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I was leaning toward these two over the Electro36!
Have you worn the body harness? My father has a device for holding his camera (we have a family owned media business) and it has a body harness. It used to kill his back until we got it adjusted just right, then he said the weight was distributed over his back.
— Natalie
I have a pedal harp so I don’t think I can help much, but Dusty Strings, Lyon and Healy, Salvi, Camac, are some very dependable brands. I am absolutely in love with the sound of Dusty’s, although I don’t own one. Dusty’s would be at the top of your price range, but most good harps of this size are. I love all their models though!
As far as levers I’ve never had the chance to try Camac levers but they look like they are simply amazing, but without experience I can’t say that they actually are as smooth as the look. Loveland levers are very nice and are definitely a wonderful thrill after the retro dinosaur levers (I played an original Troubadour from Lyon and Healy that had the most ancient levers I’d ever seen, they were terrible!) .
Really search around on harp websites and narrow down your favorites. I love the sound of Dusty’s but they are very “bright”, and many people many not like that sound. Most harps you can find sound samples of or look on youtube.com and search up different models. A lot of times you can hear the harp play a whole song and get an “ear” for it. I hope this helps, God bless!
— Natalie
I had one gut string which faded to a yellow-ish color on my pedal harp. Only a few weeks later it broke. I had no idea why and it was only one string, now that it’s been replaced it hasn’t happened again.
Perhaps ordering another set of strings? But as Tayce said below, if the sound is good does it matter? I have no idea what would cause the strings to yellow, in my case my harp is also completely away from the sun and none of the other strings changed so I don’t think it could be light exposure! I hope you find a solution!
— Natalie
Hmmm if I had to be tied down by a stand at that point I’d probably just want a pedal harp…
Most of the songs I play don’t use the full range of 40 strings on my pedal harp so a smaller range probably wouldn’t be much a problem, but thank you that’s a wonderful idea I’ll experiment! 🙂
That would be amazing if they made the DHC with more strings, electric harps are so interesting I’d love to see some new models.
Have you played any of these harps?
Thanks for the reply!
— Natalie
That’s amazing! She was an orchestral harpist with very strong technique right? Did she explain how she did overcome it?
— Natalie
Oh thank you that’s great advice, and just what I need! My fingers are very weak, watching me open a jar with a lid must be funny for others to watch.
— Natalie
Electro 36 – Camac (32 strings, 11.02 pounds/5kg)
DHC Blue Light – Camac (36 strings, 28.66 pounds/13kg)
Oops I totally messed up on my little chart, below I corrected it!
Electro 36 – Camac (36 strings, 28.66 pounds/13 kg)
DHC Blue Light (32 strings, 11.02 pounds/ 5 kg.)
Sorry about that, the DHC Light is obviously the lighter and smaller of the two Camac harps and the Electro 36 has 36 strings not 32…. I need to pay more attention to my typing! :O
Just checked out the repertoire lists – they seemed all over the place! On some of the higher grades there are pieces that I would reserve for the most advanced players, but some that I think middle schoolers should be playing. How strange! But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a syllabus for harp that didn’t seem all over the place.
~Sam
I’m just a student too, but my teacher gave me some advice on this so I hope I can help!
It helps to very slowly pluck each string one at a time (from low to high) and increase the speed until you are technically rolling them. Just focusing on one chord for a few minutes and slowing it down till your technique is down should help!
Good luck with the audition!— Natalie
http://www.harpcenter.com/product/friou-rodgers-hammerstein-book/
This is a really nice book with I think 5 songs from the Sound of Music! It also has songs from South Pacific, Oklahoma, and a few other famous plays.I hope this helps, God bless!
— Natalie
Oh I know the scratch thing is annoying but harpconnection.com has special “markers” for the harp that can cover up scratches, they come in a variety of wood colors including ebony, mahogany, maple, etc, so it’s not a terrible problem. 🙂
— Natalie
I prefer black, but that is ENTIRELY personal preference. I love white for clothes and other things but when it comes to harps I love them dark! I have a Lyon and Healy 85 petite pedal harp, and I was torn between ebony or mahogany finishes. I went with mahogany but my next harp will probably be black!
When it comes to weddings I think a black harp will be much more elegant. White harps make me think of Elton John type looks with white pianos… Not that it’s bad but I just think black is a little more classy. It’s up to you though, pick what you like best!
And thank you for mentioning you were a boy, a lot of people don’t do that on here and then I get confused with how to answer them… =_=
— Natalie (Yeah I’m girl, but I think most people would know that by reading me name. ;P)
Oh I’m so sorry!
I’ve never broken a bone in my body, so I don’t have any experience with this. But I did want to say that I’m truly sorry, I know what it’s like to have to take a break from jobs/practicing the harp and it’s really awful. Just make sure you give your wrist time to heal, it’ll be tough now but in the long run your wrist and harp will thank you! I hope you feel better soon, God bless!
— Natalie
Thank you for the response!
This is pretty crazy, I mean music is something very difficult to restrict. It’s like prohibition in the 1920’s, you can ban liquor but people will find a way to get to it… I obviously believe music is much better than alcohol, but there are people who can figure stuff out by ear, create their own arrangements. I don’t think stealing music is right, but also if you can play a song then it can become great publicity for the original composer. That would only work if the performer was honest and declared the song’s original writer I suppose… It’s a very tricky business! I can’t even imagine a $3 million liability!Again thanks to everyone who has responded this is helping me a lot! God bless!
— Natalie
