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Thanks, Bill! Yes, after needing specific “harp” glasses over 2 years ago I, too, needed to get a specific script for harp only (not a bifocal). I also have a script for distance (driving and general every day outdoors). My first experience did not give me the results I needed, though when I went to the optician, I brought my harp and we tried to get a satisfactory distance to the music AND to my harp strings from middle C out (up and down). My vision has changed for various reasons, and now, after bringing my harp to a different optician, he was able to gain this approximate 12″ of clarity on the strings as well as a comfortable reading distance to the music. Yesterday I stopped in at an eyeglass/optician office in a town I go to every week, and found a pair that finally seems to fit closely to my face (so I’m not looking underneath the lens and finding myself having to tip my head to view through the lens) and they will make it for me to pick up next week. It is also a rather curved / wrap style, so that the lens doesn’t stick out away from my face so far, thus allowing me to view off to the left and the right without (hopefully) distortion. They think they can alleviate distortion using a high index material for the lens allowing it to be thinner. I tell ya, on top of it all, I have 2 congenital (born with) very small cataracts, and very small regular cataracts, causing it to be very difficult to get a really clear and crisp edge of notation OR strings, regardless of script. And they aren’t ready to remove yet. I have astigmatism as well, which is constantly changing, more often recently, which forces me to get a new script now probably every year. Insurance (I don’t like even saying that word…) won’t cover cataract surgery until your vision deteriorates to a certain point. Bet they can’t possibly understand what this means to a musician!!!! Anyway, thanks for your input. I will just continue forward as you do, with my separate harp script, and try harder to place fingers on my strings more than I do, to help offset the vision issues…and try to remember those “blind harpists” who play (and played) even better than I currently do 🙂
Thank you for your reply, and interesting option…It was fun to try, but I’m the kind of person who needs to actually try them on…Finally found a workable pair 🙂
Good morning, Jordan! What a wonderful question to post! I am surprised you haven’t received dozens of replies already…Even though in the end it only matters what kind of harp YOU want to play, this is an excellent question. Because when you hear how others may have wandered through the forest of harp buying (and even renting for awhile before they made up their mind) it’s good to get other people’s input on this. My first harp was a Blevins Espre (36 string floor harp). I wanted a harp that offered this many strings for 2 reasons: It sat on the floor instead of my having to prop it up and often be uncomfortable negotiating the harp to me, and it had enough strings to give me a nice bass, which is something I knew I would want. Also, the harp was more a “folk harp”, strung in nylon (with bass wires) which just didn’t break (rarely had a broken string) and it held pitch extremely well. This particular harp had a very nice and even overall sound, with the bass clear as a bell, and the upper strings also bell-like, not “plunky”…you know, they had a nice “ring” after they were plucked…
I, too, have a music degree in applied music (performance) on the clarinet, and didn’t buy this harp until 2003…So I started as an adult many years later, knowing I wanted to do this. I thought I could learn on my own…I even had the opportunity to study with the harp professor at the university for one quarter…she let a handful of non-string majors try it out…And I knew that one day I would learn how to play…Anyway, I finally decided to take weekly private lessons for one year…Then I took it from there…My harp teacher was a pedal harpist, and of course would have enjoyed it if I went that direction. I really didn’t know WHAT direction I wanted to go, but mostly I wanted to play for my own enjoyment, and if a gig came into play, so be it…My next harp was a Lyon & Healy Prelude…(instead of describing each harp, which you can research, I will tell you why I chose each harp, and what followed). I loved the sound of my teacher’s pedal harp, but didn’t want something I could barely haul, let alone the expense. I truly enjoyed this harp. On the 5th year I owned it, I opted for the trade-up for full price I paid for the Prelude toward a pedal harp…And ordered myself a Lyon & Healy Style 100. I still have this harp, only I don’t play it that often…I keep it tuned, pluck it because it should be played, but may one day sell it so it’s in the hands of a harpist who can really do it justice. But it is sooooo beautiful that I can’t part with it, and who knows? I just might get back into learning it, pedals and all…The sound is magnificent! I later sold my Blevins to a girlfriend who was also an adult, and wanted to learn. Then I found I still needed a smaller floor harp to do a bit of traveling with, and play a couple local small gigs (I don’t do this for a living, mind you 🙂 So I bought a Lyon & Healy 34 string Ogden. A very sweet little floor harp, strung with gut mid-range. But it just didn’t have the “oomph” I needed in sound projection that I was looking for…So, I then purchased a used Pratt Chamber harp…My absolute most favorite harp of all so far…Strung concert tension and gut mid-range, and 36 strings. Has an “extended soundboard”. Check it out for a description, etc. This harp has projection in sound like I never anticipated. Never a need for amplification, even in a large venue with a few hundred people eating and talking! Needless to say, I still have this harp…But yes, I just recently bought another harp (OMG!!!) The Pratt is just over 50 lbs, and I need to cart it. I am older now, and it has become difficult for me. Also, I was looking for that lovely folk harp sound again (have I gone full circle here???) and have settled on a gorgeous figured cherry Dusty Strings FH36S, with a beautiful figured cherry veneered soundboard! This has become my “go to” harp…And I may now sell the Pratt!!! But of course I can’t part with it…not yet…even though I have been playing the Dusty Strings exclusively…It has beautiful open and even sound, with just enough overtones and sympathetic vibrations to produce a sound that receives many many compliments! It makes me happy! It makes me smile! It’s back to the lighter string tension, nylon strings with wire bass strings, but a very projected sound in noisy environments. It is also very easy to control the dynamics on this harp, and the quality and penetration of the sound emitted is excellent either way 🙂
I have most recently gotten together with a little trio comprised of me on the Dusty Strings, hammered dulcimer, and nyckelharpa. We have a blast playing together. We’ve “opened” for a few concerts, and played some quiet more intimate venues such as coffee shops. There hasn’t been any “money” in it yet, but we have so much fun playing together that we don’t care…
Is there another harp in my future? Who knows? That’s the joy in it! So, whatever harp you are currently playing, enjoy it to the fullest (and it sounds like you are) until you decide you’d like to play something different…
Oftentimes the fingertip issue is actually caused by a nail issue, as was the case with me. The need for short nails requires regular (daily) filing. This is the best way, because you only lightly file, as opposed to heavy duty filing, which would happen only when the nails are allowed to get too long. Then, when you file alot off, there is a very tender area of fingertip exposed, which can often crack, split and even bleed. I have very soft fingernails that actually wanted to split on their own. They needed to be strengthened, so I used a liquid (recommended to me by a dermatologist) applied to the entire nail area which is allowed to dry, 2 times a day. And I applied a high lanolin-enriched cream 3-4 times a day called “Elon Nail Essentials – Lanolin-Rich Nail Conditioner” (also recommended to me by the same dermatologist). Once I was able to strengthen the nail w/the previous mentioned liquid (takes several weeks, because the entire nail needs to grow out from the base), all I have needed since is the nail conditioner. I have been using it for years, and I live in Colorado, with a lack of humidity year-round. I no longer have a problem, and mine was the worst! If your nails are strong, use care in filing (never clip!!!). And file daily, because it seems you aren’t actually filing anything off, and your fingertips won’t suffer!
