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Hope no Korrigan owners are angry with me. Some forum members dislike them but some are happy with their Korrigans. I heard one on youtube and wasn’t enamored of the tone (it sounded too much like my guitar) but hopefully it is just bad recording equipment.I have yet to hear one in person.I have only tried Salvi levers before.
But I don’t think Camac made them for pro use like the Aziliz (which is also more expensive). They’re meant for students hoping to move on to pedal harp one day.
The Ancient Airs and Dances Suites by Respighi feature the harp quite nicely – especially 1 and 2…
My favorite recording is the LA Chamber Orchestra / Marriner.Tom
Let your voice be heard!
http://GigSpeak.comHey Becky!
Tough decision uh? Don’t worry about changing your mind, different opininons give you different ideas, what would the forum be here for otherwise? I’m used to my 34 strings lever harp, and I was not fond of lap harps at all (shame on me, I know! But I sow the light later on…) but when I started playing outdoor I rented a lap harp because mine was to big and heavy to carry everywhere (on top of that mauntain where the the beautiful lake is, to the far off tent on the other side of the festival area where off course the car can’t get, and so on…) and I also found it difficoult to hold the harp, and the strings where fewer, and the tension was different, I personally
Thanks a lot everyone,
Had I known of this forum before leaving Paris I’d probably be in Portugal with my new harp by now!
I’m almost fully convinced about the Aziliz (yes it’s very celtic, I’m not advertising Camac over other brands, just is very popular on this side of the world, and I just happen to like that Aziliz model very much for many reasons). I’ll be in Italy next week for a week-end stage with my teacher and her other students, and I’ll be harp-shopping for a small harp, but I’ll certainly check out the Aziliz harps they have. Here in Portugal there’s no harp dealer of any kind (that I know of so far…) so I thought about organizing a trip to France and look for the Aziliz at the Camac factory in Brittany, just to have more choice (and just the rightUmmm, I meant really good floor harp…I don’t think local teachers are familiar with lap harps and I’m not sure if they’re willing to teach someone with such a limited range. They’re mostly focused on pop or classical music.
I’ll be grateful for anything as long as it’s a real harp even though it’s not my ideal harp. Poor people can’t be choosers.
I sort of miss the days when I was playing my guitar and violin. They always came in standard sizes and with 6 or 4 strings…and you needn’t have more than one at home…
Also, I feel kinda cheated by all those fantasy novel illustrations with tiny handheld harps…it seems that a real lap harp with such dimensions don’t exist or it would be a toy! lol How on earth could one travel around the country on foot with something the size of a Christina strapped on?! How did those medieval troubadours manage?
I suppose I can keep the Korrigan around for freebie gigs or rent it out…ok shall shut up on this issue…
Hi Audrey and Brook thanks for the feedback on the Christina. I think I would let the teacher decide! Phew!
When I have enough money to start lessons, I’ll tell her I haven’t gotten enough money for a really good harp yet and ask her if she’s willing to teach me on the Christina while I hold out for my dream harp. If not, I will buy whatever she suggests…probably some pedal trainer like the Korrigan. Won’t keep it permanently, will sell to another student when I get something better….
But I will definitely buy the Christina at some point (I want to have a therapy harp)
You make me laugh Kay, but he would never ever stand for it! He demands absolute attention and concentration, and enthusiasm on my part or he starts complaining….
In defense of him, he does have a very busy and stressful job, he is tired alot of the time…and maybe I am boring…it is confronting to contemplate, but maybe it is true!
What does he think? I don’t think he does think logically all of the time, even though he is highly intelligent. He expresses what he wants alot of the time, to be able to just play and be free as the wind, but hates the routine of having to practise. He finds it a chore and finds it oppressive. (that last comment upset me no end!)
He has been learning (not with me) for over 10 years and has not grasped the basics of technique, does not place in advance, and does not use the fingerings on the music. He does understand well why its necessary but it does not translate into what he does….He came to me, I thought, to finally sort it all out and get cracking. But it is 3 months now, and it is not really working as yet.
I have tried writing out music he loves, he refuses to do exercises or simple pieces, he will just learn things from the back of books, so I work at re editing them in a way that he can learn them. And by the next week, he’s moved on to something else instead! I lend him books and CD’s and he is enthusiastic and can talk endlessly about what he loved about it and how depressed it makes him that he can’t just do all of that. He has read the Yolanda book from cover to cover and loves the ideas in it, but does not do the exercises.
I’m actually not sure how to proceed, as he is very talented. I’m thinking I should let him go with what he wants to do and just help him with whatever he wants to work on each week – and not expect progress. Let go of my expectations of it and not expect him to like me either!
I want one, I want one, I want one!!!! (Sorry, just was looking at a second hand one in Mahogany on he enchanted harp site and went momentarily beserk…..)
Hey Becky,
How would you feel about driving about an hour to be able to put your hands on a couple nice harps? I’m in Columbia and have a Thom 23 and a Heartland Dreamweaver 34 that I would be willing to share for an afternoon.
I’m also a newcomer to harps and understand the anticipation and frustration on not being able to actually PLAY a harp…grin.
Drop me an email at sheltiezoo@aol.com off list if you would like to get together.
Cyndee Walklet in Columbia
I agree with everyone who posted on this thread. Buy the best you can get! I don’t think you’ll ever regret it. A quality instrument will go a long way toward making you
Hi all. Great thoughts.
I bought a Blevinsong 36 when I started, having been advised to get as many strings as I could afford and had space for.
Yes, well, if the Berlin Philharmonic heard the way I play at home, I’m sure that they would give me a gig immediately. I have never played as well in public as I do at home, and lessons can be nerve wracking.
Teachers can generally tell if a student has practised or not, even if they are nervous or thrown by the situation of a different harp or being on the spot in a lesson! And this student is genuinely just not practising and has said so! He doesn’t like doing it and is not going to…which makes it a challenge to decide how to proceed.
This student, is very very talented, and I don’t want to rag him. But he is chronically unreliable and actually just seems bored with me! Which is confronting. But well, the teacher pupil relationship is a relationship like everything else – and maybe I am just not his cup of tea.
Sherry,
That’s one of my mom’s favorite quotes “If there’s a will, there’s a way.” She ingrained that in me as I grew up and I think that’s why I can be so hardheaded now when I’m determined about something! 🙂
Where are the pictures of the Blevins harps being held? I would love to see that.
Thanks,
BeckyYes, well, I used to worry with the more architectural types of harps that King Kong would come out of the wood work and start scaling the column….but that is appropriate for a manly thread, beat your chest kind of harp and make Tarzan calls. Same with the vine on the column of the Apollan, King of the Apes and all….
Get back to work Pippy Longstocking..whoops, I mean Pippin!
