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I did a concert on that model once, or one like it, and it had excellent projection, if not the warmth or rounded tone of a 23.
In this day and age, a wedding ceremony should pay at least $500. If people know that is the minimum, they can plan for it in their budgeting. Paying less is pure exploitation of the musician. It should really be about $1,000. With a bonus charge for Bridezillas!
Bar 13 is a very tricky rhythm and unlikely to be playable without much rehearsal. I would rethink that, or give the left hand to another instrument.
If you stick to Berlioz/Strauss’s instructions, you’ll write competent harp parts.Some of his simpler pieces are among his best work. Others I find very repetitious of other pieces. Vers la source dans le bois and Au Matin seem to be his peak achievements, to me. The Six Noels have a lasting quality. But I recently heard the Scherzo Romantique for the first time and was very disappointed in it.
The Minneapolis Board of Education had a
Washburn harp on which I first studied pedal harp. Some of the pedal rods were broken, so I could only use certain pedals, or I had to manually return the pedal to its other position, maybe it was jammed. It had sadly been painted locker-green, and the sounding board was painted brown, so the sound was completely dulled. I wish I’d had the sense to take it and have it rebuilt. I think I might have asked and LH said it was not worth doing.A padded cover is not nearly enough protection for a harp. Would you put a baby in a car without a car seat? It needs to be fully cushioned, with a mattress or thick foam pad, or the like.
The last time I tried Chicago harps, they sounded fine, and they look very nice, and are perfectly appropriate to use. However they are made, they are a better option than the others mentioned, in my opinion, expert or not.
If you feel you cannot place all the notes on a chord with large intervals, you may place 4 and 3, and after you play 4, shift and place 2 and 1 as you play 3. You could place one finger at a time, but it will slow you down a bit.
Tarnish-resistant strings do not sound fine. Do you wear silver necklaces or nickel? Nickel is much lower-grade and duller, just as you can see by looking at a nickel, and the sound difference is exactly the same. They are duller to begin with, and get more dull with age. Why sacrifice quality? Quality is far more important than mere convenience if you are at all serious about music. I was all excited about them when they first came out, and it did not take long to get disenchanted. So don’t tell me they are “fine.” They are, at best, adequate. If you can’t hear the difference, that’s a problem. But the coloring of the strings is a real problem, as one easily becomes dependent upon it. Without it, you can do just fine, but with it, you end up thinking you can’t do without it.
You should definitely go for a pedal harp as long as you can swing it. You’ll want to get into your old repertoire at some point, and enjoy discovering all the new, and lessons are definitely in order. Lever harps are very limiting.
I discovered that a tiny bit of Ivory bar soap really cut through that grime, on a slightly damp cloth, rub gently.
If you’re buying a Lyon & Healy harp, a natural finish generally means the best-looking, best-matched wood, as there is no coloring. They are very white at first, but age into a beautiful blond color. I went with a walnut harp at first, but it faded into a lovely more-mahogany color. A natural finish harp looks best on stage. Ebony affects the sound, and I suspect any other coloring will, as well.
Older 100s are only 46 strings, and have a different sound from the recent 100s. The string spacing is also different at the top. I don’t presume $10,000 is unfair for a pedal harp in good order. But I always prefer a Lyon & Healy harp to any other, especially Camacs, which are not all wood (and metal).
No, the tarnish-resistant strings sound lousy, except for the bronze ones. You should not use any product on the strings. Might it just be discoloration? They should not rust at all. Silver strings will eventually tarnish, and you can rub them with a damp cloth or a nylon scrubber, gently. Copper strings will get greenish. If the tone gets dull, then it is time to replace them. Tarnish-resistant strings also have to be replaced every two years or less, so they really are no help. Where did you get this harp? It must have been sitting around a long time.
