Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Another very good way to check your tuning is to test the note in question by playing it in triads. Use it in three triads, as the root, third and fifth to make sure it sounds right in each key.
Tuning by ear is slow, laborious, and an outmoded skill, but there are still situations in which it comes in quite handy!
Congratulations on your new harp!
Next you should get a humidifier if you live anyplace that requires central heating. The best are those that just use evaporation from a fan blowing air through a belt or filter. Try to keep the relative humidity in the harp’s room in the 40% to 60% range. This will keep the harp’s tuning more stable in the short run, and increase the harp’s lifetime in the long run!
Paul
A Beat Wolf crochet action harp with the hand painted soundboard. And the lovely early Louvet with the pierced scroll at Thurau’s. And Howard Bryan’s spiral-column Erard. I might need a Naderman, too, if one turns up……
Hi Cally
How nice to hear from you! May I suggest you post your inquiry here:
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/AntiquePedalHarps/
This is a message board specializing in historic and historical pedal harps. Hope to see you there soon!
Best,
Paul
For something a little different, there’s the HIstorical Harp Society’s Workshop and Conference. This year it’s in Boston, June 8th, 9th and 10th. There will be several presentations on the pedal harp, concerts and hands-on workshops that are applicable to all harps and harpists playing at any level, beginner to professional. For more information, go to:
http://www.historicalharps.org/home.html
Keep checking for more information as it becomes available.Paul
Fuzeau publishes facsimile editions for all instruments. Today I
received a mailing from them about their new reprints of early 19th
century methods for bassoon! Their catalogue is on line at:
http://www.classical-music.fuzeau.com
Have fun exploring the website,
Paul
Hi All
Actually, there is an excellent book on period performance for
harpists. Fuzeau has published a three-volume set of facsimiles of
French treatises and method books dating from the 17th to the early
19th centuries. Included are many method books from the 18th century.
Some of these have tables of ornaments and detailed information on
fingering. I’ve spent some years studying and practicing these works
(usually as photocopies from museum libraries) and am very happy to
see them in a high quality, large format edition. There’s a huge
amount of information here that’s not easily available anywhere else.
I highly recommend these books to anyone interested in the subject!
Best,
Paul
Hi Calista
Lucile Johnson Rosenbloom donated her music library to the Sibley
Library. Most of the catalogue for it is available on line. She
studied with Tournier for a while, but I don’t know who she studied
with here in the states. Betty Strasenburg is still around, though she
hasn’t played harp in a long time. She earned her degree at Eastman,
studying with Eileen Malone.Is there any specific information you’re looking for? I can probably
find out more for you, but I’m not sure what the questions are and I
don’t want to send a lot of facts you don’t want!Cheers,
Paul
Hi Evangeline
Lindeman harps come up for sale only rarely. Not many were made, and
most people that have one want to hang on to it. The design features
are good concepts, but the harps tend not to be as finely built and
finished as Lyon & Healys or Wurlitzers of the same period. A big
drawback is that parts must be custom made or adapted for them, as the
company has been out of business fo 40 years.
Paul
Have you called Suzanne Thomas (716 773 6369)? She will get you
started with a good, healthy technique. Suzanne studied at Eastman and
is now the harpist with the Buffalo Philharmonic. She is primarily a
pedal harpist, but has plenty of experience with lever harps. In any
case, good harp basic technique is good basic harp technique, whether
the harp has levers OR pedals!Good luck & have harp fun,
Paul
Hi Mark
Lindeman harps were made in Chicago from 1905 to ca. 1965. Charles
Lindeman learned harp building from Cyrus Heckenlauer, who had worked
for Erard. It was a very small company, making only a handful of harps
each year. The number 221 is a serial number, but I have not been able
to locate any kind of an index to date the harps by serial number. You
may find a date concealed in the instrument inside the body (get a
flashlight and some little mirrors) or on the action block (the little
piece of wood between the action plates where they curve down into the
column). However, be aware that any inscriptions may be from later
repairs.
Lindemans are interesting harps. They have some unusual design
features. The pedal rods are attached to the pedal bars with a kind of
ball and socket joint with an attached nut, so the rods can be
adjusted in a matter of minutes, without removing the pedal box. The
action has clock-type springs in the lowest octave to keep the rods
under tension and assist with the pedal return. Instead of pedal rod
tubes, the rods run in channels routed out of the wood of the column
before it is assembled. The discs are attached to the ends of the
spindles with standard screws, rather than the Lyon & Healy system of
opposing threads on center screw and disc.
I have a 44-string Lindeman that I like a lot. It’s a smaller and
lighter weight instrument, but has plenty of power and projects well
through an orchestra.
I hope this wasn’t too much information!
Paul
Hi Eduard,
You can change nylon strings for gut, or gut for nylon, but there are
some rules to follow. One is that types of strings should be kept
grouped together. For example, the harp is strung with wires in the
bass, then one or more octaves in gut, then the rest of the way up in
nylon. There shouldn’t be types of strings mixed in: a gut string
followed by a nylon one followed by two guts then another nylon. This
would make the harp feel very strange when you are playing it. Another
rule is that if you change the type of string, at least that note will
need to have the mechanism reregulated, whether it’s a pedal or lever
harp. Nylon and gut strings react very differently to the pressures of
the levers or discs.To continue on the concerns voiced by Carl, someone once told me that
gut strings exert 15% more tension than comparable nylon strings. I
don’t know how or if this was scientifically substantiated. I do know
that carbon strings are so much tighter, if you will, that you should
change to a thinner gauge string than what would be used in gut. The
string supplier should be able to help you with this. Of course, the
harp will need to be regulated after being restrung in carbon.Paul
Hi
You seem to have found a sympathetic audience here. I wonder if you
could get a few more hours of practice time in while obnoxious
neighbours are near by muffling the harp. Cut yourself a long strip of
felt about 1/2 inch wide, and weave it through the strings next to the
soundboard. You may have to use two thicknesses in the bass, or weave
it up farther from the soundboard, to adequately mute the harp. You’ll
figure something out with a little experimentation. With practice it
will take only a few minutes to prepare the harp in this way. Granted,
it’s not the best way to practice, but it’s good enough for exercises
or working through the mechanics of tricky fingering.Or, you could do what I did, which is to grow over 6 feet tall with
long hair and a beard. People don’t complain at you as much if you
look scary enough. Hee hee!Paul
Hi Nelleke
I, too, am starting to play lever harp for the first time. When I
started harp lessons, more years ago than I will admit, my teacher
started me on pedal harp. So I understand the problems of adapting to
levers! I’ve found it helpful to try to flip levers on the beat. This
keeps my movements rhythmic and seems to disrupt the music less. I
hope this tip helps you!Cheers, Paul
Dear Martha,
Hmmmmmm. Proceed with caution. Has the strings teacher said exactly
WHY he should play cello in rehearsal but harp in concert? My feeling
is that everyone would be much better served if he played harp both in
rehearsal and in concert. Your son would better learn orchestral and
rehearsal skills, always desireable in a harpist (and harpists do need
a somewhat different set of skills from other orchestral players.) The
other players would get to rehearse the music the way it will sound in
concert, and without having to rearrange stand partners. The teacher
would have a more secure and reliable ensemble.Sitting and waiting is just part of life in harpland. Perhaps your son
could use some of the time to do homework, or do what I did and
develop a new skill by becoming the orchestra librarian (ulterior
motive: I can get my parts first!) I know that the vast majority of
educational orchestra music does not include harp parts, but around
here the teachers, students, and sometimes even the parents will write
harp parts tailored to the skill level of the student. Sometimes the
part is just a chord on the downbeats, or doubling the melody in both
hands, but at least it’s something!Do let us know how this situation progresses.
Cheers,
Paul
