I’m in love…
Redwolf
Well, congratulations! I’m not sure if it’s a boy or a girl (it looks like a girl to me), but that is definitely a very beautiful baby. Will you be taking lessons or what? Did we know you were expecting this baby?
He’s a boy. Pretty near all my instruments are boys. I have a couple of whistles with an undeniable female personality, but this lad is definitely…well…a lad.
I can’t remember where all I announced his impending arrival. I’ve been saving for a harp forever, but a recent Christmas gift made it possible a little earlier than I’d thought possible.
I may take some lessons, just to be sure I don’t fall into any really bad habits at the beginning, but I’m also working with a “teach yourself” book and video.
The nice thing about harps is they sound great even when you’re just playing beginners exercises!
Redwolf
Now, let me get it straight, Turlogh O’Carrolan was an itinerant beggar who carried one of these numbers around?? What did he use - a shopping cart?? 
I need to get me a harp, one of these days.
Hardly! He was a very well-respected professional harper, with a patron who supplied him with horses and servants…definitely not an itinerate beggar!
He probably wouldn’t have played a harp quite this tall, however. He would have played a wire-strung lap harp.
Even this one isn’t THAT big. I can buy a case for it that includes backpack straps…it’s really quite portable. No worse than a guitar, anyway.
Redwolf
It certainly is a thing of beauty.
Hmmm …
I really don’t like advocating formula
but this is a candidate for one.
Great photo! and so it does have colored strings! 
Seems to be able to stand at a very erarly age! Can he talk yet? Does he sing?
Actually, O’Carolan did travel around from house to house thus making him an itinerant musician but not a begger.
From clarsach.net
“In the late sixteenth century harsh Elizabethan policies triggered the tradition’s decline; for the next two hundred years the harpers were forced to adapt to a new social order. As their patrons’ fortunes reduced, the role of the harpers changed and their social standing was reduced. The harper was by now an itinerant musician with a number of patrons and would travel a large circuit, stopping at whatever houses would offer a welcome.”
Congratulations on the harp. The harp is a beautiful instrument. I’ve thought of taking it up but I already unsuccesfully do too much.
This looks very much like my mother’s harp. Who is the craftsperson?
Dusty Strings, in Seattle. It’s based on their “Allegro” model (uses the same strings and such), but is priced with the student/beginner in mind. This model is called “Ravenna.”
I can’t begin to imagine how hard it would be to find your place on a harp that didn’t have colored strings (though heaven knows the old harpers did). Most harps have the C strings colored red and the F strings colored blue.
He’s a precocious child. Stands pretty well on his own, and already sings, though only in scales at the moment. Doesn’t talk (yet!).
Redwolf
Very beautiful indeed. 
Come on. Shouldn’t that be in the Cutie-Pie thread? Must we relentlessly be posting pics of our babies, our cats, our hamsters, etc all over the Pub?
Just kidding. 
It’s a byoot. Almost makes me want one. Almost.
…
I really don’t like advocating formula
but this is a candidate for one.
Highly strung babies are difficult to breast feed.
I’ve wanted one for years but I keep avoiding it because it would represent yet another twist and turn in the musical journey that I don’t feel prepared to take. I sure like noodling around with 'em though.
Best wishes!
My husband built a small harp from me several years ago and I took lessons one day a week during lunch- called them music therapy sessions. I don’t have a lot of practice time so eventually stopped the lessons, but it was worthwhile to learn proper technique as it wasn’t as intuitive as I’d assumed.
One cool thing to do is to take the harp outside on a breezy day and set it in a shady spot and let the wind play it- very relaxing.
The most “unintuitive” thing for me at the moment is the arm position. After riding horses for most of my teenage years and then spending five adult years as a martial artist, my brain does NOT like to allow my elbows to creep out from my sides. With the harp, you want the elbows out slightly, so the arm is free to move back and forth along the same line (it also helps with hand position). So I’m mainly doing a lot of simple fingering exercises now, and focusing hard on technique.
Redwolf
PVC? Listen to the sound files:
A bit more technically in tune with things?