Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I have not used hot glue yet, but I have always preferred stitching my felts, as they need no drying time. It’s a bit arduous, though. You need a very strong needle, heavy thread, and a thimble!
I did see the Salzedo edition in the International Harp Archives as well, if you can’t get it from Lyra. Not all other versions are in flats.
I’m sure Lyra has it, and it has often been expected on auditions, such as at the Metropolitan Opera. If it says Magic Fire Music on an audition list, and doesn’t specify a part or provide, that is likely what they mean. I could copy mine, but it has lots of markings on it. Once you learn this, you can pedal anything.
Why is the original not playable? One example is the bass line where it repeats the same two notes over and over again, and Salzedo has the notes move up and down through different octaves. Repeating the same notes over and over again is physically difficult, and the sound gets very dull. It’s buzzy, feels bad, and sounds bad on the harp, in general. Exquisite as the piece is, it’s not that great a harp piece, with those beautiful repeated chords. Only the very best harpists are able to play them with the freedom of tempo and clarity they need.
It’s a common practice in some areas, though it is likely illegal. The idea is that you are bribing, I mean paying you so that you have an exclusive ability to work there, but I wonder if you can get that in writing. It is disgusting. But if it is a nonprofit venue, like a performing arts center or organization, making donations would be gratefully appreciated and might encourage more bookings without being illegal about it. In addition, a caterer who books you for a reception that they have, if they are paying you, they may well be charging the client double your fee and keeping the rest. I have long thought that harpists should figure out a way to be the one on top, not on bottom. On the other hand, paying a commission/tip to someone for booking you is not unheard-of. If you were booking florists, for example, to work the weddings you are arranging, a commission would be appropriate, in a way. It’s dicey, but the main point is knowing ahead of time, I guess. It’s all in how they do it.
You need to wear shoes when practicing, and the heels should be high enough to assist you in pedaling, at least one inch, up to two or three. Something is definitely off if you are losing your balance, so you need to have lessons.
I would definitely go with the Aria. It’s an exceptional design and a good age to get lots of playing in.
The best-known arrangement of the part is by Carlos Salzedo, published many years ago, and it is NOT easy, which is why it has often been on audition lists. It’s a good thing to know. It is probably what they want if they will only hire one harpist.
That is a lot of breakage. I would never use gut strings above the 3rd octave, and I don’t like them in the 3rd octave, either. I have tried them and lost too much clarity and sustaining power. It was like playing with mittens on compared to nylon. Unfortunately, Pirastro nylon strings are not of the same quality as they used to be. So the ideal string has yet to be made.
4231 fingerings are very important to master. It helps make the fingers even in strength and tone, and is necessary in many musical passages. It allows you to place all four fingers at one time, and grouping notes together by placing is part of phrasing. Notes played with the thumb tend to assume more importance, so 4231 equalizes the notes in a group, where 3131 would split them into pairs. Buzzing happens by placing not all at the same time, or by hitting adjacent strings, which won’t happen if you refine your position and press against the lower strings with the backs of your fingers. Learn the pattern, there are many more to come after you master it.
I finally figured out the difference in sound between Savarez strings and other strings. Their color is somewhere between that of gut and nylon. The tension is much higher. However, the big drawback is that they do not vibrate as long, so you are losing lots of precious overtones and aftertones. It sounds less like a harp, in other words. If they have to be changed after two years, there is no point in using them as good gut and nylon strings last that long. I think most people leave them on longer, and if the tension reduces over time, that is good. But, the higher tension means more stress on your body, and I am physically unable to play on a harp strung with Savarez strings.
I’m confused by your analysis, Tacye. Are you talking about soundwaves bouncing off of the gold or passing through it as they emerge from the column? But the soundwaves that vibrate in the column also return into the body and then emanate, so it is fairly complex, if you intend to somehow measure this. The ear is the best measure. But it would not surprise me if the gold is only affecting the higher frequencies, as it is the treble which noticably gains brilliance.
I believe you have to pay a lot extra to get naturally aged wood in your harp, at least aged more than two years. Yet, while harps may be made with younger wood, and take longer to age to a mature sound, new harps also have a fuller sound to begin with, which compensates for the youngness of the wood or how it is dried.
I will reiterate, Bach has many keyboard sonatas in both the slow-fast-faster and the fast-slow-fast format of movements. This piece resembles the other fast-slow-fast sonats more than the other slow-fast-faster sonatas. That is relevant. It is an Italianate piece, and that lends weight to favoring the fast-slow-fast format, and it greatly resembles the Italian Concerto by JS Bach, even more than other works by CPE Bach.
