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Old Fasioned Blade Levers?

Though the frets that I have used for some 22 years of harp building have a superficial appearance of the old fashioned blade levers, They actually have the qualities of frets for any other fretted instrument.  Actually, the old fashioned blade lever has far more in common with flip up levers than my frets do.  This is because both the old blade levers and the flip up levers have as their first consideration to be tunable which is a convenience for the harp builder and not for the benefit of the harper.  First of all, Woldsong frets are NOT tunable.  There is absolutely no justification for tunability of a lever save for the initial installation by the harp maker, and almost any problem associated with levers can be traced back to their tunability.  The Woldsong fret is installed with very accurate intonation to begin with, and is securely anchored in place by use of a threaded shank screwed into a tapped hole in the harmonic curve.  Further, the guaranteed accuracy (+/-14 cents from perfectly even tempered half steps for all but the top three frets) applies whether the fret is barely in contact with the string or turned to a full 90* angle to the string, AND this guarantee is for as long as you own the harp. Since there is no tuning adjustment, there is absolutely no way they can go out of tune over some period of time.  There is a very unfortunate misconception that harps change shape, that soundboards exhibit symptoms of anorexia or pseudocyesis (false pregnancy) which changes the intonation of the frets.  This is pure fantasy, but don’t take my word or the word of any other so called expert on this.  Ask your harp.  (For how to do this go to www.CelticHarpsLeversFretsInfo.com.  The guarantee for intonation of the levers is for as log as you own the harp.  Woldsong frets are as accurate and trouble free as the frets on any guitar, mandolin, banjo etc.   This is why I call them frets, and this is derived from 22 years of putting them on harps----some 4000 to 6000 with a total of two complaints concerning their longevity.

...Objections and Problems of Blade Levers

I have had proponents of "flip up" levers call my blade levers "dinosaurs". In light of what has been recently been learned about dinosaurs, I take this as a compliment and very discriptive. It is now known that dinosaurs were warm blooded animals, and were very quick and agile. They were not the cumbersome slow and slothful beasts they were once thought to be. Indeed, it is the flip up levers which are slow and cumbersome. It only stands to reason that having to move your whole arm up and down for each lever change is slower and more clumsy than the motion of a thumb and two fingers required by Woldsong levers. The difference is that of using an old fashioned hand water pump to get water from a well, and turning on the water faucet in your kitchen.

Displacement?

The longest string on the largest harp Woldsong makes has the greatest displacement from the sharpening Woldsong fret. At the level of the Woldsong fret, this is approx. 3/16 inch. However, you don't play the harp at that point, but approximately 1/2 way down the string where the displacement is 1/2 the displacement of the site of the Woldsong fret. This is 3/32 of an inch. This is less than the amount of displacement that occurs when playing the same note twice in a row, such as in "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" where the vibration of the string displaces that string some five to fifteen times as much as the lever.

YES!

Woldsong has prepared a 34 minute video tape including 5 musical selections, all but the last being virtually impossible to play using "flip up" levers. There is also an approximately 11 minute section devoted to explaining the principles on which the objections are met and demonstrations that they are in fact true. You may purchase this video from Woldsong Harps at no risk since you can return the tape and cover (in an undamaged condition, of course) to Woldsong for a full purchase price refund of US$7.75* (my cost for the tape). Not only that, since the video is not copyrighted and there is no electronic protection for duplicating, you may duplicate any portions of it which you choose. Indeed, I invite you to do so. The title of the video is "The Versatile Celtic Harp Volume II -- Blade Levers Revisited" (click here to order) *(There is a US$2.75 shipping and handling charge that is non-refundable. For purchases outside the USA, the charge may be more.)

... difference between a "classical harp" and a Celtic Harp?

The difference between a Celtic harp and any others (commonly called pedal harps) is the way sharps and flats are achieved. A pedal harp has an arrangement of 7 pedals (one for each note of the scale) each pedal having 3 positions: flat, natural and sharp. Consider the pedal for the note G. If the harp is, say, a 6 octave harp, that pedal is connected via cables, levers, etc. to all 6 G strings of the harp by way of 3 position cams buried in the Harmonic curve. Since the pedals are foot operated, they obviously must be at the base of the harp, and the mechanical connections to the cams in the harmonic curve are exceedingly complex. For this reason, even an inexpensive 3 position concert pedal harp will have something like an $18,000 price tag, and they can go way up from there. Also, they tend to require considerably more maintenance.

Other kinds of harps...

Actually there are many different kinds of harps including several Latin American versions. For instance, there are Paraguayan and Mexican harps which you may see played commonly. In general there are significant differences in the way they are constructed, differences in string tension, etc. Usually, these harps have no means of playing sharps and flats, but that is not to say that they are inferior instruments. To hear a well played Paraguayan harp is one of the most delightful experiences you can have. Mexican harps are a staple in Mariachi music and occassionally heard as solo instruments. These are just two examples. There are many others, and though the general techniques in playing them is the same as pedal or Celtic harps, each can have special techniques to achieve the idioms of the music most commonly played upon them.

Getting Started...

The best way to get started is to find a teacher who has rentals. Many teachers do, and they like to rent them because they make money both on the rental and the lessons. Usually the rental price is very low. Both Bobbie-Jo Curley and Shawna Selline do this. Note: Buying less expensive instruments is a poor idea. There are kits available but I haven't seen one yet that I thought was worth the shipping cost. *webmaster's note: I'm a drummer and I heartily agree. Starting with a poor instrument is always a bad idea. Learning to play ANY instrument is hard enough without having to do all the "workarounds" that poor instruments require, and begining players develop bad playing habits that have to be unlearned when they finally do get an instrument that is a joy to play, that is, if they're not so frustrated that they quit in disgust. Lastly, if you purchase a quality instument, you can at least sell it and recoup some of your money if it turns out you (or your children) don't really have the inclination to pursue it.

Lap harps:

A lap harp is nothing more than a very small harp, usually with no feet or legs at all that you hold in your lap while playing. They are often used by singers accompanying themselves. I make a lap harp (called the Faera) which is not in my catalog but may be specially ordered. It is a 27 string instrument, and mine actually does have legs that are designed both, for the harp to stand up when not in use, and sort of wrap around the upper thigh of the harpest while playing for more stability.

Pillars

Before I ever started building harps, I was amazed by the presence of a fine Paraguayan harp being played by a very well known harper. After the Sunday Brunch concert I asked the harper about that, and thoroughly respected his answer since I knew both of his musicianship, and his not insignificant scientific training. He told me that was a characteristic of all Paraguayan harps for two reasons. First, that the harps themselves were very lightweight, and second, because the strings emanated from the interior of a centrally placed harmonic curve, thus all the strings were in a plane and entered the soundboard at right angles from the viewpoint of the player. With this configuration, the vibration of the string is not biased to either side of the soundboard. Indeed all of the soundboard evenly transfers it's vibrations to the surrouding air. From the very first harp I built, I have incorporated the idea of offsetting the whole harmonic curve/pillar assembly to the right, just enough to have all the strings, from top to bottom, enter the soundboard in a plane perpendicular to the soundboard. Does this truly make a substantial difference? I'm not absolutely sure since in designing the Woldsong harps I have incorporated every measure I can think of to transfer as much of the strings vibrating energy to the soundboard, and ultimately to the air, as possible. I know that I and my customers are pleased with the results, and thus the pillars continue to be offset.