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Just to be clear, Lily, I’m not suggesting you completely switch over to a lower-tension harp; I’m just wondering if having such a harp around could “hold you over” when your hands get like this until you can play on the Ravenna tension again without trouble. This may be something you have to deal with repeatedly, though I hope not!
-Gregg
Lily,
That’s such a bummer that your hands are protesting again after playing just a little bit. I still wonder if your hands could handle at least playing on something with lighter tension like a Grand Harpsicle 33 or a MusicMakers Ballad 34 without too much problem when your hands are otherwise in this state.
I feel like tuning a lever harp in 3 flats vs C major should be a personal choice. If you’re not having to play anything with flats, why should you have to tune in flats if you’d rather not? I personally tune in 3 flats like you’ve been taught, but that’s just my own choice. Maybe your teacher anticipates having you start to play pieces with flats before long. As Balfour likes to point out, however, you can still tune in C and then play in the corresponding sharp key when you come across flat key signatures. For example, if you have a piece in F major but you’ve tuned in C, you could set your levers to F# major. If you’re not playing along with any other instruments, it shouldn’t matter. Bb major would become B major, and Eb major would become E major, etc. Certain accidentals would have to be played enharmonically, however.
Just a thought!
-Gregg
Gwen,
I would like to add, if you’re considering the Ravenna 34, you could also look at the Brilliant Harpsicle model by Rees/Harpsicle Harps. I own both a Ravenna 34 and a Brilliant, and I love both, yet they’re so different from each other. The Brilliant is much lighter in weight at only 15 lbs vs the Ravenna weiging 24 lbs with the base attached. The tone of the Brilliant is also much mellower (which I really like), though the bass isn’t quite as strong as on the Ravenna, as the Brilliant’s soundbox is a bit smaller and narrower than that of the Ravenna 34. The Brilliant’s height, however, is fixed, whereas the Ravenna can accommodate different leg heights and even has the option for the drop-down leg (which I have). The Brilliant is also made of solid wood, whereas the Ravenna isn’t. The Ravenna 34 is probably regarded as being superior to the Brilliant, and in some ways it is, but I think the Brilliant model is under-recognized, probably in part because it’s a fairly recent model compared to the Ravennas. The tuning pins of the Brilliant, however, are zither pins, so they’re tuned on the same side of the neck as where the strings and bridge pins are, whereas the Ravennas are tuned in the same manner as most other harps.
-Gregg
Hi, Lily,
Yes, you can play quite a lot of music on 34 strings. Of course, the more strings, the better! From what I’ve read, 34 strings (at least in the United States) is considered to be the minimum number for serious harp study. However, Chiara Pedrazzetti on YouTube doesn’t care for harps that don’t go down to “A” in the bass, which is usually on harps that have at least 38 strings, though Rees Harps offers optional “A-to-A” stringing on their 36-string Aberdeen Meadows harp model (as opposed to the standard C-to-C stringing). I actually have one of those on order that they’re currently building for me, and I requested the A-to-A stringing, in part because I LOVE bass, and because the overall tone of that harp model is noticeably much mellower in that stringing in videos I’ve heard, and I LOVE mellow harp tone!
That’s so interesting that your very first harp piece called for the high-C, since most harp students don’t encounter those high notes for awhile!
When do you think you can resume even playing for a few minutes a day?
-Gregg
Lily,
What was the piece you played that called for the top B and C strings? The funny thing is, Sylvia Woods says that she’s the only person who has ever written or arranged any lever harp music that calls for anything higher than the top “A,” and she says it’s just two pieces that call for the top “B” that she wrote. Maybe that was true at one time, but I’ve seen other pieces by other composers/arrangers that call for those higher notes!
Balfour, I always love seeing the photos of Cherie! I also didn’t know that you all grow your own aloe vera plants; how neat!
-Gregg
Hi, Gwen,
I suspect most anyone who compares a Dusty Ravenna 34 to a Dusty FH 34 or 36 model would prefer the tone of the FH. I’ve personally never experienced a Dusty FH in person. I’ve only been playing harps on-and-off for a couple of years (I’m primarily an organist/pianist), and, with the exception of my Lyon & Healy Prelude 40 harp, I’ve mostly been interested in collecting quality budget harps (“quality” as opposed to, say, Pakistani harps), as I feel that you can get quite a lot for the money in something like a Ravenna, and also because I’m not a seasoned professional harpist/harper at this point.
I communicated with Sylvia Woods at length awhile back about the various Dusty floor harp models, and, while she personally prefers the FH models (and in cherry like Balfour does), she said that most people perceive an especially huge improvement in the sound quality of the mid-line Crescendo model over the Ravenna 34. She said that there is less of an increase in the sound quality of the FH’s over the Crescendo model, but still an increase nonetheless (as would be expected due to the solid wood soundboard of the FH’s vs the laminated soundboard of the Crescendo model).
So, I guess it all comes down to what you’re looking for. The Ravenna 34 has quite a lot of “bang for the buck,” but the FH’s undoubtedly have a richer, more refined sound, and if having the extra 2 strings at the top is important to you, than that is only available in the FH36’s (as far as Dusty Strings’ models).
I hope this helps!
-Gregg
Hi, Lily,
I do have the optional lever gut strings on my Ravenna 34 from 4G up to 2C. I don’t have an FH36S, but Balfour does in cherry (which he absolutely adores), and he owned a Ravenna 34 in the past, as well. Someone else here on the HC forum (Gwen) asked a similar question this morning, and Balfour posted a response. So neat that two different people would ask that question in the same day on here! 😀
Isn’t looking at harps online so much fun?!
I bet that white piano will be stunning!
-Gregg
How nice that you were able to get Kristine’s Puccini sheet music, Lily! I’m so glad I shared her video with you. I bet you can’t wait to start working on it!
-Gregg
Hello, Gwen,
How nice that you have this decision to make! I own a Ravenna 34 (with the optional lever gut stringing from 4G up to 2C), and I love it! While I’ve never played an FH36S, Balfour Knight can speak to both models, as he owned a Ravenna 34 in the past and now owns an FH36S in cherry that he absolutely adores, so you can expect a response from him soon!
-Gregg
Hi, Lily,
I’ve learned to “Select All” and then “copy” the text of my posts before sending them (even when composing an email) just in case the original gets lost!
Anyway, I know you will be so glad once you can practice much more without worrying about how your hands will hold up! I’m just curious–have you felt any hand pain or discomfort when practicing, or has the pain always been the next day?
-Gregg
Also, I’ve been amazed at just how much thinner the lever gut strings on my DS Ravenna 34 are than on my Boulevard or any of my other pre-pedal harps! If lever gut strings are, indeed, only about 3 notes thinner, it’s still quite noticeable to my fingers!
-Gregg
Thanks, Balfour!
Just to clarify, all of Dusty Strings’ models (except the Boulevard) are normally strung in folk/lever-gauge nylon, but “lever” gut is also an option, whereas the Boulevard is strung in pedal gut as the only option, as it’s their version of a pre-pedal harp (basically their version of an Ogden).
-Gregg
I meant to mention that Dusty Strings therefore offers folk gut as an optional stringing on all of their folk harps from 4G up to 2C.
-Gregg
