches before charging “oversize” which can be as much as $150 each way. The new musical instrument airline regulations do not keep the airline from being able to charge you the oversize charge, so it is a bit of a “crap shoot” each time to fly whether or not the staff member at the airline counter will notice (highly unlikely that they would not). That said, I love my Bourrée, but am disappointed that at 6.75 lb, I will not be traveling with it as I had hoped. It is a pricey harp, so I was hoping it would cover my needs outside of my 50lb Pratt Chamber harp, but I find myself searching for a suitcase harp between now and NorthernLights Harp Festival in October.
I should mention that I am 5’3″, and pick it up with one finger, and it fits my body perfectly. Great with a guitar strap to walk around the yard playing. If you go to their website, it looks larger than it is because of the way that it is shown on a ‘stand’. They should have a pic of someone playing it so you get a better size perspective.
http://www.blevinsharps.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=282_338
