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Hi James, harps without levers are a bit less limiting than you perhaps would suspect. You simply tune all the strings into the key you would be playing in. As to the fact that chromatisms would be impossible, there are several solutions to evade that limitation.
Cynthia Cathcart, who is an authority on the subject of wire strung harps, has written this article with several solutions (there are more of them, but this will give you some idea). http :// www dot
cynthiacathcart dot com/articles/accidentals_sans_levers dot html.
You may like to know that wire strung harps are usually without levers (though there are a few that do have levers, but that’s quite a different discussion)Pedal harps and most lever floor harps are tuned in E flat. For the lever harp this means that the harp is tuned in E flat when all levers are down. In order to play than in let’s say C major, you would flip all the levers above all E’s A’s and B’s up. When you need accidentals, you flip them while playing (for how you do that, you could find several videoclips in which this is shown).
Anyway, as is mentioned above, both pedal harps and lever harps are diatonic instruments with chromatic possibilities, but don’t expect the same ease you can play accidentals as when you are playing the piano.
One of my messages spontaneously dissappeared as I tried to edit it (indeed, it’s the silly spam algorith of this forum that made it dissappear.
Here it is again, hopefully now including the edit…In addition to what I wrote above, you may also like to visit:
https :// www dot harp-school dot com /guides/choose-your-harp/
Edit: James, as I like to complicate things, you may also like to read these articles (some of them may be in need of a bit of updating).
https :// www dot harpspectrum dot org/folk/folk dot shtml
https :// www dot harpspectrum dot org/pedal/pedal dot shtmlContrary to what I thought, now this forum doesn’t even accept youtube links…
Fortunately, I could retrieve my message, so, I will post it here again, be it that I had to ‘unlink’ the links…Here Josh Layne explains a lot on buying harp: https:// youtu.be /- AN2C7M8dOc
And here you find some information on this subject from Christy-Lyn Marais: https :// youtu.be /TkeSVPv3xlgHere you find the Camac playlist for lever harps: https :// youtu.be /jUxXul87oFM All 13 harps are played by François Pernel in the same room, so this helps comparing them a lot better than if they would be played by different persons, in rooms with different acoustics and different pieces of music.
As you live in Germany, you have other choices for buying or renting a nice harp then when you would live elsewhere. Do subscribe to the German Forum. If the German language is a problem, post in the international subforum and you get all the answers (and more) that you need.
Hi James,
As to your question of levers /hooks. Both levers and hooks are used to produce a half note higher when they are engaged, as a lever makes a string as it were a bit shorter. So, with a lever or a hook mounted on the neck above an F string you can make an F-string sound as an F sharp when the lever is engaged.
Hooks are simple, cheap and old fashioned ways to raise a string by a half note. You simply turn them until they touch the screw or whatever is mounted to prevent them from being turned too far. They are real ‘hooks’. so a piece of metal bent into a hook. You will see what I mean if you go to Mr. Gosewinkels website at gosewinkel-harfenbau dot hpage dot com (sorry that this forum deletes automatically messages with links).Mr. Gosewinkel’s harps have low tension strings. This is important to know, as some German teachers demand harps with high tension strings. You may find some youtube clips on which Mr. Gosewinkels plays his selft-built harps built by himself. You will hear that they sound completely different from a pedal harp. If you prefer the sound of a pedal harp, but choose to play a lever harp, there are several options, which are way cheaper than a pedal harp. The lever harp sounding most like a pedal harp is the 40 Lyon & Healy Prelude (I own one), but there are several others. If this kind of harp interests you, I will mention a few others sounding almost like a small pedal harp.
You mention a 27-string harp. No, James, if you chose for a Gosewinkel harp, definitaly go for the harp with the most levers he has to offer. I think he has one of 31 strings with two whole octaves below middle C for 650 euro (price on his website). The problem with smaller harps is that they are difficult to balance, especially when you are not very short. And most lever harp literature expects two whole octaves below middle C. Yes, with a bit of creativity you can manage well with a 27 string harp, but larger harps sound richer and are kinder for your back.
You can’t compare the budget-friendly Gosewinkel harps to high quality harps like those of Camac. You may like to see and listen to the models at the Camac lever harp playlist at youtube (This forum may still accept youtube links, but I will try that later on, as I don’t want this message to be deleted automatically because of the link). You will notice that all these models sound different. I have a Camac Excalibur harp (38 strings), because it sounds very balanced over the whole range and has a string tension somewhere between pedal string tension and celtic tension (beware these are rough indications, as e.g. there’s a lot of difference in tension in harps strung with celtic tension strings).
There’s a lot more to say about this. In my next message I’ll try if this forum still accepts youtube links.
As far as I know, only Mr. Gosewinkel uses hooks.
As to levers, these come in several qualities. I prefer the very sophisticated Camac levers, which work smoothly and silently.
Hi James,
As you are in Germany, you may like to subscribe to Harfenforum dot de (messages with links will be automatically deleted, so, I describe them this way). If you don’t subscribe, you can see the messages, but not the photos.
There, you will find lots of information of affordable and yet nice enough quality harps, like those of Mr. Gosenwinkel (very roughly finished with lots of visible glue etc, no levers, but real hooks, but the important thing is that they sound nice and are very affordable. There are lots of other possibilites, renting a harp is one of them.
There’s also an international subforum there, where you may write in English instead of German.Anyway, do check the youtube channels of Josh Layne, Christy-Lyn Marais and of harp-school.com There’s a lot of valuable information you can get for free.
You ask a lot of questions, I’ll be glad to answer them in more detail, but I think you might benefit more from studying the resources I mentioned above.
And, happy harping! Lots of us are your age of older.
Kate, if you are thinking of a Teifi harp, I guess you may live in the UK. Teifi harps are great harps with really nice levers, so finding a used one, may be a very interesting option.
Edit: depending on your situation, you might benefit from the Assisted Instrument Purchase Scheme (AIPS) which would mean that you don’t have to pay VAT on your instrument. AIPS is available to students in full time education at an LEA (Local Education Authority) school and/or receiving music tuition at an LEA funded Music Centre.
Another possibility, would be a 34 string Hempson Elysian harp. This is typical harp for beginners on a budget. It’s way better than pakistani harps, but you can’t compare its sound and levers to those of Camac, Salvi, Teifi, Dusty etc. Still, you may prefer it over a 26 string harp.
Have you thought of buying a Camac Odyssey (27 strings) or a Ravenna 26 now, and selling it later on when you feel you need a floor harp? You would easily be capable of selling these very nice sounding harps, contrary to much cheaper harps.
You may also think of buying a Ravenna 26 second hand. That way, you may have a real nice harp for a real nice price now, and with a bit of luck, you will be able to sell it later on for almost the same price you paid for your second hand.
As the Camac Odysseys have just recently entered the market, you probably won’t be able to find one second hand.
You may also think of searching for a second hand floor harp (34-40 strings). Depending on where you live, some older, fine quality harps can be bought for real attractive prices from reputable harp shops.
I don’t know how these shops operate now during covid times, though.Camac harps are significantly less costly in Europe than in the US. I guess this mainly has to do with importing tariffs and shipping costs. Yes, in Europe the Odyssey costs fully levered 1500 euro
On the other hand, in Europe, Dusty harps are significantly pricier than in the US.You may also like the Camac Odyssey 26 harp. You can get it in all kinds of colour. It’s a new Camac model.
Unfortunately, posts with links to sites get removed nowadays, so I try it this way (delete the spaces in between the links)
odyssey – harps . eu /Could it be one of Blevins? Have a look at blevins dot com.
I saw an Eden 26 and Bourree 26 and a Bourree 28 with a rounded bottom. There may be more models available (but I knew the names of these models) and it’s a bit harder searching on their new website.@Gordon-Johnston, thanks for the link to your site and (indirectly) to the video clips.
Yes, these celtic harps sound nice on your recordings, though, of course, they can’t compete with the harps of Camac, Salvi, Dusty, Lyon & Healy etc., that cost at least twice or even thrice as much.
From the site of this manufacturer and from your site, it becomes clear that the owner has been working hard to improve the quality of their harps. And indeed, they deserve a fair chance.
Still, if these are the same harp models as Muzikkon and Thomann have been selling under other brand names (several harp models look completely identical to me), now and then, there still may be some quality control issues like breaking strings and malfunctioning levers. I’ve heard several people complaining about this, though it could very well be that, recently, these manufacturing problems have been solved.
@gordon-johnston, congratulations that you got a harp you really like. Your message, just like your only previous message still on this forum, sounds like an advertorial for these pakistani harps.
Having read the different experiences from others, I can’t help feeling you must have been extremely lucky.
You obviously like their looks. J would love a link to a videoclip or your harp ensemble playing these harps in order to get an impression of their sound. Or perhaps, a clip of yourself playing such a harp?
I just found a nice videoclip of the L&H Drake harp in which Ms Kilby plays Boundless by Kim Robertson (ABRSM Grade 8 Harp non-Pedal).
Unfortunately this post won’t get uploaded when I add the link to the clip.
As the annoying automatic spam function of this forum removed my post with link, I will post it again without the functional link…
Some additional information on the question of putting other strings on one’s harp than the harp was designed for: https manufacturing dot dustystrings dot com slash blog slash can-i-replace-my-nylon-harp-strings-gut
