Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Actually, I’m whining because my 30-watt is a Marathon I got from Sylvia Woods at least 25 years ago (they had tried many and decided it was best), and I’ve had it worked on twice. My other is a Radio Shack 20-watt…. (don’t sneer…it is a great little trooper…sound goes in, and lots of sound comes out…I got it in an emergency when my Marathon broke down once…my only regret is they don’t make them anymore…I guess they used to make bigger ones…and this was the only one they had) I use them both at the same time and point them in different directions. I’ve gone to two stores and tried out lots of amps, but they don’t pick up well (except for a plugged-in guitar). Granted, I probably need an Audix microphone…one of those $600 things…. I thought I could just go in and get a new amp ….hah. (I tried old used ones, too, hoping they were more like my Marathon, but no). I’m not picky about sound quality….,I just want it loud. (gasp, I hear you from here) I use either a corded or wireless mike and put it on the floor (with padding) because the sound comes out of the bottom of the harp, not up by the strings. I’ve recorded with a small tape recorder near the same place while playing, and I don’t hear pedal changes. I’ve wondered if the audience could hear them, but if the recorder doesn’t, maybe not. Well, I’m sure this blog is not of interest to the young moderns who have different ways of doing things. I’m just venting, I guess. I’m sure something will work out. I’m going to investigate PAs…. All I want is sound in, sound out louder, so maybe something like that would work.
But where do you put the pickup, and doesn’t it amplify the pedal sounds and…if it has a cable, doesn’t the cable make sounds moving around?
Doesn’t anyone but me use a separate microphone with an amp?But doesn’t it pick up the sound of pedals moving? I had one years ago, and it amplified the pedals, plus the cord made a swishing sound every time I moved.
On the previous forum, there was a thread about harp names, so maybe you were not there at the time. My Aoyama Etude is Nina (Spanish for little girl), and my LH 15 is Hyacynth (2 Ys because the first time I wrote it, I spelled it that way accidentally, so I kept it…she’s a special hyacinth)
It’s from a Middle Eastern poem:
If thou of fortune be bereft
And to thee alone two loaves are left
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.I didn’t say anything about doors in that reply….I got carried away from the previous post about people wanting to help. If there is a doorstop on the door, I am effusive in my praise to anyone nearby. My love for buildings with doorstops knows no bounds. If there is none, I lament fervently on the lack of it. There is one church that has a doorstop now, I’m sure, because of that! (next time I went back there, there was a doorstop!)
When I’m loading is when most of the offers of help come. I tell them …:”No, thank you. If you grab the harp, it will throw me off balance.” That strikes fear in their heart. I tell them if they’d like to pray, that would be all right.
My personal rep is almost all “free left hand”….as I call it…but I don’t play jazz. I think you get a fuller sound that way anyway than trying to play a picky left hand. Anyway, the question came up when I played with a touring group last week that was here to give a concert, and there was only one part….all glisses.
You mean like none? Well, you know a lot of people think harpists play “classical” music, and that we are limited to only certain things. It’s just ignorance.
Two cents worth. I think it depends on what each person is comfortable with, what kind of shoes they wear, etc. I confess I am a lifelong barefoot practicer. I didn’t know there was a pedal technique, and I’ve played for 47 years. To me, direction is important: going from flats to naturals or naturals to sharps, I start at the outside and go in…..going from sharps to naturals or naturals to flats, I start at the inside and go out… because it eliminates unnecessary motion. When there is a mixture of both, I am pragmatic…whatever works easiest and/or fastest with the least amount of motion. I set pedals as far in advance as possible…for instance, if I have a harp part in Eb but my first A is natural, and the first D I will be playing is D#, I start with my pedals in Bb major with the D in sharp position. When there are measures of rest, I reset pedals then…not waiting until the last second. Like I say, I think everyone has his/her own ways of dealing with the harp.
I think trifocals are the same as progressives? with near, mid, and far ranges? I thought of that after I had written the previous message. Anyway, the trifocals are what did not work for me.
I’ve used bifocals for a long time…no problem looking from music to strings to conductor, etc….so I think you’re worrying unnecessarily maybe. Like Carl, I once tried progressive lenses. They were dangerous….made a blur right in front of me when I walked, and I had to tip my head to see distance. I took them back the same day!
