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Oh, certainly. I was more commenting on the idea of getting a USB turntable and doing it yourself. As far as things stand that is perfectly legal.
However if I had a professional studio I definitely wouldn’t do it for hire for anyone else. That would just be opening yourself up to all sorts of liability since it is a commercial enterprise.
Anyway, I have a USB turntable and have converted a few dozen of my LPs to digital and it works surprisingly well. I use audacity
I don’t currently take lessons, but when I did I did not regularly take my own harp to lessons. Only twice when I was playing strictly lever harp. One of which was my first lesson so she could check out my harp and show me how to tune and check my posture at my own harp since it was smaller than the one I would be taking lessons on.
I took lessons on her Troubadour at first and later on her L&H Style 23. Once I started on pedal harp the idea of taking my own harp to lessons would have been out of the question as I didn’t have a car big enough to put a pedal harp in.
I never had any particular problem going from harp to harp even though my first lever harp had folk style stringing (lighter gauge and closer together) and the Troubadour, of course, is strung very much like a pedal harp.
I agree with those who say that the bigger issue is simply nerves playing during lessons with your teacher watching than it is the difference in the harp, not that the difference doesn’t play any role, just not as much as I think we tend to attribute to it.
And I also agree with the person who said that it is actually a good thing that we make more mistakes at lessons as that really does show where the extra work is needed. After all, if you
I think that many people who have sung it have altered the original lyrics to intentionally make it a less sad song. But all the older version I have seen have the last verse as:
“Last night she came to me, My dead love came in So softly she came That her feet made no din As she laid her hand on me And this she did say It will not be long, love, ‘Til our wedding day”
Many of the more recent version I have heard over the past ten years or so change “my dead love” to “my young love”.
The verse that is also often left out is the third which begins:
“The people were saying, No two e’er were wed But one had a sorrow That never was said…”
Not a happy sentiment for a wedding, but these days this verse is rarely sung it seems. The song gets watered down a bit because it really doesn’t paint either a happy story or a positive depiction of love and marriage.
I have never seen anything like that, but it sounds like a wonderful learning experience and lots of fun. A great opportunity and wonderful that you are taking advantage of it.
This should be more common. In fact in the current print issue of The Harp Column in the interview with Skaila Kanga she makes a point of how new harp students at the Royal Academy of Music typically lack the same ensemble experience that most of the other students have due to lack of opportunity for it, and that they make a focused effort to get the harp students up to speed in that area.
This seems like the perfect kind of first step for a student for getting that kind of experience and would be great to see more of.
Hey Tacye,
That’s interesting. I have never seen anyone do it on a larger harp before. I suppose so long as you can still reach the strings and balance the harp why not?
It’s a good thing I have no set plans today. I just spent the past hour watching video of Mary on youtube. I am always struck by how unbelievably beautiful her voice is.
Here are some images of Mary O’Hara showing how she sat at the harp. These are publicity photos, but I have seen video of her play and this is how she sat when she played as well. (the first is a bit exaggerated with the harp a bit farther to the side that she typically sat, but generally it is how she sat)
Depends on the type of harp. Smallish lever harps can be played this way, and in fact this is not uncommon
She didn’t just die. She came back as a ghost and basically told him he was going to die soon too.
Lyric wise, definitely not an appropriate song for a wedding. But a reasonably pretty melody so as an instrumental I can see why they might like it. However I think I would point out to them the nature of the song and see if they still want to use it. If they do it’s their wedding and their dime.
I knit and it has never negatively effected my playing. In fact I find it keeps my hands in good shape and relaxed.
It sounds to me like either one or two things going on. One is that like anything else
I’m a bit confused by your description of the harp’s position.
The way I understand it and from my experience attending various symphony’s that from the conductors perspective (facing the orchestra with his back to the audience) the harps are to the conductor’s left.
The reason I was told long ago is that once upon a time (and still depending on who you are talking to) the harp was considered a percussion instrument and so the harp is traditionally positioned close to the percussion section. Most often in front of the percussion and behind the second violin section.
Today the harp tends to be classified as a “plucked stringed” instrument, which is the classification the Harvard Dictionary of Music gives to it.
Of course there are variations with different orchestras based on the conductor’s and Music Director’s preference, and sometimes individual pieces of music make having the instruments in different positions preferable. But the above positioning seems to be the general standard. As for the reasoning, this is what I was told but I can’t say for sure how accurate that is. But it does makes sense. I recall seeing it listed in several references as a part of the percussion section.
Another rational I have heard for the positioning of the harp rather far back near the percussion is that the harp is supposed to normally blend in with the music and typically not take a central stage except when soloing or playing a cadenza. Interestingly I recall reading that other than the concert master the harpist it typically the most likely to be called upon to play solos or cadenzas, which is why the harpist is considered a principle player.
Can you put the F and A pedals down without problem? If so then I doubt the problem is strength. If it were you would have difficulty with more than that one pedal.
It is possible that you simply are not comfortably positioned at the harp. If you often hit the A when you mean to hit the G pedal you probably have the harp too close.
I like to have my leg almost fully extended when reaching for the A pedal. Not quite, but almost. It puts the harp in an overall good position for me so that I can reach the full range of strings without straining and the harp is in a good position so that I can balance it easily when I pull it back. It also makes it easy to determine where my feet are and where the pedals are.
I would suggest playing around with the distance you have the harp to your bench until you find a better distance for you.
It is possible that you have a strength issue, but I can’t fathom why it would show with that one pedal. The closer in the more strength you should have and the farther out the less, so if the issue is strength then the pedal you should have the most difficulty with should be the A pedal.
