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Hi Sylvia,
I use a small Crate Taxi amplifier for smaller events, and a Bose PA system for larger ones. The Bose is much heavier, each section weighs about 25 lbs, I’m lucky my husband takes care of that for me. But the sound is amazing. When playing a wedding for a few hundred guests, the sound just blankets the area. I use a pickup built into the harp, but mic cables also plug in easily.
Sue
Hi Diane-michaels,
What you wrote is certainly true when arranging a piece of music which is still under copyright. And if that is what Jodi wants to do, she should seek permission as you wrote. But if she’s interested in arranging a public domain title, then no permission is needed.
🙂
1923 is the year to remember for public domain. I just did a quick google of this and found this explanation of US copyright law on the Stanford Univ. site.
Anything written before 1923 is currently public domain. You can use anything written before that year without permission. Legislation passed in 1998 states that in 2019 works that were published in 1923 will become public domain. In 2020, works published in 1924 will become public domain, and so on. There are additional terms that deal with works published after 1977.
Hope this helps a little.
Sue 🙂
Is this for recording or a live performance?
Using a microphone with a harp is best used when making a recording. Using a microphone to amplify the harp in a live performance will pickup ambient sounds (like your birds). I’ve seen videos of harpists using a mic playing live, but I’ve never tried that so I can’t comment on it.
I’ve installed a Fishman pickup in a harp using double sided tape, no drilling. I was able to remove the pickup with no damage to the harp when I sold it. I’ve also seen pickups which use a putty type material, where you stick the pickup on the soundboard using this putty and simply remove it when you’re done. Pickups are nice with harps because you just use a guitar cord and plug it in. If you need more volume, just turn up the amp. If you turn up the amp when using a mic, you’re also turning up the ambient noise.
Jodi,
Depending on what your expectations are, pickups are generally used for amplification in a live performance. Microphones will generally give better results in a recording that a pickup. I’m not saying you couldn’t use a pickup and microphone placement is also an important variable, it might not make a difference in a youtube video, but in general circumstances, you’d get better results from a microphone.
Sallie,
Gretchen has filled you in with a lot of good advice. Within the ForScore app, is a utility called “Darkroom”. With that utility you can quickly take a photo of your sheet music and ForScore will convert that image to a PDF.
I have all of my music in Finale format already, so it’s easy to make PDFs from there. I thought I would need a foot pedal, but so far it’s working without one. I layout the music so the last measure on the page is a sustained note, which just rings for a moment as I tap the screen for a page turn.
This might not work if I was playing in an ensemble, but playing by myself, the page turns have not been an issue.
I’ve been experimenting with different lighting and now feel comfortable indoors with it in the evening. Once it warms up, I’ll have to bring it outside and see what I need to do to make that work.
Sue 🙂
Hi Anne,
I’ll give you a slightly different take on this. Depending on your situation, having a 2nd harp that you can use when conditions are less than ideal might be the answer.
I did a bridal show a few months ago. Another harpist was also a vendor. I booked two weddings while I was at the show because I didn’t have a temperature clause and the other harpist did.
Think of it from the bride’s perspective. She wants the wedding to be perfect. She’s hiring a harpist months in advance, so she’ll have no worries. Yet the harpist says that if the weather conditions aren’t right, she can’t play. If I was that bride, I wouldn’t agree to that.
So in my case, buying a second harp was the answer. I chose a CF model, so the weather truly isn’t an issue. It’s worked for me.
Sue
I used SmartScore, though not the current version.
Here’s their site:
http://www.musitek.com
It appears they do have demo versions available of some of their products.Hi Jodi,
I’ve never used Musescore, so I don’t know what that note entry is like. I have both Finale and Sibelius (full versions). I prefer FInale simply because I learned it first and is more second nature to me. But both are excellent products.
My experience with scanning has been mixed. The scanning program included with Finale was somewhat limited, so we purchased a separate music scanning program. I found that it worked well with simple pieces of music, the more complex the music was, the more errors were introduced in the scanning process. It was unfortunate because the simple pieces which scanned well, were very easy and quick to enter manually. The complex pieces where scanning could have saved a lot of time, required more time to fix the errors. It was kind of a catch-22. This was a few years ago, so possibly the scanning has improved. I would see if any demo versions are available and try them out before purchasing anything.
Good Luck!
To play in Db, assuming that you’re harp is tuned in Eb, you would manually tune all of the G and D strings down a half step, then your harp would be tuned in Db.
“Do you tune by ear? Or can you tune it by digital tuner, if you wanna tune your harp in the key of C?
And if you wanna play in the key of D flat? There all flats, or would it then be easier to play in the key of C sharp? Or will this sound terrible different?”
I use a digital tuner (a Snark) to tune my harp in C.
For the key of Db major, it’s a little trickier. With an Eb tuning, you can’t play in Db. As you said, you’d have to tune the harp in C, and flip all of the levers putting you in C# major. (enharmonically the same as Db) But you’d have to transpose the sheet music down a step to make it sound correct. It’s a little confusing but technically possible.
Hi byouke,
With a lever harp, you have the option of deciding how you would like it tuned. As you mentioned, many people tune their harp in Eb, so playing all open strings puts you in the key of Eb. Flipping the B, E and A levers puts you in the key of C. But their is no way to play in the key of B major, without some lever flipping during the piece.
On the other hand, many lever harpists tune their harp in the key of C major. All open strings produce a C major scale. If your harp is tuned this way, you can easily flip, the F, C, G, D and A levers to play in the key of B major.
It’s your choice based on what your personal needs are.
Good Luck!
Gretchen,
This is my first time posting. I’ve been reading this forum for quite a while, but thought I could add something to this topic.
My husband uses Finale professionally for a publisher. But I’ve gotten adept at it as well. What I believe you’re asking about is music scanning software. It’s been a few years since I’ve tried it, but the results I got weren’t what I’d hoped for. It seemed that the more complex the music, the less accurate the scanning was. I found myself spending quite a bit of time fixing the mistakes that scanning introduced. I find it easier and more accurate to just enter the music directly in Finale without scanning, then transposing the key if necessary.
Without seeing your music, I can’t be sure. But if you’re planning on making a transposition from Eb to Ab, you might need to do some editing as well as the transposition. Make sure that the transposition of a 4th doesn’t move any notes out of your harp’s range. Since this is to accompany a vocalist, it might help to also be aware of the tessitura of the voice. Sometimes changing an inversion of a chord is helpful when transposing, so it doesn’t interfere with the soloist. All of this editing can be done easily in a music notation program.
Good luck.
