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Hola que tal como an estado, espero que bien, ahora estamos en el 2005 y apenas esta comensado, asi ke aun tenemos mucha cosas que planear.
Que bien que hay mas arpistas en el grupo, todos son vienbenidos, creo que nunca encontramos arpas en renta alla en Peru, pero si tienen mas preguntas o necesitan alluda, sigan entrando y pregunten, por que aqui hay mucha gente que los pueden alludar.
el maestro marcelino canino nos escribio unas clases de comar afinar el arpa, a la mejor le te puede alludar ariel, con tus preguntas de semitonos.
hey valentinI’ve heard that harps actually only last about 20 years or so (something about soundboard problems) is there any way to extend their lives (or was this some joke that someone was playing on me?)
I have a Lyon and Healy Prelude that I’ve had for about 4 and a half years and I have the exact same problem! It’s not so bad on some levers, but I have problems playing at recitals on my own harp because they continuously fall down. I have asked about finding replacements for them but apparently the Loveland (I think that’s what they are) levers arent sold by them anymore. There is supposed to be some kit that you can buy to tighten them, but it’s a total waste of money. It doesn’t help at all.
Hola Que tal?
Reciban un coordial Saludo de Mexicali Baja California, Mexico. Es la primera vez que entro al foro, de hecho este sitio lo acabo de descubrir.
Yo tambien soy arpista solo que no a nivel profesional, yo considero que estoy a nivel medio. Me encanta la musica de arpa pues es mi pasion y toco arpa Veracruzana. Casi todo lo que he aprendido de arpa lo he hecho empiricamente pues nunca he tomado alguna clase de arpa de ningun tipo..hola colegas arpistas, soy Ariel, de Argentina, llevo muchos a?os ejecutando arpa folklorica, me gustaria si me pueden enviar material acerca de los sistemas de semitonos, estoy dise?ando un arpa celta con la cual me gustaria agregarle el sistema de semitonos. como aqui practicamente no hay material acerca de los semitonos o levers les agradeceria mucho que me informaran acerca de esto. desde ya muchas gracias y espero la buena predisposicion de ustedes.
les doy mi e-mail: arpax_27@hotmail.comI know this response is much after the question has been asked but I wanted to say something for posterity if nothing else.
I started playing a harp on February 15, 2004. so I have been playing just over a year. I started playing in my 49th year. I had about 3 years of piano lessons between the ages of 11 and 15. That is about the extent of my musical background. I have been wanting to play a harp since 1987 or so but they are very expensive.
My first harp is a 30 string Count Mayo harp by Jeff Gaynor. It is a nice instrument but doesn’t have as much range as I really wanted. So I bought a second harp in early May.
I went to the Michigan Harp Center and selected one that I thought sounded the best. There was another one that I thought was prettier that cost about a thousand more, and if I’d really wanted it I suppose I’d have found a way to buy it. The one I selected had a flat back. I didn’t like the looks of the flat back. I liked the looks of the rounded backs. I didn’t select my harp based on looks. I selected my harp based on sound. How did it sound. I tried many harps at the shop. I tried them over and over. I’m sure Kelly was thinking I might never make up my mind, but I settled on the harp that had enough range and the one that I thought sounded the best. I looked at it and noted that it had the plano parallel back and the asymetrical sound board and said to myself, “That explains it”. I had done some research before buying harp number 2.
So, without knowing anything about the Aberdeen Meadows harp or the William Rees harp company I purchased this Aberdeen Meadows harp and have never been unhappy about the decision. I love this harp. It is a beautiful instrument. Since then I have learned a lot about the Rees harp company and the harp I bought. It has not been a mistake.
Afterwards my harp needed some small waranty work. I met William Rees and family at the Sommerset Folk Harp Festival last summer (2004) and explained the problem with the harp. They said it needed to be fixed and so I sent it home with them. One week later I drove to Rising Sun and picked it up better than when I bought it. They were so helpful and I really enjoyed the chat with Willaim Rees. He told me about the design issues, sound board construction and some new ideas he had been experimenting with. I was take for a tour of the shop. I really appreciated the attention and friendship I experienced there. They are a good group of folks there, every single one.
I am considering designing and building my own harp someday. I had shared that aspiration with William. I had done lots of research and am still collection information. Not to compete with anybody just to say I did it. So the conversation I had with William was quite informative.
About the asymetrical sound board, If it doesn’t help anything, it certainly doesn’t hurt anything. Personally after thinking about it briefly, without an explanation from anyone I thought it made sense. I have had some physics. I can’t say as I have done more than look at some formulas about string tension and pitch when it comes to sound but to me, I could certainly visualize sound waves reflecting off the sides of the sound box as they radiated from the base of the string. It made sense to me that in the plane of the sound board, waves could conceivably reflect off the sides of the sound box and a certain portion of that energy could travel back to the center where (if that was the point of origin) they may indeed cancel each other out. It certainly wouldn’t amount to much of a loss in the big scheme of things but then again if this could happen, well every little bit contributes to the total effect.
To be convinced this could not happen, I would have to do a lot of reasearch and work out the problem on paper or generate a computer mnodel to satisfy myself of the situation.
So I will say it again, if there is no physical basis for the asymetrical soundboard it certainly does not hurt. William’s Poplar sound board probably makes a big a contribution as anything.
After the fact, I believe that Rees harps are very popular and I was quite lucky to walk in and find an Aberdeen Meadows harp on the shelf as it were. When I went to the folk harp festival, William had sold all the harps he brought along well before the end of the festival. they continued to take orders from their booth. They were the only vendor that I observed to be in this state of “sold out”.
I have that problem! If it’s a Troubadour I have the same harp, except I bought mine five years ago. Here’s the deal, my levers are defective, it doesn’t make sense that yours would be, but my levers catch the strings and fray them, and my levers will fall while I’m playing, if you end up having that problem, call Lyon& Healy and tell them, becuase you’re harp should still be under warrenty and they’ll have to fix it instead of you paying to have the levers re-done or re-stringing the harp.
Thank God I’m not the only one! I was seriously starting to get worried. And nice word to
describe the strings – “Frayed.” That fits how it is perfectly… Jeez I need to expand my
vocabulary. My harp isn’t a Troubador.. It’s a L&H Prelude. It’s about 3-4 years old (it’s
used). I might call L&H though and ask them about it. Ah well, good to know it’s not just
me.I sing and play the harp at the same time. The key for me is having a harp part that does not have a lot to “think” about. Any “fancy” playing is reserved for interludes when I don’t sing. That way I can concentrate on singing, with the harp as an accompaniment. It is easier to sing with a lever harp, simply because it is not as heavy, but I mainly sing with my pedal harp.
I sing and play sitting down. I try not to think about my diaphragm–yes, that’s what voice teachers say to do, but if I think about it my throat tightens. Instead, I relax between my shoulder blades, feel as if a rubberband around my ribs was stretched to its tightest point, and think of breathing a column of air *up* my spine rather than *into* my lungs. (Yes, the diaphragm is involved, I just don’t focus on it. I focus on my spine and letting the notes “come out” from my forehead between my eyes.) I think of singing on that “column of air” without letting the air movement stop and try to keep my ribcage expanded at all times (which will feel weird until you get used to it–then it’s not a problem).
Not sure if that makes sense, but it’s what works for me. Hope something works for you, too!
I have to agree with Sharon Thormhalen. Her book Rose in Winter is fabulous for an intermediate student. I too have found myself bored to tears with the overly simple melodies in many of the beginner books. Sharon’s book offers great key chnage guides, wonderful fingering illustrations and complex sounding melodies that are easier to play. My problem has mainly been that I get bored by simple straight forward melodies. Its surprising how much “childrens songs” are in the beginner
Look at the thread “buying first harp” in the harps and accessories forum. It got a lot of responses and is very informative. If you know anyone who plays the harp, good, but if not, do lots of internet research. I would personally NOT recomend that you buy one on e-bay. A lot of it depends on how much money you are willing to spend.
