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I think your harp has nylon strings which aren’t particularly high tension? It will be fine. Sure, theoretically it is a little harder on the strings but so is using levers and a harp is there to be played.
You may need to tune the strings you are changing twice (or more) to get them to hold the new key but I have seen people do it in the middle of a concert fine.
Less convenient for your side of the pond, but I find that the Pilgrim Aldeburgh and Malvern have a particularly short or low playing position.
Weight shouldn’t be an issue for playing the harp – moving it is a different matter. As I play, the pedal harp rests nearly at its balance point, so little weight on me, and that is on the knees not the shoulder which often isn’t even touching the instrument. It would squish me otherwise. Do ask her teacher about posture if she is having problems.
I would expect any harp maker to be willing to put non-gut strings on if you bought it, and most could advise on how successful the restringing would be. But the harp would sound a bit or even very different with a change of string material. There might be an added cost of the new set if they were changing strings, rather than putting the artificial ones on when it was made.
As Jennifer says, Pilgrim do lighter tension harps too – the Skylark and Ashdown. Tim Hampson’s harps are beautiful – there is a 2nd hand Ossian 34 advertised at the moment for £2400. There are lots of great harp models, it is a matter of choosing one you love.
Is the folk harp holding tune by now? I had one of that model which acquired the name Ethelred as it took so much tuning before it behaved itself.
(Oh and if you are playing a lever harp as a practical and affordable matter knowing that you want to play a pedal harp later ‘move up’ is to my mind a perfectly reasonable description as it is the direction you want to go. Grring at that annoys me as much as the opposite assumption that smaller harps are not fine instruments in their own right. Why not enjoy the variety of harps and harpists?)
The publication date which goes with your story fits better with the Maurice Senart publication number than the 1910 date does.
Someone of that name who I presume was the same person was 2nd runner up in the Conservatoire class in 1912 http://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/cgi-bin/bluemtn?a=d&d=bmtnabh191207-01.2.12&e=——-en-20–1–txt-txIN——-#
Hi Gretchen, I chose a bit of leather that looked the same thickness as the felt I was taking off and sewed them on with a sturdy needle and pliers – I think I put them on over the black rubber thingy that was under the felts. I think it may have been bag leather – sturdier than most leather coats, but not as hard as belts or bridlework.
Pilgrim I think use sueded leather, I used stuff with an outer smooth surface and have had very occasional squeaks which went away with leather dressing or wax. I like to think I would have noticed or someone would have mentioned if my harp had pedal noise anywhere near as bad as you surmise, Carl!
I use leather, but it isn’t that common. Pilgrim use leather for some harps, and some antique restorers. Mine was offcuts from a cobbler of the right thickness and I put them skin side out. See my post here for a bit about why https://harpcolumn.com/forums/topic/learning-harp-regulation-maintenance/
Do you know:
Zabel Marguerite Douloureuse au Rouet op 26
Bernard Andres Epices
David Watkins Petite Suite
Glinka NocturneThat is great news. For future reassurance, my experience of buzzes has been that the vast majority drive me demented tracking down exactly what is buzzing but are then easy to solve. A string that needed changing, a loose screw, long string ends and lightfittings in the room have all, briefly, made my life a misery.
When talking about harps for other people I feel it is very important to be aware that people have different preferences. Harps I personally like and enjoy playing is not the same list as good quality harps I would be happy to recommend to others. As a case in point I admire the craftsmanship and design of the Ravenna, but don’t enjoy playing it anywhere near as much as I like its higher tension gut strung sibling, the Boulevard. Life would be boring if we all liked and played identical harps.
Is it by any chance the smaller version of one of these? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sherwood-Shannon-Harp-30/dp/B000VPHCNW
The Border 25 string harp, I believe no longer made, sold quite widely in general music stores as the Sherwood Brian Boru model. If it is, and you need to change any levers they may well be Pilgrim’s £2.90 ones http://www.pilgrimharps.co.uk/145-Components/View-all-products.htmlExactly where and which direction are the cracks?
Repeated tuning is standard for a neglected harp, give it a month or two. Assuming the cracks aren’t getting wider! If the tuning pins are slipping back after tuning ask here as this can be sorted fairly easily.
Do you actually need amplification? With a contact microphone I wonder if a stethoscope system would be enough – at least one of my tuners takes both a microphone (I use a clip on) and earphones. My old minidisk player did too. I would try that first, though there might be more battery efficient solutions.
L&H published a booklet Happiness is a Contented Harp in 1982 for just this situation, I assume there were not so many harp technicians, or they didn’t travel as much. I also like the Pratt Affairs of the Harp which covers the basics but is also interesting reading on how to replace a harp neck if there is no expert accessible. I also have The Harp Maintenance booklet by Budin but don’t think it has anything the others don’t. Carl Swanson’s guide to harp care has the advantage that I believe it is in print – but I don’t have a copy and am not sure if it has all you need.
I do most of my own maintenance and regulation and one of the things I did was change my pedal felts to leather and am very glad I did – that was maybe 13 years back and I haven’t needed to replace them since. Because they have done all the compacting they are going to the harp needs far less regulation than I think it would with compacting/new felts. They are a bit noisier and I need to pedal neatly, but it is worth it to me.
If you want (with permission from the owner) to colour the wire strings on the harp you are borrowing then Simon Chadwick sells paint markers for the purpose – and the colour can be removed. http://www.earlygaelicharp.info/emporium/accessories/
