What is a good celtic harp on a budget?

[ninjaaron]

I like harps.

I want to buy on.

I have little spending money.

I see very cheap ones on ebay and get awfully tempted.

what the crap should I do?

[Lambchop]

Resist the urge to flit from one thing to another.

Play your flute.

[Walden]

I bet the ones you see on eBay are from http://www.mid-east.com

They import most of their stuff from Pakistan. I probably wouldn't expect any decent workmanship, but, I have bought one of their harps, a "kinnor" lyre, that was on discount as blemished, and it was worth every penny as a decorative item, and I derived quite a bit of satisfaction playing it.

But, generally, you get what you pay for. And I know their harps by reputation, and it's not a good reputation.

[ninjaaron]

Resist the urge to flit from one thing to another.

Play your flute.

you can pick up the harp in less time than the penny whistle.

I want a harp.

[Walden]

you can pick up the harp in less time than the penny whistle.

I don't think so.

[ninjaaron]

I don't think so.

well, It's true that I'm just presuming this to be the case, with no actual basis. It just seems very natural, especially after a decent amount of experience in classical guitar. Things with strings tend to come pretty easily to me... of course, maybe I don't know what I'm getting into.

Probably, I'm getting into nothing. I want something with 22 strings or more, and even the cheap ones are out of my range.

As lamby said, back to the flute.

False alarm everyone.

[BigDavy]

Hi ninjaaron

I bought a pakistani harp off Ebay (the Heather Harp in the mid east catalogue) as I intended to learn to play it once I got a bit better on the UPs. The harp teacher at the CCE branch hosting the Glasgow pipers club checked it out and played a few tunes on it and was happy enough with it as a learning instrument. The build quality is not as bad as Walden makes out and they are decorative, so go for it if the price is right. (note the most popular harp for learning on in the local CCE branches is the model up from the Heather - the 29 string with 24 sharpening levers, don't buy one without levers).

David

[MarkB]

Ninjaaron wrote:

you can pick up the harp in less time than the penny whistle

Don't know much about harps do you? I can hold a Guinness in one hand and a whistle in the other, can't do that with a harp! It's a lot easier to carry a whistle than it is harp and you don't need a van! You start off with a little harp and then you want a bigger one, which entails a bigger van, bigger cases. Don't have to spend hours tuning a whistle either.

How do I know this I was married to a woman who decided when we got married that she wanted to play the harp, intsead of the fiddle. Went through the whole progression ending in divorce.

Stick with the whislte and flute, much easier to live with!

MakrB

[Redwolf]

Hi ninjaaron

I bought a pakistani harp off Ebay (the Heather Harp in the mid east catalogue) as I intended to learn to play it once I got a bit better on the UPs. The harp teacher at the CCE branch hosting the Glasgow pipers club checked it out and played a few tunes on it and was happy enough with it as a learning instrument. The build quality is not as bad as Walden makes out and they are decorative, so go for it if the price is right. (note the most popular harp for learning on in the local CCE branches is the model up from the Heather - the 29 string with 24 sharpening levers, don't buy one without levers).

David

From what I'm hearing, they vary widely. There's one at my local music store that they're trying to sell for a few bucks as a decorative item...the tension of the strings pulled the curve askew, and now it's unplayable. You can get one that's playable, but it's a crap shoot.

I'm also looking into getting a harp within the next year, and here's one I'm considering:

http://www.harpconnection.com/TastyHarps.html

(I'm actually looking at the "Sharpsicle" there, as I want at least half levers)

Not much more than the Pakistani harps, but the consistency and quality are considered far, far superior. They are definitely beginners' harps, but not bad instruments at all, from what I'm learning.

My local music store also has a harp by Dusty Strings for around $695. It's got half levers, and actually has plastic reinforcing around the soundbox! Quite a nice harp, and the price isn't bad at all. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing it on-line...next time I'm at the store, though, I'll ask what the model is.

Redwolf

[chas]

Resist the urge to flit from one thing to another.

Play your flute.

you can pick up the harp in less time than the penny whistle.

I want a harp.

You've got to be kidding!!! I spent three years on the harp, picked up my first Clarke, and was better on the whistle in three weeks.

Having bought a few harps and really looked into them, I'd recommend one from MusicMaker's Kits www.musikit.com . The Shepherd lap harp has an amazing sound for its size. It's only 22 strings, which doesn't really allow two-handed playing. That kit is $375 (quite a bit more than when I bought mine); if you go up to a 29 or 31 string, you're talking at least twice that, I think.

[SteveK]

Build a PVC harp.

http://www.johnkovac.com/piperharp.html

[Wormdiet]

Just from my experiences with Ninj here and elsewhere, I'm guessing he's one of those freakishly talented guys who can pick up instruments easily and sound good very quickly. . . of course he could suck at everything, but I doubt it.

I've had the pleasure of playing with a harpist only about twice in sessions, but when you get a good one, it is an amazing experience. It's on my instruments-to-learn list right between Flute and cello (and a few spots above sitar)

[ninjaaron]

Just from my experiences with Ninj here and elsewhere, I'm guessing he's one of those freakishly talented guys who can pick up instruments easily and sound good very quickly. . . of course he could suck at everything, but I doubt it.

Meh... not exactly. I'm sort of a poser genius, if that makes sense. That is, I can pick up an instrument and make it sound good pretty fast for Joe Layman, but real players can spot me as a hack a mile off. Still can't hit the low C on my boehm, and I've had it a couple of weeks now.

I've had the pleasure of playing with a harpist only about twice in sessions, but when you get a good one, it is an amazing experience. It's on my instruments-to-learn list right between Flute and cello (and a few spots above sitar)

Funny you should mention it, there is a rental cello sitting downstairs right now. I pretty sure I'm not fooling anyone with that (well, maybe pitzacato, but the second that bow touches those strings the illusion begins to melt pretty quickly).

If you want to see a real mutant, you should meet my brother. He's never taken a class or read a book in his life. Doesn't even know note names, and he can learn anything by ear. He was playing that cello with some degree of musicality after about 5 minutes. If he would just take the time to learn something about music he would sound like a certifiable genius. As it is, he doesn't really know how to harmonize all the cool stuff he comes up with...

...and then there are guys like Scott Jones. If that punk ever gets a flute, he'll have us licking his boots within the first day.

Jerk.

As for the harp, finances will not allow. College. Back to trying to get my nylon string guitar to sound like a harp. Hopefully it will get me half way there.

[Wormdiet]

Harmony Centralism:

I'd love to hear rog3r's coments on Irish music. . . ;P

[Charlene]

You might want to check out Dusty Strings from Seattle: http://www.dustystrings.com/index.shtml (main page)

(harp page)
http://www.dustystrings.com/building/harps.shtml

Not inexpensive - looks like you can spend anywhere from $600 up to over $6000.