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I’ve found my concert grand to be way too heavy for me to move alone, and will need a lighter weight harp for performance gigs also someday. On paper the Camac Clio is the ideal harp because it is very lightweight, but still has 44 strings, is economical compared to other small harps, and has many technical advances that make it sturdier, and more practical than most harps. I’ve only heard one once and remember the sound to be less resonant than the Lyon and Healy 85 petite. Also, on the website the extended soundboard on the Clio is made of cedar. I was wondering, if the Clio soundboard could be upgraded to a really high quality spruce, would it make it a bit more resonant? If I could hear a Clio that had more richness to the tone than the one I remember, I would be sold on it. It would be ideal to go someplace like the Virginia Harp Center and try out all the small pedal harps in the same acoustic environment to really know how they compare.
It is always important to compare harps in the same acoustic environment to have an accurate comparison. I think it is absolutely true that very few non harpists can tell the difference between makes. I’m sorry to hear that some brands are criticized in an exaggerated manner. It is a waste of time and not accurate to describe a harp as “a cigar box with rubberbands”, etc. I have a number of friends in Ron Price’s Healing Harps with Venus Harps and their harps have an dark timbre that I find interesting. I saw a performance of Vangelis’ Mythodea on PBS and noticed that every harp in the orchestra (there were at least four) was a Venus Harp. The piece was written to commemorate NASA’s mission to Mars. I wondered if choice of harp was deliberate or an amazing coincidence.
Steve,
Camac has reshaped the upper end of the harp so that you don’t need to reach back so far (ergonomics?).
AMIGO CON TODO EL RESPETO QUE TU TE MERECES DEBO RECORDARTE QUE EL ORIGEN DEL JOROPO, ES EL JOROPO TUYERO TE INVITO A QUE ESTUDIES LA HISTORIA Y TE DARAS CUANTA POR TUS PROPIOS MEDIOS DE QUE LO QUE TE DIGO ES VERDAD, EL JOROPO PA QUE TODOS LO SEPAN ES NETAMENTE VENEZOLANOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. O COMO LLEGO EL ARPA A COLOMBIA EN PARACAIDAS? EL ARPA TUYERA ES EL ORIGEN DEL ARPA LLANERA POR SI NO LO SABIAS PORQUE EL SEIS, PAJARILLO, CHIPOLA ENTRE OTROS SON VARIACIONES DEL ARPA TUYERA EL ARPA MAS ANTIGUA DE VENEZUELA, ES MAS TODOS LOS JOROPOS SON DE ORIGEN VENEZOLANO COMPOSICION DE VENEZOLANOS COMO EL INDIO FIGUEREDO ES MENTIRAS? O CUPERTINO O MEJOR AUN DONDE ESTAN LOS MEJORES ARPISTAS, LOSMEJORES CANTANTES, LOS MEJORES CUATRISTAS EN COLOMBIA? CHAMO NO TE EQUIVOQUES POR TU BIEN SABES QUE ES MUSICA VENEZOLANA….. MARIACHIS HAY POR TODO EL MUNDO REGADOS Y NO POR ESO DEJA DE SER MEXICANO… ASI DE IGUAL MANERA PASA CON EL JOROPO…MAS BIEN GRACIAS POR GUSTARTE TANTO LA MUSICA DE MI PAIS…ATENTAMENTE ANGEL TOLOSA MORENO
To Aubrey and K.L.
It seems you think the long response I wrote was was actually written by Denise Krasicki.
There is a lot of concert music for harp and string quartet, but I can’t make a list of it right now. You can research it in the music library. The greatest work is Conte Fantastique by Andre Caplet. You can also play the Debussy Danses with a quartet accompaniment.
I can think of two remedies: When you place your fingers on the strings, slide the fingertips down the strings, increasing their angle. You can prevent a buzz by pressing your knuckle cleanly and firmly against the lower string. Or are you replacing in a sloppy fashion rather than all your fingers at once, firmly on the strings? I’ve played the piece without those problems. If your teacher can’t help you, then there is something more basic wrong perhaps, like your overall position or finger action.
I am committed to Lyon & Healy harps as an artist because of their sound and quality over the years, despite problems with their service at times. I only wish Venus could figure out how to make their harps as beautiful sounding and looking. I would love to be able to buy their harps. I think they may attract some derision only because they are seen to be of lower quality. I wish that weren’t true. I have heard some very good Venus harps. When I tried one at the Conference, I was immediately struck by the poor tone quality and the hostile comment of the salesman before I had the chance to say anything nice about it. I have heard very negative things about the construction of some of the other brands, and none of us need to buy harps that won’t hold up with use. I think we all want them all to do excellent work, it is to our benefit. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be possible. It takes a lot of investment and genius to make a great harp, it seems.
