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I really agree with Carl here. The Grecian might be light, but it’s really an antique. What you’re suggesting is comparable to driving an original Ford Model T down the highway through commuter traffic to work every day. It’s just not appropriate.
~Sam
I don’t have a recommendation for a tuner, but I would be surprised if the tuner was the culprit. Unless you’re buying one that is truly dirt cheap, then it is probably sufficient. There are other factors you might want to consider. If the harp is not tuned very often, it will have a hard time keeping its tune. Perhaps the harp was perfectly in tune when your daughter was finished tuning it, but it could have slipped out of tune between that time and performance time. Another consideration is how well your daughter can tune. Just because you have a tuner doesn’t mean that your harp will magically be in tune. You have to use your ear as well and make sure that your tuning exactly as possible given the equipment. Maybe this helps, I don’t know.
~Sam
I was able to glance at the new price list when I was in Chicago last month. The price increases were not too large (in comparison with the overall cost of a harp). Gold instruments were receiving the most of a price increase, whereas most of the non-gold instruments were almost unaffected (again, in comparison with the overall cost of a harp).
Sam
There was an interesting presentation at the World Harp Congress this past summer that showed a good correlation between how well the back of the harp vibrated and the quality of the sound. I don’t know which woods one could use to change this variable, but it was very interesting.
~Sam
Joe,
The following page directs you to email the “Ad Administrator.” I hope this helps.
http://www.harpcolumn.com/classifieds/
Best,
Sam Karlinski
Luanne,
Just so you know, your 23 now sounds wonderful! I couldn’t be happier to have bought it from you! Hopefully you’ll get to hear me play on it some day.
~Sam
Amy,
There have been other threads on this site that have lots of information on all the types of strings you can use, so if you go there you’ll probably find more useful information than asking here. I think I started one of them a while back, so you can just go into my posting history to find it!
Saul,
It sounds like the general consensus is that the new soundboard is an improvement. People who didn’t like Salvi’s are now opening up to them, and people who already liked them now like them even more. On what basis do you say that it is a step in the wrong direction? Have you played or heard one of these harps? If anything, I think a louder Salvi would also have louder overtones, thereby becoming closer to the sound that you said you enjoy.
~Sam
I’m not familiar with semi grand harps, so I can’t really say for certain. However, the projection was overall very good even though it probably will not project as much as an L&H, but that’s partly in the nature of the brand’s unique sound. Another consideration here is that Apollos are widely considered to be Salvi’s best projecting harp, but my observation that the board sounded already somewhat broken probably means the projection would be better in comparison with an “old concept” soundboard. Her soundboard had to be replaced because it was punctured in three places – no one is truly sure how it happened. It was not a structural issue with the harp.
~Sam
One of my teachers needed to have her Apollo soundboard replaced early this year, and I remember her telling me that the company was putting in a “new technology” soundboard – sounds like the same thing to me! When she got the harp back, it sounded just as broken in as when she had sent it over (granted, the harp was only a year old at maximum). It would seem that the projection and warmth of tone were greatly improved.
~Sam
The spacing of the strings is why you’re missing strings. This is not uncommon, but your hand and arm position should be unaffected. If your hand or arm position is changing, then I’d guess that you haven’t found the correct height at which to sit while playing the harp you have lessons on. Try changing the bench height next time!
~Sam
Maria,
A player’s tone quality can be affected by technique, articulation, and physical variations. Closing well helps (technique) as well as really pulling the string before releasing (articulation). I also have very wide, fleshy fingers, which helps tremendously. Most women don’t seem to have fingers wide or fleshy enough to get a fantastically warm, lush sound naturally. In order to achieve the same sound, they might have to concentrate on the technical aspects a bit more, but this does not mean that their sound will not be wonderful!
~Sam
I agree! Pick them all! BUT I think that warm and bright probably cannot coexist. If that’s the case, you need to take into consideration your own tone. If you personally play very warmly, you can accentuate (perhaps too much) that trait by playing a warm sounding harp. You can do the same if you have a bright tone on a bright harp. I think that personally I sound best on a harp that’s on the brighter side. I have a warm tone, but I like the balance between tone clarity and warmth I get on a slightly brighter harp. So to get the sound I want, I have to take into consideration my playing as well. For someone else to achieve the same sound, he may require a different harp than I require. Does that make sense? I don’t know if that was helpful or not.
~Sam
I also use the Zoom H2. You can hear sounds bits on my youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/SKharp23 All videos except the concerto performance were recorded with my Zoom H2.
I was hesitant about investing the money into this recording device, but I think it’s proved itself worth the cost!
Of course, the sound, especially in a venue like a chapel (where my videos were recorded), is highly variable with the placement of the mic. I was extremely picky about where I put it, but you can place it wherever and it will give you a good sound. It records directly to your computer, which is a nice plus.
~Sam
I go to do that all the time on this site, Katherine! I actually suggested to Kim that if they redesign the website, that should be a feature (and that could keep “well liked” threads and comments on the homepage, which would be nice, instead of just recent posts).
~Sam
Heat damage can be the worst for your harp, and on top of that the temperatures that can harm the harp are surprisingly low (120 is what I think I’ve heard. Sure, it never gets that hot outside but you should think twice about leaving your harp in the parked car in the summer). The heat will melt the glue that holds the harp together, completely ruining it. Luckily, I believe that a harp really either gets no damage or it gets completely decimated. That’s lucky because if you can’t see or feel anything immediately wrong, then there’s probably nothing to worry about. Perhaps I’ve got my facts wrong and a more qualified person will step in and correct me, but I know for a fact that glue melting is a serious problem that anyone living in an area with a summer season needs to be weary of.
~Sam
