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(in fact it is on average 0.65 of the tension of the double-strung version, when the single is obviously 0.5 of the double), […] The design of the double-strung is pretty much identical to that of the single, so there should be no issues of a lower tension sounding bad.
Just picking up on this where it reads to me as though you aren’t being clear between the total tension on the harp and the tension on a string and how each affects the sound and the harp.
For reference, my Eve currently has a total pull of 280 kg on it – I can’t find the figure for what it had with nylon.
Biagio, is there a reason you are suggesting steel cored wound wires? I would have inclined towards fibre cored wires for a more even sound. Mae, Salopian do custom wound wires if you want anything special.
The programme you are joining is all recently composed music so the conductor may wish to stick with this timescale. If you have time to learn it a bug or spider or two by Paul Patterson might fit the bill perfectly. Otherwise composers which haven’t been mentioned include David Watkins (the Fire Dance alone is too short, but the whole suite might work), William Mathias, Bernard Andres (I might well turn to a few of his Epices in this situation). But do be sure you have time to learn the piece and want to – I would be really cautious about any organiser looking to choose from the harp repertiore, rather than my repertoire!
To chime in on the sounding decent at a lower pitch I have a Stoney End Eve which sounds decent at an octave lower than it had when it came to me. It now has brass strings and greatly increased tension.
You shouldn’t need to confine yourself to the few strings the Bardic has (and the Aziliz too). Years ago The Cambridge Music Gallery (on Kings Hedges Road) got exactly the string I wanted in for me and I presume some shops which stock other Savarez strings could do the same. I see Bow Brand have KF on their website under Nylon now too.
I have an old 3 wheeler and lived up a flight of stairs for a couple of years – got a bit boring, but with good technique (use your leg muscles!) I could get my CG up by myself. I can also do stairs fine with big single wheels. The differences for me are the 3 wheel can be a bit awkward on shallow steps, up or down. On the other hand I have met stairs with such narrow treads that I would not be able to rest a large wheel and feel stable to take a breather.
Also make very sure your handles or handle cover can’t pull off!
Part c is easy, depending on part a. See links at bottom of: http://www.savarez.fr/anglais/alliance-kf-harp-strings.html#
The lack of medallion may be deliberate as there can be an issue with kit built instruments and the maker not wanting the reputation of their own instruments to be affected by a poorly finished kit. They could of course engrave a medallion with ‘kit’ instead of the serial number, but that is about all there is room for on them. If it were mine I would be more interested in making a personal one than using theirs anyway.
If I were you and had to choose I would pay for help with pain and have no harp lessons for a little – but it is your choice. I am sure your teachers would understand if helping you is beyond their knowledge.
This person is in Paris, but there must be people with similar expertise closer to you.
If your harp teacher says you aren’t sitting right, but can’t work out how to correct the problem can she help find you someone who can? Perhaps have both harp teacher and a posture and movement specialist watching you at the same time?
Where I am I would expect to pay about twice the cost of a harp lesson for the movement help, and from your pain it would probably help your playing more, even if you needed to cancel a couple of harp lessons to afford it.
And as Gretchen points out, if you can comfortably play your harp except the A pedal, playing music which doesn’t need you to change that pedal sounds really sensible.
Have you thought about how different mistakes are on the harp? On many instruments a mistake can be immediately rectified – a note started with bad tone or not perfectly in tune can be improved, a wrong note slid into the right one or the next one played right. On the harp the sound is out there and the chances for recovering are later and different. Your fingers aren’t in position to turn a wrong note into a grace note and maybe your placement for the next notes is gone too. So for a harpist completely losing the notes can happen more easily and holding yourself to your own standards on other instruments will probably lead to frustration. You also need to develop different techniques for mistake recovery – I haven’t really thought about articulating what I do before, but keep the pulse going, keep in style and try to get back on track in a couple of seconds.
How much of your perfomances are of repertoire you have performed before? I find performing a piece for the first time is very different from one that has been out several times before.
You might also like some of Bernard Andres’s pieces: the ones that spring first to mind are La Gimblette, Automates, or the more advanced and less classically classical Epices. The shorter pieces string together well into sets.
I am sorry that the solution you hoped for is not working out – but hope you can find something which does work.
My first suggestion is have you recently had a really expert bra fitting. Anyone know who the US equivalent of Rigby and Peller or Bravissimo is?
Secondly, has your physiotherapist actually watched you play the harp? Someone who is an expert on movement and bodies should try to help you before you take the big decision to sell. Alexander technique, physiotherapy or pilates all might be able to help, but need to work with you with both your harp and usual chair or stool.
You can do it, but it needs a bit of thought and calculation and there is a very high likelihood that your harp will sound dire once you have done it. Try tuning the strings you have on the harp down a 6th. Do you like the sound?
Chances are it will sound flubby – which may be improved a little by slightly increasing the thickness of the strings. If you put too thick strings on you will increase the tension on the harp and this is what could pull it apart (consult the maker about if it can take more tension, some can, others can’t). To learn what strings you can put on it without increasing the tension above what it was designed for you will need to either do the string calculations or have someone like Markwood strings do them for you. To know you are not risking the harp is more complicated than just buying a 7th C and putting it on the bottom.
Does the harp have levers? Thicker strings will mean they will all be out of regulation and some harpware may need changing, especially if you are putting wound strings where monofilament used to be.
No you didn’t say anything about having it both ways – but as I see it the wider situation does impact on what you are facing now. People generally want to pay the least they can and the people who are charging less presumably fall into one of three categories:
1) Providing less – these are the ones I was mainly talking about and to compete with them educating the client about why you are providing a better service and they should want to pay more to get more seems the way forward.
2) A poor business plan and will eventually find they can’t make a living – of these some will stop trying to compete, and others will raise their prices. I think these may be the ones you are most thinking about, where educating students in business studies might help, to get them to charge sustainable prices from the start. Sadly, there is likely to be a constant supply of new people coming into the business, so it goes back to educating the client about why they should pay more for what you offer.
3) Not actually needing the money, either because of an alternative source of income, or living a cheaper lifestyle – some of these may raise their prices if they can be brought to think about the consequences of their actions.
