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Oh wow, thank you for the concern! But I don’t think I could afford to see a physical therapist. I do my best to not bend them the wrong way, and to not push them to hard. Did you have the same problem? You seem to know all about this.
— Natalie
Sylvia Woods has an amazing string chart, and you could try and contact their website.
http://www.harpcenter.com/category/other-lever-harp-strings
This link could possibly help you, but if not try and contact them to see if they can help.
Check the inside of the soundbox to see if there’s a name on it, you could hopefully get in touch with the friend that made it?
I hope this helps, God bless!
— Natalie
Hmmm. It says on the website that the finals for both divisions happened on the 22nd. The winner’s concert is supposed to be today. I wonder if they changed it.
I know OF three of the four finalists for the senior division, but that’s it.
~Sam
My teacher did mention something along those lines, but she didn’t have the exact names so thank you very very much!
— Natalie
Check the inside of the soundbox? Sometimes there’s a signature, or on bigger harp brands a brass plate with the name or a code. Most big brands proudly boast their name on the outside though, so I’m not sure. I hope that helped! Try posting a picture, maybe someone can identify it?
— Natalie
I think it’s funny because it’s true. ;P
One of my friends started to complain about tuning his 6 string guitar. I gave him a glare that will stay with him till death.
— Natalie
I haven’t played many types of harps, but I do know from talking to other harpists that if you choose a reliable brand than the sound will be beautiful. I have a Lyon and Healy 85 Petite and I absolutely love it! The sound is very, very full. Lyon and Healy, Salvi, Camac, Pilgrim, Ayoyama, and Venus are supposed to be wonderful companies with pedal harps. I hope I didn’t forget a company! I’ve only played on a Lyon and Healy or a Savli Daphne, so I’d find someone with more experience to take advice from. But try finding the websites of harp manufacturers and listen to some sound samples. Most harps are of equal quality just different tone, so it may be a matter of preference. I love the sounds of all the different harps! Sorry I can’t help you more!
— Natalie
Hi Colleen! I’m new to harp column and I love it too. Lots of great practical advice on here. When did you start playing/loving the harp? 🙂
I began when I was 11 years old, now I’m 17 and this is the first year I’m really applying myself. I absolutely love it!
Any favorite pieces?
I love 60’s and 70’s music, particularly bands like the Beatles. And I LOVE Sylvia Woods’ arrangements.That’s an interesting thought, thank you! I’ve found that by slightly curving my fingers inward, instead of trying to completely straighten them, my technique improves.
Natalie
It’s funny I never noticed it until my teacher pointed it out! When people find out I’m double jointed they always jokingly comment on how it must come in handy playing the harp…. They have no idea….. T_T
Natalie
Think of pushing the strings instead of pulling them. I have over flexible joints as well, but I can’t remember ever having the same problem.
~Sam
I tried posting this earlier today (before Carl), but it didn’t work. I was going to bring up the same point about the player. Here’s my original post:
As far as I’m concerned, the jargon here falls into two spectra:
Bright Mellow
Warm DryBright/Mellow is a function of an instrument’s resonance. The soundbox’s particular structure will determine how it alters and amplifies the sound. In the end, you can describe that sound as bright or mellow.
Warm/Dry is a function of the attack on the string. That is, it describes the player’s tone, not the harp’s resonance.
In this way it would be able to qualify any harp’s resonance in a relative manner. For instance, have one harpist play on three harps. If the sound coming from harp A is more mellow than from harp B, then you can attribute the difference to the harp and not the player.
Conversely, one can do the same with players by having several players play on the same harp. The differences in sound there can be attributed to the player.
I think part of the confusion comes from the fact that it it’s very difficult to get a warm sound on a bright harp and that a warm sound on a mellow harp is so much warmer than on a bright harp!
Of course, this is always, as Carl said, subjective to an extreme degree. Really any of the adjectives can be applied to either the player or the instrument. HOWEVER, I find it helpful to try to stick to the spectra I outlined first in order to simplify. That being said, sometimes you just have to refer to a harpist’s sound as mellow (as Carl did) or bright and a harp as warm or dry. And don’t forget the zillions of other words you could possibly use to describe sound!
It would be interesting if there were some sort of study done to see what property of the sound waves is most often association with dryness, brightness, mellowness, etc.
~Sam
