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Hi Carl,
That’s a great story! There’s a tradition even today in the wire harp community that strings are normally not colored, esp. for those who play on replica historic wire-strung harps. The Irish harpers of old times were often blind, so there was no need to color their strings. (For what it’s worth, my instrument does have colored strings, but it’s a modern wire harp.) Maybe this is where the woman of your story may have gotten her ideas, consciously or otherwise.
(Also thanks for posting your earlier ones, those were really good! I don’t think I’ve encountered anything quite like those 🙂
Hi Mae,
Please send some! I’ll give you my mailing address. 🙂 This time of year is rough on my hair and skin, as well as my harp. I go through bottles of conditioner and hand cream just to get through the winter. Btw, what’s an airing cupboard?Hi Deb,
Thanks for replying. I guess I thought donors might be scared off by expenses, esp. with so many folks uninsured right now. Good that you posted the info! I guess one way to counter the fear is to say, in a way, that the loved one continues to live and is thereby helping someone else. The gruesome thing… well, probably anytime you’re getting into serious medical issues that will come up. Somehow you have to make peace with it…
Anyhow, here’s to a Happy Thanksgiving for you and your family and hope you don’t have to travel in any nasty winter storms too far!
Hi all,
A few questions: how is the organ donation covered? Usually by the health insurer or is it largely out of pocket? Which family pays for the donation itself: donor or receiver? Would those expenses be the likely reason (high co-pay) that they might overrule the donor’s wishes? I’ve never looked into this.Hi Sylvia,
I agree with you 1000% on that one… cicuses in general are falling out of favor because undercover investigators have found they are rife with animal abuse. But I don’t know how you’d go about getting any show checked out… Maybe In Defense of Animals would be a start. Hard to know if that’s going on here, but animal shows are so yesterday. You’ve got a great idea about helping storm victims too. FEMA can be slow. We saw that here in VT after Hurricane Irene.
Hi David,
You have my deepest sympathies. I’m a (former church) organist. Now I play the harp and I have a digitally sampled organ in my recording studio. My husband plays for a really nice Episcopal church, where he’s respected and treated well, but he has the scars to show from so many years working for churches of many denominations. If it weren’t for the fact that he loves to play the pipe organ and it helps to pay the bills, he wouldn’t be there on Sunday mornings anymore. I don’t go to any church, nor play in one, regardless of the fact that I work with sacred material. I’ve been burned myself. We’re just the hired help. 🙁
As my organ professor said, “the church business is a business.” Sorry to hear this thing is ruining your holidays. Kind of runs counter to what Christmas should be about. I do like your idea about unplugging the mike though! 🙂
Best,
SherriHi David,
I wouldn’t try to advise you on what you should or shouldn’t do – you’ll know best – but my curiosity is piqued: how is a service like this conducted? Is it like a stage play, with readings, musical interludes, a sermon interspersed here and there, or sort of a variant on the Hill Cumorah Mormon pageant? Never heard of anything like this!
(And hoping you escape the stress of this thing soon, whichever way you choose.)
Looking at the one right here, which Natalie posted!
Nice you have your hair long then. I’m battling winter dryness here in Vermont… it’s rough on the ends. Tends to split and break. It was down to my waist but I lost a few inches due to that, so now I’m trying to help it recover.
Trifocals do take some getting used to, but once you settle in, they’re pretty good. Mine have lines but I don’t see them anymore.
My hands are not very big, but then on my wire harp the technique is a bit different.
I’ll probably be getting some new photos taken again in a few months. I like the way my photographer did them last year, but I’ll need my artwork photographed as well, so I may have a few more portraits done w/ harp while I’m at it.
Hi Sylvia,
I normally wear wire-rim glasses like yours in the photo, but I had professional photos taken of me not wearing them. They’re trifocals and I’ve worn glasses like that since my early 20’s… actually I couldn’t make out my music or strings too well without them. Also, the rest of the time, my long hair really is like that, full and slightly upswept, it seems to be its natural state.
For you, no worries, you look fine! 🙂 Sometimes I wear a hairband like that, too. And I don’t see your hands look so big.
All the best,
SherriHi again Alexandra,
Just listened to your tracks on SoundCloud… You did Ave Maris Stella too! Lovely chant, isn’t it? What harp are you playing and where was it recorded?
Hi Alexandra,
Thanks so much for listening! 🙂 It’s a real joy to read wonderful responses from folks who stop by to listen, esp. after the days, weeks, hours I put into those recordings…
I friended you here on HarpColumn and also over at SoundCloud. (I liked your winter tree/harvest moon avatar.)
Best,
SherriHi Natalie,
I know about hours…. I’m married to a classical musician (organist). But I’m a recording musician (multitrack studio in our house), not a live performer like he is, so time takes on a different meaning. I logged more hours than I could count doing my layered new age album, which has eight tracks on it. All I know is, it took me four years to do it and there’s other sounds and instruments on there besides my harp. Learning to listen while mixing and editing was the biggest by far use of time. But it was a very pleasant experience, one I didn’t find stressful.
Marco, I tried the nail hardeners too and they wrecked my nails. Now I just eat foods that are high in calcium every day and that problem has gone away. I just need to watch my car door a liitle better!
Hi Natalie,
Your point about our folk harp world being far less competitive is well said. I would never go for that sort of thing… mandatory three hours a day, etc. And yet, I got there, without rigid, must-be-adhered-to practice schedules. Music has to be in the calm atmosphere that you describe, indeed! 🙂 So I think for me, my instrument and playing technique (and by extenstion, use of chant as source material) is a reflection of that.
My nail playing is delicate, there’s economy of motion, and I don’t have callouses from playing this way. It also doesn’t take significantly much more force to create a louder sound on this harp, just striking the string a fraction harder. Wire harp playing involves selective damping with the fingertips (slightly tipping the finger so the nail is off the wire) and placing while the fingers of the other hand are still playing. Nail breakage is about the only issue I have and I’ve got two that are growing back now. They were attacked by my car door. 🙁 Fortunately they recover pretty quickly.
Many blessings Deb 🙂 May your harp continue to help you and yours heal. You’ve discovered a lot, and that the hard way. Thanks for posting for us.
Hi Tracey,
I recently posted a story about this very topic on my blog at my website, http://www.sherrimatthew.com. The entry is called, “From Classical to New Age” and it’s my most recent one. A bit long (as many of my blog entries tend to be), but it pretty much tells the story of my whole musical educational journey.
