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To my mind main idea of learning to play any musical instrument is to learn how to play music. So, when thinking of another musical instrument, the question is, which one do you love to hear? Perhaps the flute or the clarinet? These wind blown instruments are relatively easy when it comes to chromatic playing and they are very easy to transport… :-))) So, perhaps nice complemental instruments to the harp?
Great ‘demo’ video, Allison. Your little double harp sounds really nice and I love your arrangement of The Ash Grove
I love this thread! Biagio, I just read your: ‘<span style=”font-family: ‘Open Sans’, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.998px;”> </span><span style=”font-family: ‘Open Sans’, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25.998px;”>if the neck and pillar are too light they will absorb some of the string vibrations rather than releasing those as sound.'</span>
Now, I wonder, can the neck and pillar be too heavy (and how could one know, acoustically?). And would there perhaps be an ideal weight for the neck and pillar. And if so, would this be in relationship to the length and/or tension of the strings or…? (Yes, indeed, I know little or nothing of harp building, but I am very curious in what things I may want to consider when dreaming of/ considering buying a new harp).
There’s a reason Camac stopped with making carbon sound boards. Even on its carbon harps, they use spruce sound boards. I once read an article in which Camac tells about the decision not to use carbon sound boards any longer, but I can’t find it at the moment.
You may like to try: http://www.folkcraft.com/contact.html for contact about Clarenbridge harps. I found them through: https://harpcolumn.com/forums/topic/clarenbridge-harps-not-making-them-any-more/
By the way, I doubt whether gut will be a good replacement for the lowest 3 strings on your 27 string harp. Usually, the lowest strings are too short in relationship to their diameter to give a nice and rich gut sound. You will probably end up with a ‘dead’ sound. Maybe, just maybe, Savarez Carbon strings will be a solution, but then you need to know whether your harp can stand the tension… or it will explode. And… whether the lowest levers are suitable for the diameter you need for the carbon strings.
When the Folkcraft people can’t help, you may think of asking the advice of a harpbuilder.
The Dusty Ravenna 34 strings has already been mentioned as a great ‘budget’ harp which also performs nicely on the second harp market.
If you live in Europa and are looking for a lot of harp for a rather budget price which does great on the second harp market too, you may also like to research the Camac Telenn, Camac Hermine, Camac Melusine, and especially the Camac Isolde.
Hi Loonatik, I just wonder, somehow I get the impression you like the sound of pedal harps, that is to say,heavy tension harps. There are some lever harps like the LH Troubadour or LH Prelude or the Camac Mademoiselle that have a string tension and a sound more or less like that of a pedal harp. There are lots of other (ready made) lever harps with medium or low tension, with lots of different sound (and feel!)
When you go to a harpbuilding week (in Germany, right?) you will usually end up building a rather low tension harp (a ‘bohemian harp’) or in some cases, a medium tension harp. The question is: do you like their sound? When would you like to play on it?
If you think of a small harp which can easily be transported and be taken with you on holidays, maybe you would be happier with a sturdy travel harp, like the 27 string Camac Bardic, or a Dusty Ravenna 26 string harp. There are also some light weight harps with more strings.
Anyway, ask yourself why you would like to have two harps.
Blindharper, you asked for reviews, but I could not find them in the English language. Yet, here I found a nice one in German: http://www.harfenforum.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=6584&hilit=excalibur&start=10#p55903 I know you don’t read German, but Google translate may give you just the kind of impression you are looking for.
When you wrote ‘regulating’ I thought you meant ‘tuning’. As you bought your harp very recently, I guess the harpshop you where you bought the harp will take care of that for you and help you solve the buzz. Before you go, first try to use the harp in a different room than the one you use to play in. You would not be the first person to discover the buzzing problem is not caused by the lever where it seems to come from. Odd as it sounds, sometimes the buzzing has to do with some object in your harp playing room instead.
As to your nsername ‘Blind harper’, I think you may benefit from joining the yahoogroup VirtualHarpCircle. There are several blind people active there who will have great ideas for you on learning to play the harp with no or an impaired eyesight. To begin with tuning the harp the right way and knowing where you can find which string.
The new Camac Excalibur is a very recent model. There was one many years ago. The recent model dates from about July 2015 (or a little bit earlier). Congratulations on this harp that has received many great reviews already.
Do you read German? On the German Harpforum there also are a few friendly people active with no or bad eyesight.
Also great: the instructional video’s of Ray Pool. You ‘ll vind them through: http://raypool.com/video.html
Hi Sarah,
You may like to have a look at Josh Layne’s ‘Harp Tuesdays’ and ‘Slow Motion Mondays’ on Youtube.Hi Judy, frankly, for several reasons, I do think that in the long run, you would be much happier with one of the harps mentioned earlier in this thread. And if you live in Europe, in your shoes I would also have a serious look at Camac harps and Teifi harps.
The first question is: what kind of music do you like most: classic, traditional, pop or even jazz? Or are you looking for a harp that is more or less suitable to all kinds of music?
