09-19-2011, 01:33 AM | #101 | |||
Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!)
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. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç Ã¥ â„¢ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva! |
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09-19-2011, 02:06 AM | #102 |
Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!)
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Just found a discussion board for harpists ... harpcolumn.com
EDIT - I see you already found it, Tessar ... I think that's you asking about Sweetharps and Ravennas, right?
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. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç Ã¥ â„¢ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva! Last edited by RÃan : 09-19-2011 at 05:02 AM. |
09-19-2011, 02:45 PM | #103 |
Cardboard Harp of Gondor Join Date: Sep 2001
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Hehe, you found me.
Rental is out of the question in the sense that I would feel weird bringing an expensive instrument into the house when my parents are having these problems. Right now my only monthly expense that I have to pay (aside from gasoline, etc.) is my phone bill. If I have to I can always stop my voice coachings and sundry till my dad finds a job. Till he does, I'd rather have all of my money available. |
09-19-2011, 08:04 PM | #104 |
Cardboard Harp of Gondor Join Date: Sep 2001
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Awww geeze. Today she showed me how to play an arpeggio and a scale (passing over and under). I gotta get SOMETHING to practice on. I'm thinking the cardboard harp. Inexpensive and not something that will make anyone feel uncomfortable.
I'm gonna order it as soon as I get home. |
09-19-2011, 10:00 PM | #105 |
Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!)
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That sounds like a great option, as long as the string spacing is the standard size. Please be sure that this is the case! I thought that all harp string spacings were the same, but my Mom's Celtic harp has smaller spacing, and I just have a terrible time playing it. Her huge lever harp had the same spacing as my harp, and I could easily transition to that harp. You do NOT want to learn on odd-sized spacing!!!!!
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. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç Ã¥ â„¢ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva! |
09-19-2011, 11:29 PM | #106 |
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Hmmm, I do not see any mention of standard spacing, but honestly I'm not overly worried... I have a LOT of experience in learning to "adjust" my hands on the fly for different pianos. We're talking about one morning playing a piece on my piano at home, in the afternoon working it on a piano in a practice room at school, and then in the evening giving it a runthrough on the piano at church. All of the pianos feel massively different, and it takes me a minute to adjust, but I can do it... although I know some pianists have a much harder time of it than I do (probably because I don't practice ENOUGH on just one piano ).
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09-20-2011, 12:54 AM | #107 |
Cardboard Harp of Gondor Join Date: Sep 2001
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Oh, Rian... two things:
1. My teacher does tune her harp into Eb. 2. She taught me a little 'filler' to begin pieces. It's basically just a 9th chord, all freaked out. So in G major you'd go G A B D... on 4 3 2 1 fingers. It's not an inversion, but I honestly can't think of what you'd call it... Do you have any idea what that is? |
09-20-2011, 02:37 AM | #108 | |||
Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!)
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Yeah, that's nice - I tried it in the key of C, using the G chord as the V chord in my right and playing that GABD in my left, and it was very nice - it wanted to resolve back into the C (I played a I - C, then a IV - F, then a V - G with the GABD in the left hand, then it lead nicely back to the C). It's basically a G chord in the root position with a 9th added on, but into the middle instead of at the top. That's nice - I like that Feel free to pass on anything your teacher says! I love those little tips. I'm not taking lessons now - just can't fit it in. And I wouldn't even want to until I got pretty much back to where I was. Hope you can get that cardboard harp soon!
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. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç Ã¥ â„¢ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva! Last edited by RÃan : 09-20-2011 at 02:39 AM. |
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09-20-2011, 05:56 PM | #109 |
Cardboard Harp of Gondor Join Date: Sep 2001
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Gah, I went to buy it but HESITATED. >.< I keep thinking, "I'd rather use that to rent a real harp."
... but then again lets be honest. Cardboard harps freaking amaze me. I mean... just.... WHAT?! Who even thought of that? They need a medal, ASAP, and maybe a prize. Not a Nobel prize, just a prize. |
09-20-2011, 06:04 PM | #110 |
Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!)
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You should get it - since you want to perform, it will be a great harp to have for backup situations, to take with you on trips, or even for bad weather situations. And it will let you start practicing! The sound will never be like a better harp's sound, but I think it will be invaluable for you to start practicing and for backup - and then you just enjoy the nicer sound when you finally get it
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. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç Ã¥ â„¢ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva! Last edited by RÃan : 09-20-2011 at 06:05 PM. |
09-20-2011, 07:13 PM | #111 |
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You're so wise, Rian. I think I will, when I get home. Fingers crossed I don't choke all over again and go, "BUT I WANNA RAVENNNNNAAAAAAA."
I counted the keys on my piano (from G below Middle C) up 22 "strings" and started trying to rearrange some stuff... it looks very do-able. Had to change a few keys around (for example one of my absolute favorites that I just discovered recently, "Si Bheag Si Mhor" [also known as Sheebeg and Sheemore]) but it all seems to work okay... I actually moved "Penelope's Song" by Loreena McKennitt up a 4th, inverted a few chords, and it all seemed to work okay. One thing I really enjoyed about my last lesson is that my teacher does seem to have a good understanding of the "why" of the technique. I asked her some technical questions about wrist/elbow/finger positioning and she was able to break it down and show me how and why to use specific techniques. |
09-21-2011, 01:17 AM | #112 | ||||
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. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç Ã¥ â„¢ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva! |
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09-21-2011, 03:27 AM | #113 |
Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!)
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The Good News : I'm getting sooooo much better at playing thru pieces instead of stopping stone cold dead with my mouth hanging open! Tessar, your tip of making the mistakes part of that particular playing was helpful, along with really paying attention to what key I'm in and the relevant chords.
The Bad News : I'm soooooo much worse than I used to be before we moved to Arizona and I got hit with tons of family issues and 3 surgeries The Good News : I just finished playing for an hour or so, and my shoulder is sore, but holding up The Good News : I"m so excited for Tessar - I can just tell he's going to be great!
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. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç Ã¥ â„¢ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva! Last edited by RÃan : 09-21-2011 at 03:28 AM. |
09-21-2011, 05:41 PM | #114 |
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Okay, I'm putting this here because this is about instrumental/vocal balance...
I tried some different settings, and this is the one that came out the best. The microphone is about 5 feet behind my back (it's not next to the laptop camera). The top notes (aside from being way out of tune...) do overwhelm, but I think overall this is the best balance I'm going to get with one microphone. However the piano sounds muffled, and I'm not thrilled with the lack of clarity in the voice either. I think the only way to fix that would be to record them separately, or with two microphones at once. I think a big part of the problem is the microphone is behind my back... I'm literally singing away from it. It needs to be in front of me to pick up all of the vocal colors/subtleties. But in front of me, the voice definitely overwhelms the piano. On the plus side, now I know what I sound like to people who stand behind me in choir. I could use some opinions. Any thoughts, guys? Is the balance between the piano and the voice okay? http://youtu.be/m6q8PiDu9Us P.S. I do apologize for how rough it is. I haven't sung or played this piece in forever, but it was the first thing I saw when I sat down to record. |
09-21-2011, 07:24 PM | #115 | ||||
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Sho' thang. Since you mentioned wrists... I drilled my teacher with a million questions about the wrist/hand position, and we finally narrowed it down to: Keep your wrists in a (relaxed) line with your forearm. Don't make them absolutely straight at all times (i.e. "force them" straight) but keep them as one line and return to that line as much as possible as soon as you stray from it. |
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09-22-2011, 12:59 AM | #116 |
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Just got an e-mail my harp teacher will be out of town next Monday, so no harp lesson.
That was the kick in the pants I needed. Ordered the 22 string cardboard harp... we'll see how long it takes to arrive! No way I'm letting all of my lesson-money vanish over the next two weeks just because I have nothing to practice on. |
09-22-2011, 03:48 AM | #117 |
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Sounds like a good idea!
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09-23-2011, 12:25 PM | #118 |
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Ack! I can't wait to get my hands on that harp. I ordered it it on the 20th or 21st and still no word that it has been shipped!! >.<
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09-23-2011, 05:09 PM | #119 |
Cardboard Harp of Gondor Join Date: Sep 2001
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My oldest sister, the art major, just helped me settle on a White Tree of Gondor design for my cardboard harp.
....... ............ .................. CAN YOU EVEN CONCIEVE OF HOW AMAZING THIS IS?! A CARDBOARD HARP!!! ... WITH THE WHITE TREE OF GONDOR!?!?!!?...... I MEAN........ WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAT?! How does this stuff even HAPPEN? You know? This is going to be so amazing that all shall fear and love my cardboard harp... If this thing doesn't arrive in the mail soon I'mma explode with anticipation. |
09-23-2011, 05:50 PM | #120 |
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You could add your name in Tengwar underneath. But won't the drawing influence the integrity of the harp if it's made of cardboard?
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