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I was seeking the same thing. I ordered a Blevins Bourrée. It arrived two weeks ago. It is a brilliant HYRBID 28 string harp that weighs 6.75 lb. and goes down to the F below middle C. It is a hybrid because it has CARBON FIBER on the neck and pillar, and a lovely WOOD soundboard/box–which sounds much nicer than an all carbon fiber harp. Light weight, but full of sound…the perfect solution! It has wire bass strings, fantastic sounding wound strings, and nylon in the upper register. It is small, light, and has an amazing sound. I took it to my HarpCircle last weekend, and my friends could not believe the sound coming out of it. Cindy and Dwight Blevins could not have been nicer to work with.
Thanks Natalie…that is so nice of you. My teacher did help me figure it out. It is a lot of lever changes but we did figure it out!
Happy New Year and thanks for your offer.Emma–I also was unable to view the first link listed by Brian.
“Il est Ne” is not the same as Grandjany’s “Noel Provençal”. This is the only youtube video I could find of this lovely song so I am sharing it so you can hear it. I purchased the music from Melody’s. It is best on pedal harp, however, with the help of my wonderful teacher, I can play it on my Pratt Chamber harp (lever). It takes a few lever changes but sounds quite good.
Here is the link for the sheet music:https://www.folkharp.com/audition-recital-repertoire-pedal/1721-noel-provencal.html
Here is the link for YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OIoFXfgRaU
I hope this helps!
Thank you Patricia! What a wonderful and comprehensive reply. I really appreciate your taking the time.
Bow Brand is experiencing problems with their strings. They don’t put batch numbers on their packages and the problem can not really be traced to exact strings. Therefore, the problem strings are in their inventory and in “our” inventory. The problem originated with their supplier for the cow gut that is used to make the strings. The UK has changed some of their regulations at this point. I can’t explain it in detail (because I don’t know it in detail), but the gist of it is that they were using gut from animals that were too young. The gut was not developed enough and therefore, not inherently strong enough to be used to make the fibers that comprise the gut strings (considering the tension that is on harp strings). Subsequently, there is a rash of problems with Bow Brand strings breaking. The good news is that they are standing behind them (seemingly thus far) and replacing them. The bad news is that for any of us that purchased strings, they don’t really know from ‘when-to-when’ so it will be a while before these ‘bad’ strings have moved through our lives. I changed my top 19 strings in June and have had 13 breaks since. Less than ideal. Sorry I don’t have more details but that gives you a sense of it. Sorry to hear about your string dilemma, Gretchen.
Thanks Donna and Sid. I’ll assume the mail is slow and mine is on its’ way. Mine has been known to get lost in the mail….good to know they are arriving.
June 3rd and my issue has still not arrived. How long should one wait for a May/June issue before assuming it is not coming?
Thanks for your quick reply Kim. Just thought I’d mention that I actually DID call about a week ago but no one returned my call. Thanks for making it available as a pdf but to be honest, if I wanted to stare at a computer, I would not pay to have a quality paper magazine mailed to my home. You do a great job with the magazine, I just wish it adhered to a more regular printing and mailing schedule.
You could see if HarpsInternational has a site near your home and go try a few. They have a rent to own program and also do payments (I believe). If you are really partial to a ‘big sounding’ harp and like the gut strings more than the nylon (as you mentioned), you might want to look into a Pratt Chamber Harp which Harps International does have. Good luck and so exciting!
I am a bit unclear from your note whether you are looking for something that is very much a ‘celtic/folk’ harp so that when you have a pedal harp in the future, it is distinctly different from your pedal harp OR if you are wanting a harp that will guide you easily into the pedal harp in 4 years. If it is the latter, I highly recommend the Pratt Chamber or Empress harp. It is concert tension, concert spacing and the big, booming, rich sound of which you speak. It has a 19 inch soundboard which really creates an amazing tone. Also, just jumping in and buying a pedal harp from the get-go might make sense too. A celtic harp with nylon strings will feel significantly different if you go to a pedal harp someday but it is not insurmountable and would probably only take a couple of weeks to adapt to the spacing and tension. So many choices…so exciting! Enjoy the process!
