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Enjoy these wonderful clips, you’ll get an idea of the potential of the cross-strung harp:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUfkK-wpQY0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UbkVA50ylI&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
I played the second movement (Allegro, not Adagio un Poco) from the CPE Bach sonata. Worked fine. I’m not sure what people use in general…
~Sam
Deb, Maria, Gloria:
In your last postings you decided to make things up about what I think and then believe them (that everyone has to agree with me, everyone should rave about my harps, apparently my opinion is arguing, that I believe I’m the one truth regarding harp sound). Those have never been my thoughts. Gloria, you don’t have to like the Harpsicle Harp or it’s sound or the YouTubes that I suggested seeing. But did you even look at them before deciding to continue bashing? Apparently my postings were not read in the manner that I had hoped or the three of you were totally unable to understand what you read since it did not fit your narrow view.
Our small group of people are very proud of the Harpsicle Harp program. We individually hand make (no computer C&C machines) each Harpsicle Harp, over 8,000 so far, for programs around the world bringing new found joy of the harp to children and adults. Our little tiny company has so far beat the Pakistani and Chinese at their own game and we are doing our part to off set the US trade deficit. What have the three of you done other than to hide behind the power of anonymity with your venomous keyboards. Since your so holy, why don’t you post yourself playing on YouTube and let other harpists and harp makers with your attitude have go at it.
I was having dinner with Ray (Dusty Strings) several years ago and he mentioned through his own experience that he learned not to deal with harp chats or forums just for this reason. Thanks for the reminder and the lesson you taught me. I’m done with you! May your harp strings break.
Deb L
What is shameful, is that inaccurate information that can apparently be spread with no thought of the background and the facts. Their is nothing wrong with gaining knowledge. If someone was to post that Deb L is a terrible harp player and has no worthy technique then you yourself should only reply in the classified for your own promotion and defense.
Carol Thompson is a Grammy winning harpist with her performance with Paul Winters playing on her Rees Aberdeen lever harp (2005).
Marta Cook is a Grammy winning harpist with her work playing with Yo Yo Ma using her Rees Aberdeen lever harp (2010).
The Harpsicle® harp was designed to be a very compact, light (4 – 5lbs), inexpensive, tough (this is a great harp to take to the beach or to bring on a hike), good sounding harp that could be carried on an airplane and stored in most overheads or garnet closets. It is roughly patterned after the Gothic and Renaissance harps with their narrow soundboxes and expressive, light tension. It is not meant to compete with thousand dollar plus harps or a large, much heavier Ravenna 26. (The Ravenna being of a size which is neither a lap harp or a floor harp, hence the need for the leg.) In case you are not aware, I do build a two thousand dollar plus lap harp, the Morgan Megahan, which has an incredible voice but is larger, heavier and, of course, vastly more expensive, than is the Harpsicle® harp.
I have been making instruments for forty years. Neil Young and band members of the Johnny Carson Show have been some of my patrons. My Rees Concert Line Harps are played by Maíre Ní Chathasaigh, who is the top Irish harper, double Grammy® winning harpist Marta Cook (playing with Yo-Yo Ma, Grammy® winning harpist Carol Thompson (playing with Paul Winters), Ray Pool etcetera etcetera. I do not design nor make “twangy” sounding instruments (including the Harpsicle® harp) as Gloria misstates in two of her postings. It is a mistake to confuse poor playing technique or bad YouTube recordings with the qualities of the instrument. The Harpsicle® Harp is probably the most used harp the world in therapy programs. You cannot have a “twangy” harp in these programs. They are used by the Irish Harp Centre, Hong Kong Harp Ensemble, San Francisco
@Carl: I was under that impression too, but it doesn’t look like it this time around! The AHS national competition does a better job at syncing…
@Saul: Yes, that’s the hard part about holding
The Jolivet concerto is quite flash and energizing. There used to be a recording of Lily Laskine playing it on Youtube, but it looks like it was taken down.
~Sam
The USA competition is also every three years, Saul. In fact, it has been much more consistent than Israel, which has varied from having a
