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Orchestral players are getting louder and louder. The young string players I hear are playing as loud as they can, so once again, the harp is getting drowned out. I have always held that harps reached perfection in the 20th century, so I am at least skeptical if not dubious of recent and new changes.
The veneer protects the precious sounding board from injury, things falling on it, etc. It also adds another layer of resonating material as well as a better appearance.
This poses some questions: do we need a louder harp? Do all harps need to be louder? How does this affect playing? What do other musicians think of it? I know one orchestral player who doesn’t like loud harp playing (of course, she’s not in the audience).
Harp manufacturers have been experimenting with incorporating Kevlar or like material in the neck and sounding board, as I understand, and the extensive research required was in finding glues that would resonate properly as well as hold the layers together. This increases the structural strength of the harp. I don’t know what the resonating qualities are of this material. It is synthetic, not wood.
I didn’t notice that, but always thought it could be done, and should be, as we have literature that calls for an A, and I want to be able to write for it. Adding another string to the harp would definitely renew interest in it. A 7th Octave B would also be very useful and is also needed for some pieces.
I am definitely more comfortable playing a harpsichord than a piano, it has the same spacing as the harp.
You can find a few works at Imslp.org, but not a lot of great value, except for orchestra parts. The only other site I use is WernerIcking.
I didn’t answer because I didn’t feel the wording was an accurate reflection of the technique. A is the closest.
As Miss Lawrence used to say, “Monkey see, monkey do.” Imitation is one of the most powerful learning/teaching tools.
As Miss Lawrence used to say, “Monkey see, monkey do.” Imitation is one of the most powerful learning/teaching tools.
As Miss Lawrence used to say, “Monkey see, monkey do.” Imitation is one of the most powerful learning/teaching tools.
