An Draighean wrote:
I love the ringing tone of a wire harp; it seems to speak on an elemental level. My wife has a small wire harp made by William MacDonald on Skye.
I love the wire harp, too. It's special, and we're lucky it was revived. My first introduction to it was in the mid-1980s via cassettes of Patrick Ball's playing. Needless to say, I was enchanted and it opened for me an aspect of the Gaelic tradition I had never dreamt of. I also confess a certain amount of pride in being able to claim the pioneering Ann Heymann as a fellow Minnesotan. I've had many an arcane conversation with ceadach - he doesn't post here much any more - a dedicated wire harper himself, also a local boy, IIRC a Scottish Harp Society award winner, and he was a student of Ann's. Wire and otherwise, there are a good number of accomplished local harpists that I've heard but as a newbie couldn't even begin to name, but give it time. Surrounded by all that, saying I'm taking up harp is a bit like telling Rembrandt I'm taking up painting.
It wasn't so much economy as it was the Gaelic harp itself that was the main inspiration for going with a lap harp; while I understand that the traditional string arrangements for wire and synthetic setups are different, I figured if a lap harp was good enough for the bards of old, it's good enough for me. I don't consider it a lesser instrument any more than I would consider a whistle inferior to a fully-keyed flute; it's what you do with it that tells the tale, and I've heard enough stunningly good music out of lap harps to convince me of their potential as legitimate instruments in their own right. I want to pursue the world of tighter harmonies, which suits me anyway.
There's plenty of time before I will see a need to consider a floor harp. I'm intentionally holding off on sharping levers too, as the diatonic modes that make up most of the Trad repertory are already present and accounted for. If and when I do add levers, it'll be the whole-hog thing with Eb tuning, or nothing.
An Draighean wrote:
Even before you grow your fingernails, it is much more work to tune (and keep in tune) than a conventional harp.
And ceadach said so, too. I find it a bit surprising, given that wires are less stretchy than gut or synthetics. Even with nylon strings I still have to tune, but I don't mind; for me there's a certain amount of satisfaction in the task.
An Draighean wrote:
Congratulations on your acquisition Nano, and I hope it brings you years of pleasure.
Thanks! I expect it'll take some time before the real pleasure sets in; right now it's a matter of the work of nailing technique, dexterity, and accuracy, and I'm a ways off from that, yet. Baby steps.