I am currently on wait for my uilleann pipes and id like to begin working with the harp while i wait, as i would like to add it to my repitoir some day. Not to mention sitting down and practicing with a harp is so relaxing whether you can play or not.
I am looking for a decent sounding harp with 26 strings or more, as in tune as possible, and under 300 dollars. dont really need levers or anything.
I know that is a pretty rediculous request, (the harp i want to get eventually is about 3000 dollars). But if any players out there have one second hand that they are willing to part with, or can offer the name of a place to get one. (not pakistani please!!!) I would be very greatful.
If you’re at all serious about playing the harp someday, get a Ravenna. It’s really a wonderful harp for the price. I’ve had mine for about a year and a half now, and it’s still my most prized possession.
If you’re looking for a pleasant little harp to take along on vacation, or just to noodle on, the Harpsicle isn’t bad. I got mine for a travel harp, because it’s a pain to lug the Ravenna into every restaurant we stop at along the road, and because taking it in an airplane would be impossible. It’s nice to have a harp when you travel to keep your hands in shape…and the Harpsicle is a zillion times better than one of those sad little Pakistani things (I can’t really dignify them by calling them harps). Lap harps are a bit of a pain to learn on, though…even with a lap stick, there’s a bit of a trick to learning to keep them from sliding while still learning good technique.
I wouldn’t bother with getting levers for a Harpsicle. That puts it into the price range of the Ravenna, and if you’re going to do that, you’re much better off buying a Ravenna. If you don’t plan to play with an ensemble or session, you don’t really need to sharp C and F…there’s a ton of music out there that can be played on an unlevered harp. If you do want to play with other Irish musicians, you can always tune your Cs and Fs up, but that’s a bit of a pain.
Stoney End makes wonderful harps, but they are considerably more expensive than the ones mentioned…at least if one wants 26 strings or more and levers (the ones they have in the price range we’re talking about…the Eve and the Brittany…are both 22-string lap harps). That is, unless you want to assemble your own from a kit. I notice that a lot of their harps specify tapered pins too, which personally, I don’t like (they frequently have to be reset).
This site brings up another consideration as well…shipping a harp can be expensive (I notice that Stoney End charges around $200 in shipping). If at all possible, it’s worth finding out if your local music store can order what you want. I was fortunate in that my favorite music store stocks the Ravenna, as well as other Dusty Strings harps and a few of the Stoney End harps, so I was able to just drive down and pick mine up.
