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Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Have fun with those excerpts, especially the Berg! How much time is left to prepare?
This thread also begs the question of why no one is simply reproducing the Wurlitzer harps, if they were copies of Lyon & Healy, but are in the public domain, and if they were indeed so good. I think they are heavy sounding, but good workmanship, to be sure.
The word “clunk” reminds me of a harp I diagnosed. It was clunking between pedal changes. It was perhaps a “thunk.” It wasn’t metal against metal. I finally figured out, after the three top guys from Lyon & Healy looked at it and gave up, that it was only happening when you moved, I think it was going from G-sharp to A-sharp. I therefore deduced that the rod or all the rods were moving at that point and hitting the inside of the column or something like that. Could it have been loose rivets? Perhaps, only it never stopped functioning entirely. This was a Salvi Electra. As far as I know it has never been fixed.
Yes, when I was in school, they spent a tremendous amount of time and energy in the first few grades teaching us to be quiet, and re-teaching us in junior high. If the schoolteachers are lax, then everyone will suffer. I spent many hours in second grade standing in the corner for talking in class, or writing on the blackboard hundreds of times, “I will not talk in class.” It simply has to be taught and drummed in over and over again. Unfortunately, electronic/digital devices simply empower people to be rude and create a sense of entitlement. It’s a colossal battle. Ushers are not always allowed to police the interior or expected to. It is a house management issue, but there are not always ushers and house managers. However, I cannot forget the ushers at the Broadway Theaters and New York State theater. They were either, alumni of the roller derby, mafia matrons, or just the meanest, nastiest older women they could find, but they sure were effective!
Before I had my neck replaced, on my harp-that is, I had to really turn my hand sideways to play in the first octave.
It’s a matter of height, center of gravity, and leverage. I had a strong man, a fireman, moving my harp once, he was about five-foot five, and he almost lost control of it on a set of three steps, because he had to struggle so to get enough leverage to get it moving up again. The taller you are, the easier it is, I think, regardless of strength.
Or, in some cases:
My Harp Belongs to Daddy
and
Harp of my Harp
Harp and Soul
and the unforgettable
I Left My Harp in San Francisco
(or Sam Clam’s Disco, as the case may be)
I don’t believe cracks around the tuning pins are a problem, the cracks in the knee block or between layers are worrisome. Any old harp you buy, you have to figure in the cost of major repairs and the possible need for them. Tuning pins should be cleanable or replaceable, I would think. But you also want to get the original tuning keys with the harps, if you can.
There is also the experience of not playing actually louder, but making a much bigger gesture as if you are, and having that satisfy the conductor.
I have found that a footlight helps, as it shines on the strings. Walter Pfeil equipped one of his harps with an l.e.d. attached to the brass plate.
I have trouble with solid colors, too, when they are the wrong color. Like rusty orange. I can see the strings, but when they start to vibrate, they disappear. Treacherous.
By singling out this one company, you are omitting the facts that every harp manufacturer I can think of has major problems with their instruments at least from time to time. I am not in the least sympathetic to quality cutting when prices are sky-high, well beyond inflation. One has to wonder what kind of profit margin is being supported. But one also has to wonder why no other company has matched the best in quality?
I believe there has been a cluster of Attl technique students in Los Angeles, from Stanley Chaloupka to Lou Anne Neill. There is also Alfred Holy, I don’t know if he counts as a separate school.
