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Jon, Mr. Steve Moss is a respected Harp Technician who regularly services harps, living in West Lafayette, Indiana. He has encountered many flaws through his work on used harps over the years and generously helps owners or people searching to buy used harps. In his blog on the Internet, HarpHerald.com he posted a series of articles to help people become more informed: How to Buy a Good Used Harp. In December 2013, VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1. I copied an abridged 6-page illustrated version of that series. He is listed in the February 2016 issue, page 73 of the Directory of The American Harp Society with his street address, telephone,e-mail, and website contact so you could start with his website: http://www.mossharpservice.com since that is public on the computer and that would lead you to get that helpful article. I owned a new Troubadour IV for many years and found no problems with it before selling it to move to a pedal harp with 46 strings to play more advanced, chromatic harp repertoire. Best wishes for help from this expert technician.
Andelin, for harp music I use for Christmas 3 “magazine storage” boxes, which are sold as heavy cardboard; or you can make your own inexpensively if you use breakfast cereal boxes of the same size at home, and save those when empty and cut the same way and label them: Christmas Harp Collections; Christmas Harp Solos; Christmas Harp Ensemble and Chamber Music. Harp music of other genres than Christmas
take one long shelf with the name of each composer on the spine of each individual file folder, standing vertically arranged from A to Z.You may find the Trotter file much fatter than Tschaikowsky! Another shelf has file folders piled flat with titles on the spines such as WEDDING,(white);SACRED (red); FRENCH (blue); ISLAND (yellow), IRISH (green); MID EAST (sand color); BAVARIA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, CHINA, SOUTH AMERICA, NOSTALGIA, POPULAR, HARP CONCERTOS and others. As a free-lance player, when I first began performing on harp in the 1970’s, this music filing system developed gradually over the years. I have no clue how others store their music but with this I can usually find what I need rather quickly. I no longer need to play from printed music on a job; it is all memorized and can vary with some improvisation so hopefully sounds fresh because otherwise the staff in a country club dining room where I played 15 years, would be very bored!!So would I.John, when I visited Bavaria, Germany several times and several years ago, I stayed in Lenggries in the foothills of the Alps where the harpist/pedagogue/arranger Erich Schubert lived. He has since died but we had many conversations together and he gave me a partial harp family tree that he had compiled over years. I sent this on to Roslyn Rensch Noah with the hope she would add it to the vast amount of names and dates she already had, from her extensive research. There was no reply. The violin already has such a Tree, going back to Corelli, of teachers and their illustrious students, going through Leopold Auer and others, all the way up to Jascha Heifetz, that I have on my studio wall. Two of my teachers studied with names on that list so that is my heritage I can pass on to violin students.
Jodi, several years ago I wanted to arrange for harp solo a tango composed by a man in Argentina who died in 1935. Before I put pen to
paper I did what is called “due diligence” searching for existing arrangements out there already, of that particular piece, which was originally for guitar and Spanish text. I found a big U.S. music
publishing company had included it in a collection of many tangos, for piano and sometimes with voice as well. Asking for permission to publish my harp-only version, I learned it would be a fee of $80. for my version, to last for 5 years, for selling not more than 100 copies. I decided to sign the legal agreement and begin to self-publish it. My version had a different key, different time signature, fewer measures, no voice. etc.I sold far less than 100 copies so decided I would not renew my permission to self-publish that particular piece. Fortunately not long afterwards, I was approached by a large U.S.harp music dealership that had purchased many of my other public domain self-published arrangements over the years, to be the Distributor and seller of my works. It was just the right time in my life for this to happen so I no longer do all that work of many years of time and expense and will receive small royalties once a year instead. That company urges me to “keep publishing” because then when I send them a finished copy they do all the rest, including marketing, selling etc. You must decide if this is the same path you would take, such as giving sample copies to many dealers first so that they can decide to do that for you some day. Until then, it is wise to keep any arranging you do, in public domain, or make your own compositions. You must have a business license and keep two sets of books: Music Expenses/Income and Household Expenses/Income. SCORE is an organization of retired former business owners. Our local public library was helping many younger entrepreneurs to have interviews, at no charge, with SCORE members to get started with all sorts of helpful advice that musicians entering the world of business rarely learn even after a lifetime of practicing! A community college course in Accounting 101 is also quite an advantage. Good luck!I am also a motivated senior. I moved to a 43-string harp from a 47-string one because it is much less heavy: only 56 pounds. Also I haven’t used cane or beet sugar in my baking or beverages for several years, just a little granulated stevia (a natural leaf). I have made meat loaf from ground turkey instead of ground beef, adding sage, chopped onion, a bit of raw oatmeal and a bit of milk and avoid most red meat.The only arthritis I notice is in the middle finger of each hand, just a slight amount, that does not seem to worsen over the last 5 years, and does not bother my instrument playing (violin or harp). X-rays show my knees have lost some cartilage that the thigh-calf bones had when younger.I have learned to pace myself to avoid heavy lifting or other exertion. I am quite optimistic and thankful for all things, for friends, and miracles of all kinds.Every age we live through has its own joys. Look for them as the body changes, and leave the rest behind.
The world of copyrights and rules seems in flux at this time, but I found two leaflets that give a few answers. Sylvia Woods has written one about this subject. I cannot locate it at the moment in my files, but at http://www.harpcenter.com in La Crescenta, California someone there would know how to get a copy. Another leaflet, though outdated, has 7 pages of good answers in the “Questions, Answers” publication of ASCAP(founded in 1914): The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.
ASCAP – New York
1900 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
Tel: (212) 621-6000
Fax: (212) 621-8453
One of the many helpful answers in that publication is: “The purchase of sheet music or a recording does not carry with it the right to perform it publicly for profit. It only gives the purchaser the right to use it in his home for personal enjoyment”. You may need to dig deeper, into The United States Copyright Law, which presently needs thorough revision by Congress.You could telephone Remenyi House of Music in Toronto (www.remenyi.com) on Bloor Street in Toronto. I don’t think they sell or rent harps, but since they are so close to the Royal Conservatory of Music they very likely know who teaches harp there and then that harpist would likely steer you to a renter of harps because he/she would need that information to help students. Good hunting!
Right across the street from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto is a major music store. I have never been to Toronto so do not know this from personal experience but from correspondence over many years with the former harp teacher at that Conservatory.If you can look in the Toronto telephone book you would find the telephone numbers of both the Conservatory and the store. I think since the time before the wedding is so short you could try both of the options you mentioned in your post, as soon as possible because the bride needs to know as soon as you have solved the problem. She needs to know already yesterday (!).Peace to you.
All harp students are unique, as are teachers. According to age, musical experiences before harp lessons, and other factors, all of us who play and teach will have different answers for you, and we are not used to so many questions you have asked in your post. Why do you expect so many freely given answers when we are so busy, doing our best to teach so well that our students may benefit? Meant in a friendly way to you rather than a critical one, perhaps if you re-post asking less, others will respond here. Best wishes to you.
The Adagio movement from Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto, arranged for solo pedal harp, published by Melody’s jn Cypress, Texas. Too many accidentals for a lever harp.Just 3 pages.
Karen, my main harp now, as a senior citizen, is a lighter weight, 56 pound pedal harp with a range of from 7th octave E at the bottom, up to top E. I do not miss the top F-0 and G-00 I used to have, or the bottom C and D. The 43 strings I do have are enough. This harp is a Lyon and Healy style 14 and is no longer in production. You can occasionally find one used for sale, and it has enough gold at the top and bottom of the column to make it quite attractive. If you join the American Harp Society you would be able to view monthly newsletters online of chapters in neighboring states in the U.S., that often have classified ads of harps for sale/rent.
That Camac harp you describe would have the same range of strings as Style 14 if Camac would simply re-string it one string lower before shipping it to you- sometimes custom stringing is possible, and it might not hurt to ask the company, or one of its dealers in the U.S.Many harp players are beginning to be aware of the very gifted French-born Breton and jazz playing folk harpist Tristan Le Govic. Type his name into You Tube to see and hear him play. He will be touring in the U.S. this summer and my area is trying to have him play here and give workshops in mid August; we have already secured the hall with good acoustics. We can all receive inspiration from live music.
Jodi, I now have a new printer/scanner called EPSON 4550 and am just getting used to it. It is hooked up to my desktop computer and although a printed manual does not come with it, one can download parts of the manual that you would actually need, or perhaps just at first, the index pages only. I notice that the pages in that downloadable manual number over 200 pages! The easier, very welcome task even a new user can do is inserting 1 piece of paper, specifying Double-sided; then one side is printed but the paper is not discharged but sucked back in, allowing the printer to do something inside to print the second side before disgorging the paper! I notice in the index there are many more options I have not yet tried such as scanning pages using “TWAIN” into the computer for viewing on the monitor. Perhaps you can view its many features or talk to a local dealer to see whether that option is just what you are looking for.
Anne, Other responders may give temperatures that are perfectly reasonable. In my contract, however, because of the delicate nature and high value of wooden instruments such as a violin or a harp (I offer both, professionally) I state no playing outdoors, where a musician and equipment would endure possible raindrops, or bees, or strong winds. Also, possible noises of fire or police vehicles, planes, horns of ferry boats or train and so on, have ruined many a video where the vows taken by bride and groom are covered up.
Andelin, I agree that nylon over nylon is not a good idea. Eventually the thinner nylon that is wound over the thicker core, will fail, and “birdcage” (slide around on top of the inner string) and then one must replace the whole string anyway. You don’t want this to happen in a public performance. The invention of that type of string should never have happened. Take a look at some of the helpful ideas above, instead.
