[roger-day]

In the late fifties, when I was in college, my major was engineering and that changed to physics. I thought physics because I hoped to be ready
when the scientific men came. A higher power was obviously present.
I played trombone and onetime, a 3/4 grand harp painted silver was present backstage. In the quietness, I tried plucking a string, and beyond the
cheap looking paint, the sound came out like a great abundance of music.

I never thought I’d play one, but it came to me gradually after I was 40,
and was no longer in technical work. At the age of 58, my 36th instrument
was a 19 string harp 42″ tall with 10″ wide sound box. It was like none that I’d ever seen, but I said why not?

It was a simple triangular design, and I spent many coffee breaks with a calculator and notebook figuring how many good strings I could have on a triangular harp, and what angle would be the best.

[roger-day]

I made a stool from a scrap of 3/4 plywood, painted

[roger-day]

People tend to like familiar melodies, but a bit of improvising between songs can be helpful, even between verses of a song. I think that the music of Debussy is helpful in that area, because his music tended change continously.

[roger-day]

The type of harp makes a big difference. Some have a long dwell which produces a certain amount of dissonant roar under the music when certain things are played. Some strings might be damped when this occours.

Other harps have a shorter dwell, and producing a whole note may require several hits to sound right. Yet, this type harp can do certain things better.

Another factor is percussive attack. A longer string for a certain note will have more string tension. More string tension tends to produce a clear ringing sound, but a much weaker ping sound when the string is plucked.

Also the type of wood and soundboard shape may be a factor.

[Author]

Posts