Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
My advice to a composer is, never rely on software to compose, especially the playback. It will lead you to write unplayable music. Learn about the harp, listen to harp music, and use your ears, your intuition, and the knowledge you gain. Study harp scores. That is the best way to learn. The playback is completely misleading, being automated.
I had a green harp that belonged to the public schools. It was a Washburn, and it had been painted locker green, like pea soup, and they painted the sounding board brown, killing all the sound in the process. Only some pedals worked. Still I used it to practice.
ASTA has a competition with a harp category, that is a good place to get experience. There may be local ones for soloing with orchestras to look into.
I have an Ogden harp, and when it reached a certain age, I think it was five years, it suddenly acquired what I would call the “Lyon & Healy sound.” I realized then how much difference the aging of the wood makes. I wasn’t playing it a lot, either. It was just the aging.
Have you ever gotten heavier-gauge gut strings for pedal harps from Bow? I don’t know any way to obtain them. My highest gut strings are 4th octave E and D, but they are too thin. Which manufacturer uses Perlon? You can email me if you don’t want to say publicly. I know at least one who uses Tynex.
Unfortunately, your ears have gotten used to dull, thuddy wire strings. The brilliance of new strings is something you have to adjust to, but the sound is certainly desirable. You may have to play them with more care, though, as they will be much more responsive. They will also increase the brilliance of the rest of your strings. They are the foundation of the “angelic choir” we love so much.
They’re not posted on the internet, though full scores are, and have been re-published by outfits like Kalmus, so it is odd that parts are not also equally available. Apparently, they still have to be rented.
I bet not too many people know that Hindemith wrote An Old Irish Air for choir and harp. Quite a nice companion piece to this. Cynthia Otis made a superb recording of the Brahms.
There are a few or several professional harp and instrument movers in New York City, and they should be able to handle the stairs, though they will charge extra for it. I don’t have their names, but one service is called Boxcar, I think. Can we compile a complete list here? Somebody sent me a name once, a husband of a harpist or friend, I think. I could use the names, too. You can have friends do it, if they are strong, but train them first.
Aloe will soften your skin. She needs to toughen it. Ammonia, acids, harsh things will do that. You need to increase the amount of oil in your skin, too. Lanolin products will do that. But I suspect there is more to this. Are you doing a lot of dishes? What time of day do you practice, and what have you been doing with your hands before that? If your skin is wet, just washed too thoroughly, then you will have more problems. Using a very fine sandpaper might help in some way. If none of that helps, then perhaps it is in how you play. Do you place your fingertips on the strings in the same place all the time, or does it vary? Maybe you are putting too much flesh on the string. The thickest part of the finger might never callous. You should be playing toward the edge of the finger, on a diagonal across the edge of the fingertip. Look more closely at how you play the strings. If all else fails, ask a dermatologist.
It’s all about your eyes and how they move. To sight-read, you need to read as you play, then you need to read one note ahead, then two, then three, then four, etc., then you need to look at one whole bar at a time, and you have to practice this regularly. Ask someone who can follow a metronome to stand there with a sheet of paper and have them cover over what you have just played, and they can force your eyes to move ahead by moving the paper sooner. You have to learn to place your fingers by interval without looking. You have to be able to trust that. You have to learn to play in the dark or with your eyes closed.
