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Hi Greg, no, never heard of him. My nick is Dutch for Want(s) to Know. In Dutch, ‘Wil’ is a rather common girl’s name.
Hi Gregg, Camac sells pedal tension nylgut. This is supposed to sound more or less as natural gut and has about the same diameters for the same tension as natural gut.
It is hardly sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity and it’s way much cheaper than natural gut.
In the beginning, these strings stretch a lot, more than natural gut, so you would need to give these strings some time to become stable and produce their best sound.
These strings are a bit less rich in tone, though, which is most audible iin the lower strings. Frankly, I really ike them on my L&H Prelude from the highest notes until the central C. Below that they still sound OK, but I prefer natural gut there, or perhaps fluorocarbon, but that would mean tp have the levers regulated as these carbon strings are thinner than gut with the same tension.
I tested the sound by putting nylgut strings between natural gut strings and listening in what way they sounded different from the neighbouring strings.
Hi Jennifer, where you live, the Dusty Ravenna 34 may be your best chance of a quality entry lever harp. Still, you may like to have a look at the other kinds of harps that Atlanta Harp Center is selling, especially the Camac harps and the L&H Harps. Perhaps, you would like the Salvi harps too.
I think starting with renting a harp is a great idea, as it allows you to find out in a relaxed way what kind of qualities in sound and feel you prefer for your harp.
By the way, apart from renting, you may also consider buying a second hand harp at Atlanta Harp Center.
Hi Claire, congratulations with your decision. The Ravenna is a great harp to start one’s harp journey on. I wish your daughter many happy hours with it.
I agree, chas.thomason, that most new quality harps are pretty well sorted out before they leave the factory, but unfortunately, there may be an occasional harp with bad luck.
The point is that the circumstances of the OP are quite different from those in the US or Europe where certified harp technicians can be rather easily found and most problems can usually be solved locally and quickly. A certified harp technician is usually certified to repair for specific harp factories all over the world and that usually means that the harp won’t need to be shipped oversees to get it repaired.
So, even when the chance of a problem with a new harp is slim, I do think, it’s still important for people in real small harp communities to consider the possible heavy costs of shipping a harp oversees back to the factory to get it repaired.
Edit: and, the chances of a harp being inadvertently bumped into at a harping event may be tiny too, but these things happen.
I just discovered that, according to a message of the Singapore Harp Society of 30 October 2018 that “Salvi Harps and Lyon & Healy Harps finally have a showroom in Singapore! House of Harps keeps an impressive inventory of harps here in Singapore for us to try and purchase, from é smallest 27-string Juno to the 47-string gold concert grand Iris!”
Now, frankly, I tend to prefer most Camac Harps above most Salvi Harps, but I do love Lyon & Healy Harps too.
The 34 string Ogden or the new 34 string Drake may be interesting to your daughter too.
The L&H Ogden has pedal gut strings, just like the 38 string Camac Korrigan, but the Korrigan feel easier on the fingers (this has mainly to do with the soundboard, but that would be a technical discussion. Also the bass strings of the Ogden are pedal tension, while the bass strings of the Korrigan are lever tension).
The L&H Drake is a brand new model and has celtic tension. I know the L&H Korrigan pretty well, but I have never seen or heard the Drake. The levers of the L&H harps are not as advanced as that of Camac’s, but they work nice enough (I’ve got a L&H Prelude with those levers).
Hi Claire, here: https :// shop.camac-harps.com/en/product/tool-for-regulating-camac-levers/ you find the tool for regulating Camac-levers yourself, plus a bit of explanation how you can do it. On youtube you will find additional helpful videos how it is done, like the one of Josh Layne.
It’s hard to describe why I prefer the bass strings on Camac lever harps above the bass strings of the Dusty Ravenna. It’s partly a question of sound and partly of feel. Camac uses Galli wire strings for almost all their lever harps and to my ears they sound balanced, full, lively and ‘clean’.
The Dusty Ravenna comes with lower strings that are in the upper part of them nylon wound around a nylon core and in the lower part nylon wound around a bronze core. I’ve got very limited experience with them, but I didn’t like their feel and to my ears they tend to sound a bit too long to my taste. But still, I do think the Dusty Ravenna is a very nice harp which sells in the US for a very nice price.
As to the Teifi Siff Saff, as I said above, I never heard this entry level harp myself. But I really like the sound of other Teifi harps and the quality of the workmanship.
In your latest message you also mention the Brilliant Harpsicle. I don’t know it, but once a Grand Harpsicle (which has 33 strings) was played next to me at a day long harping event a few years ago. It might be that one harp (all harps sound unique), but I found the string tension rather low and I missed a sparkle in its sound, perhaps because the harp weighed less than 5.5 kilo. But what a joy to carry that harp around!
I just looked the Brilliant Harpsicle up at the internet and saw it looks a lot like the Grand Harpsicle, has 34 strings, comes with a pick-up and pre-amp and weighs a bit less than 7 kilo. It’s probably my personal preference that I tend to like heavier built harps above lighter built harps. So, that says little or nothing on the quality of the harp.Anyway, if your daughter remains enthousiast about the (38 string) Korrigan, it’s a sturdy harp, as always set up with the fantastic Camac levers, and it has a full and lively sound, partly due to the pedal gut strings. Camac also sells nylgut strings for this harp. These strings are much cheaper than natural gut and, especially in the higher register, sound almost as rich.
Finally, as first harps seldom tend to be the last harps in one’s harp journey, as the Korrigan is a popular harp, you won’t have much trouble in reselling it for a nice price later on. But, frankly, the Korrigan may be the harp that will bring her many years of joy.
I hope you will share with us which harp will eventually be the harp of her choice.
Dusty Strings says on their website as to regulating: “every handy person can do it”. And that’s just the point: I’m not ‘handy’.
You can find some general information on the regulation of the Loveland levers that Dusty uses here: https :// manufacturing.dustystrings.com/application/files/4215/6764/1892/General_Lever_Harp_Regulation.pdf (remove the spaces in the link).
and here a more elaborate version: https :// manufacturing.dustystrings.com/harps/accessories-hardware/tools-maintenance/levering-guide
And this is their toolkit: https :// manufacturing.dustystrings.com/harps/accessories-hardware/tools-maintenance/tool-kit
There’s also an inexpensive version of it: https :// manufacturing.dustystrings.com/harps/accessories-hardware/tools-maintenance/a-la-carte-tools
But frankly, when would have a lever that’s troubling me, I would much rather go to the local harp shop where I bought the harp and have them fix the problem for me. As you said your harp community is very small and that might mean that is would be hard to find a local harp tech outside your local Camac harp shop.
A final point of advice: always try a harp before you buy. Even completely identical looking harps can sound quite different as all trees, even branches of the same tree make different sounding tonewood. Some harps you will love, others you won’t care for. Therefore, importing a harp is quite an adventure, especially when you even didn’t get a chance to sit behind the same model and feel the tension of the strings, and the wood of the harp touching one’s knees and shoulders.
Usually, you will only need regulation of the levers, let’s say every few years. Camac does (or did?) this for free when they visit the shop and then you can book a slot in advance.
Sometimes wood warps or tears. It seldom happens, but when it does, it’s great to have a good repair service at hand. Camac harps are very sturdily built harps, though, so I wouldn’t worry about these harps.
But if any harp falls down the stairs, or someone bumps into it, you may need professional help to repair it.Edit: as to Dusty Strings, I seem to remember the shop has a set of tools to regulate the levers for yourself (but I would very much prefer a professional to do it for me).
I agree with chas.thomason. Also, when you’ve got a problem with a harp bought overseas, it will cost you a lot to send it to the shop there and get it back again. So these could be costly repairs. And you would probaly be out of a harp for several weeks…
As to Camac, which has a shop where you live, it will be much easier, quicker and cheaper to get some maintenance or repair done. On a Camac lever harp, you get 5 years of guarantee. Camac visits Singapore bi-annually for regulations, etc. Have a look at: https :// sg . camac-harps.com/en/services/
(remove the spaces from the link)I’m a great fan of Camac harps, because of their balanced sound, great levers, sturdy construction, as well as great service in case you might need it. Frankly, I know the Dusty Ravenna, and the higher end of the Teifi harps, but not the Siff Saff. In the USA, where the Dusty harps are made, Ravenna’s are great value for money, but outside the USA, they cost a lot more, and then the Camac harps might be very interesting.
Your daughter may like the 34 string Camac Telenn, a lever harp for starters, which has lever gut strings on it, so the strings won’t feel as tight as those of pedal gut strings, with which the Camac Korrigan has been strung with. Gut strings sound warmer than carbon strings, but carbon strings have their own strong points.
She may also like the Camac Isolde Celtic, which is strung with celtic tension carbon strings.
As to the highest notes still sounding real nice. I know only one lever harp that does so, and it’s rather pricey: it’s the Camac Excalibur and it has a string tension between celtic and pedal strings. I have a Camac Excalibur myself (as well as a L&H Prelude and an old Salvi lever harp).
As to bass strings, I prefer sound of the bass strings of the Camac lever harps above those of Dusty or Teifi, but this is partly a question of taste.
You may like to listen (and look) to the playing list of Camac lever harps at: https ://www. youtube .com/playlist?list=PLPQsClxaZW8ceG4qdK4Upm1Znb3urjg1J (I’m sorry I had to put some space in the link, because unfortunately, this forum nowadays automatically deletes messages with links in it.
You may inquire at the Camac shop after the possibilities of renting a harp. In Europe these possibilities are sometimes very attractive, especially when one decides after half a year or perhaps a whole year to buy a Camac harp (not necessarily the one you rented) and then get a real nice discount of the new harp. You would need to inquire the possibilities your local shop may be offering.
Hi James, as to ‘nice, quiet instruments’, some harps are indeed nice, quiet instruments, others are relatively loud (yes, these are nice too).
You said that your house is full of instruments and that your children are free to play them, so I guess (and hope), there’s no problem with thin wall and neighbours who don’t believe in live and let live.
If you’d like to play in the little hours, while everybody else is asleep, you may prefer a harp that can be played quietly and still sound nice. Some harps sound significantly louder than others who have about the same amount of strings.
I agree that finding a harp teacher before buying or renting a harp is a great idea.
Now about finding a harp teacher: of course it would be great if you could take lessons locally. But before you do, find out whether the local teacher would be a great fit, technically, and of course, also personally.
Some teachers insist that after one or two years you ‘upgrade’ to a pedal harp. That’s fine if you dream of a pedal harp, but if you have set your heart on a lever harp and play lots of non classical music, you may discover that you need a different teacher.
Other teachers like to teach both pedal harps as well as lever harps. In your place, I would try and find such a teacher. Teachers of pedal harps tend to give a lot of attention to good posture and hand technique in order to prevent chronic injuries. The techniques you learn on a pedal harp are great for most lever harps too. When you would prefer a low tension strung lever harp, you may have to learn not to overplay the strings and you would have to damp the lower strings more often than when playing an intermediate or heavily strung lever harp.
Also, some teachers offer online lessons through Zoom or Skype. This could help you progress most in times of lock downs because of covid-19.
If you like a specialty harp like a cross strung harp or a double strung harp, the chances are very slim that you can find a local harp teacher teaching that way. Then you most probably would have to seek a teacher teaching online.So, try to get a trial lesson before you decide on taking lessons every week or fortnight.
Of course, there a specicalty harps, you may be interested in the chromatic cross strung harp. In Germany, that’s almost always a 6×6 (in the US usually a 7×5). Cross strung harps are really chromatic harps!
Anyway, Google in youtube on ‘chromatische Harfe’ in combination with resp. Saitenwürstchen, Reidun and HarpForest.
I was interested in them for quite a while, but in the end, I realised that most music I like is diatonic with the occasional accidental. Also, there is way more nice sheet music than I could master in my whole life…
When you are interested, go to chromatiker dot de
Thanks for enlightening me, Balfour. I once almost bought a single action pedal harp (commonly tuned in E flat). I didn’t know that double action harps (so the ‘common’ pedal harps) are commonly tuned in C flat.
Anyway, now I understand why it makes sense for double action harps to be tuned in C flat.
As James lives in Germany, he might encounter several single action pedal harps from Germany or neighbouring countries (in German: Einfachpedalharfen), like Mürnseer, Zangerle (now retired, but Regelsberger is to build his models), Fischer, Riedel and more.
In the Netherlands (where I live) Masumi Nagasawa of the Maastricht Conservatory is specialized in single action harps. You may like to google her on youtube.Single action harps are a lot cheaper than double action harps, but one can only make them sound half a note higher (just like the lever harp), not also half a note lower (like the double action harp). Usually they have no more than 40 strings and often their tension is significantly lower than the tension of a double action harp. As far as I know, the single action harps that sound most like an ‘ordinary’ pedal harp, are built by Mürnseer.
