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Hi Angela,
I’ve heard of that kind of stringing. I don’t do it with mine, just for the reason that if one string should break, then the tension would be abruptly released on the next string as well (now you have two broken strings) and that could possibly lead to a cascade string breakage if the tension is high enough. Probably depends on the harp. I had a few cascades with mine and finally had to lower my tension (read: tuning) to A415, also changed to the na comhluighe tuning at middle C as well to further reduce it. No more string breakage. But that’s just my particular instrument.I agree, it would be fabulous to restore this harp, but probably getting your student just started on harp would be a priority. A Harpsicle, I think, is a good gentle introduction. I’m sure glad I didn’t start out immediately on wire, because just learning to tune it and restring it when they broke turned out to be an artform in itself. My first year with my Luna I broke a lot of strings. 🙁 Before that I learned to play on nylon, for the first two years. But it was wire technique, oddly enough!
Maybe you could post a picture of this instrument? I’d be curious to see what it looks like.
If a nail breaks I usually just trim the damaged part away, as minimally as possibly, but I leave all my other nails the same length. I keep nail clippers on my key ring for that purpose, because it seems like my car door likes to attack nails for some reason. 🙁 Also I’ve found eating high calcium foods like yogurt daily breaks them back really quick. Usually I’m back in business about a week later.
Hammered dulcimer playing sticks kind of lightly bounce off the strings don’t they, almost like a piano action? Never played one. What kind of sustain do the strings have, compared to a wire harp?
Hammered dulcimers are beautiful – I can easily see that leading you towards wire harp! And long & circuitous journeys… I haven’t really posted mine in detail since that would probably be book length. I just mention the highlights here and there so I reach the end point. 🙂
Mostly I wouldn’t want to do it because that’s what the harp was originally intended for – wire. And also because I’m always happy to hear whenever anyone decides to take up the wire harp. 🙂
Hi Randal,
Re your comment, “Without the background, predisposition, or opportunity for experimentation–how would one come to the wire harp?”
I came to the wire harp while working on a research paper completing my undergrad degree in my mid-30’s, doing an independent study on the history of harps in general. I heard a recording of one and knew I had to pursue that when I finished my B.A. I actually didn’t have mine built until a few years later, but I knew it was the right instrument for me. I didn’t feel any pull towards the pedal harp or nylon harps (and still don’t), but it was very important to me to pursue that.I love my wire harp. One of the best decisions I’ve every made. It has a lovely, ringing bell-like sound, with a long sustain, just what I love most about this instrument. My husband plays the carillon (bells) at two area colleges and we’ve wondered if there’s the connection.
I don’t worry about nails too much. They break, they grow. I’m not particular about shapes, they’re just normal nails like anyone else’s, not terribly long, but they do the job.
Hi Angela,
I started with Ann Heymann’s books and they are excellent: http://www.clairseach.com/shop/books.htm.
I began with A Gaelic Harper’s First Tunes and then went to Coupled Hands for Harpers. Very well written and so well done I was able to do it without it a teacher. I see she has re-issued Secrets of the Gaelic Harp, which was much in demand. I don’t have that, since I understand the first book is essentially a b/w revision of that first edition.Also if you listen to her CDs they are very helpful in getting a sense of the material she is presenting.
I didn’t rush through these books, just took my time and made sure everything was committed to muscle memory before moving on to the next exercise.
I’m not aware of any issues in stringing a wire harp with nylon strings, since they are heavily built instruments designed to take the extra tension of wire, but the reverse is certainly a problem! Harps designed for nylon strings aren’t built for the enormous tension and will be damaged by it. My harp has a pillar shield to distribute the pull, also the neck is one solid piece and the body and soundboard are quite sturdy as well. There is also a thick metal builder’s plate at the junction of the pillar and neck opposite the strings.
I imagine stringing your student’s instrument with nylon would go quite well and there should be no problems.
VT Strings is a great company; I’ve bought strings from them in the past for my Paraguayan. I found them very helpful in guiding you when restringing an instrument for which you have limited information but you need a whole need set of strings.
Hi Angela and Deb,
I’ve been offline for a while – both sick and overwhelmed with work and a ton of stuff going on, so now it’s time to play catch up ball! Anyway, for your question about nails: yes, mine tend to break once in a while and it’s a pain, but they do grow back in a few days, quickly enough for me. I don’t grow them very long, just enough so they’re not liable to breakage and they make a nice sound on the wire. Mine tend to curve on the ends for some reason and that causes some catching when I play, so I don’t let them get to that point. Eating yogurt daily and calcium-based foods helps to strengthen my nails. I don’t use any nail polishes or anything that would tend to weaken them.
I kind of modified my playing technique so that it departed from historic methods, since my wire harp arrangements are more contemporary: https://soundcloud.com/sherrimatthew. I found that rotating my hand slightly when playing alters the sound somewhat, because the nail makes contact with the wire at a different angle. Mostly I play with the tip of the nail, occasionally brushing the wire with the pads if I want to soften the sound slightly at a point. Also I don’t tend to play with much force either, and I don’t have very long nails. Mostly just lightly tapping the wire and it gets me the sound I want. I have very little experience with nylon or gut-strung instruments outside of the nylon-strung Paraguayan harp I learned on for two years. I think the tension is somewhat higher on nylon Celtic harps and the spacing is different too, but I’m not an expert on that.
I think the wire harps don’t really have standardization as far as string spacing goes, so it just boils down to spending a lot of time with your own instrument and getting familiar with the distance between the strings so you don’t have to think about it too much.
Hope this helps. 🙂 I don’t think it would be that difficult to find the right nail length/technique to play both instruments.
Hi Austin,
I’m on Soundcloud too… just went to listen to your music. What harp do you play?
I followed you there. My Soundcloud is https://soundcloud.com/sherrimatthew
I’ve been playing since 2007.
Thanks for posting! 🙂I bought the iRig mic and so far am really happy with it. I guess one way to deal with the power draw problem (which I hadn’t thought of before but thanks for bringing that up), might be to keep the iPad plugged in to the charger while you’re using it. Assuming that you’ve got access to an outlet, of course.
If you’re really on the road a lot maybe there’s a car charger you could get to recharge the lithium battery. I have one for my cell phone but don’t use it that much.
Hi Barbara,
Is Folk Harp Journal available by subscription only, or can you obtain single issues (paper, pdf, etc.)? Also, do they have back issues?Just come on up to Middlebury some time… it’s pretty cold in his church during the week! But you oughta see him bundle up for carillon lessons over at Norwich U. – now that’s raw over there. (they don’t heat the tower.) Pretty hardy students too!
Hi Angela,
Can’t help you there, but hope your class goes well for you! Let me know how it turns out for you, promotions and all. (by the way, my organist/carillonneur husband has a beard and wears flannel… for me, that’s the most handsome kind of guy! 🙂 And he does have a fur-lined hunter’s hat!Hi Laura Ann,
I agree with Lyn on this one. It’s a very individual thing.By the way, it’s interesting to me that you’re writing a research paper on harp , because that’s how I came to the harp… doing an independent study on the history of them (pedal, lever, etc.) but not yet actually playing one. In the course of my research I listened to streaming harp music on the web and I heard a wire harp for the first time… just fell in love with the sound of it immediately. After I got done with my writing segment for the evening, I started to really look into wire harps and just knew I had to have one eventually, after graduation, when there would be more money and time to invest in it. (That actually occurred two years later, after studying the basics on a nylon-strung harp.) But doing the research paper was enormously helpful to me that way, in discovering my path. That was in fall 2006.
Maybe it will work out the same way for you! Try to do a lot of listening as you do your reading and investigating. You might find some aspect of the harp world that really speaks to you and then you’ll know, that’s the right way to go.
And please do let me know how your paper comes out! 🙂
Just wanted to thank everyone for this thread, esp. Tony for mentioning the mikes. I bought a used iPad earlier this week on eBay and will be using it as a field recorder to collect nature sounds for the backgrounds on my new age harp recordings… also my husband wants to do a CD of his carillon playing at his two colleges here in Vermont. I had been buying licensed sound samples for the nature sounds, but wanted to do my own, (plus the rates went up and I was really going through my purchase plans). Originally I had thought to get the H2 Zoom recorder, but on second thought, the iPad sounded like a much more flexible option. Will let you know how everything goes! 🙂
Hi Mia,
I don’t have any experience with square-backed harps, but I’m guessing it’s a comfort issue… perhaps the rounded back of the harp just places easier into your shoulder. (I’m not too sure how you’d classify my Triplett harp – it’s somewhere between square and round!) Maybe someone else will have some ideas for your question.
