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Indeed. If you ever get the chance to see the film Lacho Drom do so. The film makers went all around the world filming Gypsies from all over making music. While there is definitely a common thread that goes though all the music, in general each group of Gypsies’ music had clear regional sounds. Indian, Arabic, Eastern European, etc…
I think when most people in the West talk about Gypsy music they are talking about some form of Eastern European music. The group Golden Bough does some stuff that could be classified as Gypsy sounding, and Margie Butler does some nice stuff with some of it on harp as part of the group. You may want to check out some of their recordings for ideas.
Thanks, but I’m still not back yet. I just finally reached a spot where I can get the Internet on my phone. I’m supposed to leave tonight from Amman, but there are already delays. I’ve had to re-book my connecting flight, but if the delay is much longer then the “estimate” I’ll miss that too. No telling when I will actually make it back.
Personally I like mahogany. My lever harp is mahogany and I love the look.
I’m off for a while on holiday so this is my last post foe a while, so I will leave you with this bit of advice: trust your instincts.
“An ebony finish, to my view, is adding a thicker layer that will inhibit the sound.”
That sounds reasonable in theory, but I just had my
I doubt most harp builders are going to use the best grained wood for something that is going to be covered. Besides, I thought that most pedal harps were veneered anyway? Perhaps I am wrong about that, but I thought most of the larger builders used veneers and the underlying wood was all pretty much the same.
But even if not, I know that electric guitar builders save the nicest looking wood for guitars that will have a transparent finish that shows the grain, and that the wood that is otherwise good but has visual imperfections are the ones they coat in opaque finishes. I would think that harp builders do the same. Nice looking wood must be hard to come buy. If I were building an instrument I wouldn’t use it on something that is going to get covered up.
Perhaps Carl will stop by this thread and enlighten us.
YJ,
Although there is some variation from harp to harp, Saul is right that as a rule Lyon and Healy harps tend to be fairly constant with good tone. To me the 100s do sound a lot like the 23s and I think the 100 is a good choice.
The 100 is a perfectly acceptable, professional quality harp. It has no limitations that would prevent you from using it long into a career as a professional harpist.
So assuming good tone,
Well, maybe we are all a little biased, but just remember, when a composer puts a harp part into a composition they do it for a reason. Because they feel that the harp adds something to that composition. So to think that the harp in a particular piece that includes it is the icing on the cake is a valid interpretation.
If the harp didn’t make a difference to the piece the composer or arranger wouldn’t have put it there in the first place. If
I have not personally heard a harp part played on synthesizer as part of a community orchestra before, but I have heard it done that way on Broadway and local musical theatre and I agree, it sounds awful.
I can always tell instantly when they are faking the harp. Some instruments are easier to fool people about using synthesizers, but harp is not one of them.
Yes. The Troubadour can be strung with either, so changing them shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, nylon produces less tension than gut so generally speaking it is pretty much always safe to go from gut to nylon, although not always safe to go from nylon to gut.
Also the Troubadour is made for concert gauge strings, not folk gauge strings, so I would avoid restringing it with folk gauge.
I believe the Troubadour comes with gut in the Fifth octave and nylon in the 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st octaves, and that is how they recommend stringing it. However you can restring the entire 5th octave with Pedal nylon if you wish.
I keep the fifth on my L&H Folk harp strung with Pedal Gut and the rest in nylon and I really like the way that sounds. On my Pedal
I think you are confusing relaxed with flaccid.
Having the fingers fall a little higher than the last is actually the natural way your fingers will fall. That doesn’t create tension. In the first link pictures 3, 4, and 5 are good examples of what it means to have tense or locked fingers.
Of course there is some tension. Without it your fingers would just be hanging there unable to do anything. But you don’t want your hands to look like you are making a claw of or them, or have the fingers pushed back so that the joints are hyper extending back, particularly the joint at the tip of the fingers.
Your fingers should curve constantly all the way to the tip so that when you pluck your finger tips aren’t flopping back like a weak plectrum. That doesn’t produce good tone, and it also throws off timing since the string ends up being released whenever you reach the give point of your joint rather than at the moment you choose when moving the finger in the first place.
The fingers have to be one above the other so that they don’t get in each other’s way. If they are all on the same plane across the strings then when you pull them back you will be pulling them into each other.
You should try to pull the fingers flat in to the palms, and the thumb down over the knuckle of the pointer finger, as much as possible.
Of course there are times when you are playing a fast and difficult passage where it is impossible to get
Definitely call Dusty. And check everything that can come into contact with the string in that general area. It may be hard to tell exactly where the break happened since the string is stretched out when tuned up but things shift when it goes slack after it breaks.
So check the tuning pin itself, but also the bridge pin, and check the lever. Even though the strings may not have broken while the levers were engaged if the levers have a rough edge to them they could we wearing and weakening the string enough that they eventually just break from the tension on them.
Look very closely, and use your hands and your eyes because this kind of thing can be hard or impossible to just see with your eyes. I had a string that kept breaking at the soundboard right at the sound hole. It took two new strings breaking before I noticed that the metal grommet set in the string hole was broken and creating a sharp edge that was cutting the string. I had to get right up to it to see it and when I ran my finger along it I felt it immediately, but from any distance it was invisible, even when I was changing the string I didn’t see it because I wasn’t looking for it.
I started on lever because at first the music I wanted to play was best suited for lever, and it was more affordable.
However I quickly developed a desire to play more chromatic music and so rented a pedal harp and started learning on that after about six months.
However due to finances and a move I had to give up that pedal harp and for many, many years had just my lever harp, and there was never a shortage of music for the lever harp to challenge and interest me.
However as finances got better I started to put aside money for a pedal harp because the music I really wanted to play I just couldn’t do on lever.
I still play on my lever harp. Some music just works better on it, and you can’t beat it for portability. I always, the right tool for the right job and sometimes the right tool is a pedal harp and sometimes a lever harp.
So there is no time limit or level of proficiency you need to reach on lever harp before a pedal harp becomes a viable option. If you want to play music that requires a pedal
Well, I guess someone will have to do an actual experiment. Now we just need to work out the details and get some guinea pigs..er…voulenteers.
LOL, sorry about that Kay.
But ultimately I think the point is that what is more important is allowing the harp to acclimate to the environment and keeping it maintained and tuned rather than “warming up” in terms of giving a little playing to get it ready for some ‘REAL’ playing.
So long as the harp is physically warm enough, and is in good working condition, there isn’t any reason to need to give it a warm up that I can think of.
I think any perception that the harp plays better after a warm up is really just the player warming up, not the harp.
