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I’ve been told they are a high-quality natural gut string with very warm tone. I would expect them to have a clear pitch, like Bow Strings have. I am so happy with my Bow Brand heavy-gauge gut strings, I can’t imagine changing brands. They are incredibly durable. Their finish is natural, too, not a polyurethane.
You should string it in accordance with the manufacturer, which is to say, pedal wire, gut and nylon strings.
A style 22 harp does not have different string gauging from any other Lyon & Healy Concert Grand. What you can do to clean wire string is to gently rub them with a nylon kitchen scrubber, or, to detune them, wrap the string around a bottle (glass Coke bottle with the convex middle is ideal) and slide the bottle up and down the string, which will cause the accumulated debris in the grooves to fall out. Then wipe it with a soft cloth to further clean it after you retune the string. This would refresh the sound for a few months. This is what we used to do in the 1970s. But you can simply put on new fresh silver and copper strings and not bring them all the way up to pitch. The question is, where are the cracks and how deep are they? You can take photos and send them to a harp technician for advice, such as the great Karen Rokos.
I conceived of what later became known as the Concedo brand of strings for two reasons: one was because I noticed that the colored strings were more flexible than the uncolored gut strings, and did not fracture while knotting them. The other reason was for increased visibility in performing in orchestra pits and other darkened lighting situations. Walter Pfeil’s answer was to employ fiber optic lighting on the underside of the neck…
I find that by adding a second loop over the knot, I don’t need string anchors at all. It makes the knot large enough that it can’t pull through. Add any kind of object adds another risk for buzzing, and a factor in the resonating of the string. I would not like to add a foreign material that would be held against the center strip. You could also do a third loop in making the knot, to make it larger yet.
This is the information I found on the New England Harp Association: Gerald Goodman, president; Reinhart Elster, vice-president; Edith Salvin Bloom, secretary; and Helen Silver, treasurer. They administered the Carlos Salzedo Scholarship Fund, of which I was a recipient. It may have been funded by money from Salzedo’s estate, or from friends of his. I heard one version from Alice Chalifoux, and the other from Lucile Lawrence. Perhaps both are true.
If your harpist gets the Art of Modulating by Carlos Salzedo, it has patterns for accompanying waltzes that if he or she memorizes, they can then use them to improvise a part.
I have successfully colored strings with a Sharpie marker with no effect on the tone quality. Wite-Out could have harmful ingredients.
Only a qualified technician should do anything to repair your finish. What I learned is that to patch the finish, you have to use exactly the same finish. You cannot use a non-matching finish on another finish, the chemistry has to be the same. Before Lyon & Healy started using lacquer finish, I’m pretty sure they used varnish, like violins have. As for new harps, I am opposed to the matte or satin finish. It looks awful, and I think because it is not rubbed to produce the glossy finish, it is too thick and inhibits the sound. So if you are ordering a new harp, pay extra for the glossy finish. Lyon & Healy can supply you with a small bottle of the lacquer. You would dab it on, but then you are supposed to sand it smooth, so it’s still better to have a trained technician do it.
Dampits are not effective. They are designed for much smaller instruments, more contained ones. Try tuning the harp down when you are going away.
I attempted teaching after college, and even after my Master’s degree, and I did not know anything more than the bare basics of what is involved in playing. One does have to get teaching experience, the best way is by observing a fine teacher in lessons, and by gaining experience performing and playing, such as at least ten year’s worth before attempting to teach. It is a problem that so many unqualified people teach, because then another teacher has to clean up the mess they made, the student has to start over or rebuild from the ground up, or make painful corrections while having to learn challenging music. They rob real teachers of potential students, and even don’t want to let go of them when it is time to move on. For such a teacher, students should not stay longer than three years. By then, you need to be learning proper technique, beginning intermediate music, etc. And for students starting in their teens, they have to get to a strong teacher right away or very soon, or too much groundwork is lost. Even a fine teacher can have too many students to really pay full attention to each one. A teacher should at least have one or preferably two degrees in music, at least one from a conservatory, and summer study with major teachers.
There is a basic problem with using software. You cannot extract your music from software without using hopefully another software. You have no real ownership of it anymore. If you can learn to make a neat score by hand, you should do that and scan it or photocopy it. That’s what the composer Steven Paulus did. I lost a lot of work by having to change computers or update software. At best, you can hopefully export to a pdf file so you have a permanent copy. But to make any revisions, you would have to input it all over again. I have yet to see a software that could produce scores as well as a fine publisher does.
That is great. She was an important harpist, and her book is important. Another source for ideas on fingering patterns is the ABC of Harp Playing by Salzedo and Lawrence, which is half beginner exercises, and half about orchestra parts and cadenzas.
Quinine can prevent muscle spasms. The prescription strength may be too much, but I found you can buy quinine extract online. It is also in Tonic Water, and if that gives you relief, then use that. There are also muscle relaxer drugs, but they can have side effects.
Let me revise my response. As much as I would treasure such a painting, the Curtis Institute archives are the best place for it, I think, or else a museum. I don’t know if they would want a painting by Bloom or not. It would certainly be good cover art for the American Harp Journal. Perhaps the library in Camden, Maine would want it. But I’m sure Curtis would value it, and keep it safe.
