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I have practiced this a lot, and it seems to be a part worth learning and memorizing to be able to play it well, because it is very beautiful and exposed, and very important to the piece, like Bartok’s Violin Concerto no. 2.
That reminds me of a related topic: what do pit harpists do when they have a whole opera to not play? Do they go out for dinner? Knit? Read? All of the above?
Salzedo’s rubric was: speculate on the harmony. In other words, play what you wish that simulates what is written, and is the same harmony.
Has anyone found a trace of the music Salzedo said he wrote for the Clark Irish Harp, including Bi-Tonal Jig? Perhaps he never did them, but they are not in his archives and were not published. I wonder if Melville Clark had the only copies.
There are small things you can do to improve one’s credit, like applying for a Macy’s card and paying the bill on time, or try a Discover card.
You should take the factory tour before you buy a harp. You would be overwhelmed, I think, and less able to make a wise choice. And you want to go when they have a good selection of used harps. Such as now, there are, I think, three style 15s at Lyon & Healy, which would be excellent for you. Getting some exposure to many harps, finding what it is like to try a lot of them, will give you a better sense of what to do when shopping to buy. La Luce is a little pricey, but good. You should have at least $25 on you, in case you need a taxi or something, just keep it concealed.
I never saw this one, but I heard about it, a harp on wheels for the wheelchair-bound harpist. It had straps to attach it to the chair, so it wouldn’t roll away. The wheels were attached next to the rear feet.
I think that is unnecessarily pessimistic. I lived through a period in which a generation began retiring, and for every opening in a major orchestra, the harpist who is given that position leaves one or more other positions open. We are fortunate that orchestras still consider it prestigious to have a full-time harpist, or two, and we could work to support that. We really need to advocate for our profession and not be passive about the future. Not having a harpist only makes an orchestra less flexible, not to mention two harpists.
There is an acoustical study of the harp online that uses Camac as a model, and gives away their specifications, and I am pretty sure there was a layer of synthetics in the sounding board, whether you call all synthetics plastics or not. It might actually be flouride, but it’s not wood.
The column resonates, too, to some extent. Every part of the harp affects the sound, especially the neck, apart from the obvious sounding board and back. The weight and thickness, the material, the finish, all have an impact on the sound, even the gilding. And, especially, the shaping. Am I right, Carl?
I don’t know that, but you might be able to find a collection of tangos and boleros published as a Xavier Cugat collection in the 50s, which I have used and has very popular old songs in it that are good on the harp.
I would not ever play outside unless the harp is on flooring and under a canopy of some kind, and the weather is perfectly dry. It’s just not meant to be done. You can’t hear it well, anyway, unless you have a portable bandshell for it. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Thanks. Are dynamic mics the same as diaphragm? I had a Sony condensor microphone at one time, that so condensed the sound, it sounded like it was recorded through a tin can. Wouldn’t I want to avoid condensing? Isn’t that diminishing the frequency range? I had a Shure that was good, but I dropped it, and, ta-dah, it broke.
I have two lavalier vocal mics that are excellent, but have to be within less than ten feet, and they are hard to position, as they have collar clips only.
