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I am watching a MySpace of Jochen Vogel Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and I hear a struck note sharpening like a guitar!!!!
Keep at it Michael, you will get there.
As you work, do you ever muse how the old luthiers did it in the ancient days with no power tools, crude glues and clamps? I know I do……
Hello Renate!
I share your dilemma. One thing I found which is helping is music flash cards. Although my wife is ready to feed them to me, they are helping.
I find I pick through a song reading the music the first few times then I catch the finger placements and the sound and ignore the music from then on… which is not improving my reading speed at all. But I do not read fast enough to play. I suppose time will help and diligence….
Hmmmm.. I wonder if she will cook the flash cards forst?
Well I am back, been gone for a bit with a lot of travel and packing and unpacking.
The brass Alaska Piks are definitely my answer. Although it takes some getting used to and when not properly formed, they actually hurt… they are worth the effort.
I am now attacking the lead in to House of the Rising Sun… which had eluded me before because of the stretch between the notes and a curious phenomena I have noted concerning my nails, they curve when grown out.
I am learning that this is possibly genetic or a diet deficiency. In any event, it causes the string to be caught and “Plucked” when struck, rather then a smooth release with a pleasant tone. Rapid scales with significant space between the notes, such as in Rising Sun exacerbated the plucking effect and caused even my ears to shout for relief. Now with the non curving Alaska Pik, I find I can slide off the string smoothly creating a much pleasanter tone which I can modulate the amplitude of far easier.
In forming the Piks, I chanced upon a trick to transport and store them as well. I have them numbered to correspond to the finger they are shaped for and I marked them red and blue with my Sharpies that I use for my strings. Well looking at the Sharpy, I realized it would be an excellent anvil to shape the Pik… and then progressed to keeping the Piks neatly stored on the marker when not in use. Even the thumb Pik which is the largest slides right under the markers pocket clip and the rest slide on in order after it.
It takes a minute of two to mount the Piks, but it is worth it. Still trying to bring my thumb into play more and not use the pinky, (Ok I confess, I bought 5 Piks for each hand!!), but my tempo has increased and I find striking the nots to be far easier.
Oh and my nails? I have not broken a single one since the Piks arrived, they are all behaving!!
Michael,
I found a trick for gluing… dash over to U Haul or somewhere where they sell those vacuum storage bags for clothing. One of the regular size ones works well. Then put the pieces in the bag, a fixed weight on top and hook up the shop vac!! Works splendid!!
Well Jeremy I see your post is from 2004. I would suspect you have either built a kit or moved on.
However, commenting on Kits, Plan Builts, in the whites and scratch builts; there is a certain additional level of enjoyment that comes with playing an instrument that you have been intimate in bringing to voice.
I would recommend it highly to all who wish to try. Start with what you feel comfortable with and progress as you wish. I believe Audrey’s Tony has possibly one of the most interesting stories here with the Franken Harp… But it is her tale to tell…..
Ach Fiona and I remember CRYSTAL RADIOS!!
I had a AKAI 360XD Reel to Reel, State of the art!! And now it all slips into your pocket!!
Hmmmm Well I am still “Playing at” the wire harp and fumbling the lever…..
I am quite accomplished at the phonograph!
LP and 45!
Also the 8 Track, cassette and recently learned the CD!
MP3s still elude me, but with time…….My entire life I have looked upon those of you that play so beautifully and effortlessly with so much envy. Until I stumbled on the harp by pure chance, I never had any hope of ever learning any instrument… But, God willing, the low neck wire harp will some day be mine.
As the character of Michael Smith says in Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, “I am only an egg”.
