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I don’t think it changes that much with experience. My goals are still to make recordings, to get through performances without audible mistakes or glitches, not any different than when I was young, just on another level, perhaps. When I started, my goal was to be a concert artist, to tour, perhaps join a chamber orchestra, to teach, make recordings, be known. In those days, it all seemed possible. Before Reagan. It all changed by 1984. When I was growing up, one could see recitals by artists like Segovia, Rubinstein, Heifetz, De Los Angeles, Sutherland, Menuhin, even Casals, perhaps, every year, depending where you lived. Sol Hurok was still a visible presence. It was such a different world then. Classical music was on television all the time. I remember seeing people like Perlman (young), Roberta Peters, Jan Peerce, Robert Merrill, and always Marilyn Horne on the Tonight Show. And I’m talking about the 1960s and 70s, even into the 80s. That was a golden age, really.
It used to be a standard, was Salzedo’s calling card as a young soloist. I have his markings for it.
Yes, but if only the bass is resonating more, it throws off the balance of registers, which is not good.
Which kind of strings is it? Savarez strings are more prone to that, or new gut strings with a lot of finish on them.
What I mean by dull is the reduced presence of overtones, and the shortened sustaining of the note. Nylons can sound tinny, and it can be frustrating, but a lot of that has to do with how hard the surface of your skin is.
Honestly, Briggsie. Lyon & Healy set the standard for the ideal harp tone many, many decades ago. More so than Wurlitzer. Camacs are made with plastic components or ingredients, and it shows in their tone. What do you know about it? I have no problem with other companies making harps, I have a problem with lowering standards. Something too many people don’t care about. There is no comparison between a 23 and a Camac, based on what I’ve heard live and on recordings. Camacs are fine, up to a point. But they certainly don’t look as good to me, either. Sorry if my entitlement to a considered opinion bugs you. I am a highly trained professional, so I feel I’ve earned it. Or at least was trained for it. Who are you?
It must have been another thread, but I said, use a vaporizer or two. In a large room, their warm vapor won’t have any ill effect, but will humidify without needing expensive supplies or labor. I found Hunter’s to be crap, requiring replacement wicks, extensive cleaning, additional supplies, just ridiculous, and noisy. Vaporizers are nearly silent.
I’m sorry to hear that. The best ones always seem to come to an end. Maria Pinckney once made a brochure for a dolly that was simply a pair of small bicycle wheels connected by a small tray for the rear feet only and a clamp to go over the feet to hold it on. You would simply tilt the harp back and roll it. That is the simplest approach. I have an old dolly made by Wayne Barrington that was similar, but had a wooden tray and was a little heavier. Maria’s husband apparently never made any of them. It was called Harp-On-It. Maybe some of the St. Louis harpists will know more about it.
At the time I had no idea how to play a chord such as e-c-e-a. Now I know to leave out the upper e and use 124. I also couldn’t reach a sixth between 4 and 3 then, now I can.
But Chris, what levels do you set it for? That is the tricky thing, and impossible to do if you are by yourself, because you can’t see the meter.
The types of excerpts I am using or thinking of do cover the range of the harp and thoroughly teach note patterns. Starting practice by playing a piece through has been, for me, a very bad habit. Reading through a piece is not good for the brain or the fingers. It is very simple what I do, take one exercise, as I’ve said before, something like one of Salzedo’s Conditioning Exercises, particuarly numbers 1, 7,8,9,10 and do it in four to six tempi. For note patterns, you can’t really beat LaRiviere for covering nearly all possible patterns. Etudes DO NOT do that. They emphasize the right hand over the left. They result in very uneven development and I suspect over-development of the short muscles and muscle fibers resulting in stiff hands and a lot of mental control but not very good sound. I hear this consistently from most European players. I think you are just wrong on this, Carl, especially in pushing Bochsa so much. His etudes can be re-written to be more useful, but they are really useless as is. So are Dizi. There are far better ways to use one’s time. Parts are far better for developing strength. What is really important is to learn to create comprehensive exercises for one’s self based on what one encounters in a piece or part. For example, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture has a famous solo of descending chords. You can practice that as is endlessly, but you can also do other chords on the same pattern, or other inversions, and all of those in at least four tempi. Etudes will not teach you that.
Symphonie Fantastique is fantastic as a source of exercises. Virtually every phrase suggests (and requires) a new exercise. Eventually, I should be able to share/publish these for your-all’s use. Right now, I have some other huge projects to finish. I accept commissions, however, which go to the top of the pile.
Well, I have entirely given up on humidifiers. What used to be a reliable brand, Bionaire, was bought up and ruined. Anything they put out now requires a ridiculous amount of maintenance and the constant purchasing of additional products to keep it from getting moldy or otherwise contaminated.
My solution has been to use a vaporizer. They require minimal maintenance, and in a large high-ceilinged room like my studio, there is no hazard from warm vapor. After a couple of days, it has raised the humidity enough to help.
Sponges get dirty, so I would prefer to hang up wet towels and let them dry.
