Note to self

2012-01-31T20:52:00.000-08:00

Noisy construction work!

2012-01-30T20:22:00.000-08:00

I always forget when I'm sick how exhausting it is to hold up my arms to play.

2012-01-28T22:00:00.001-08:00

Improv to Colin Stetson.

2012-01-26T21:57:00.000-08:00

"When silencing parts between vocal lines, please keep in mind that a sudden drop in background ambiance canhave an bad effect, so at the very least fade the area around the silenced part, to minimize that effect.Rules to start with are, fade in quickly and fade out slowly. Alternately, use the envelope tool to lower the volume in that area. That way, you can comfortably change it later." - Audacity The envelope tool doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Yet.

"When you're satisfied, fade out the last two thirds of the overlapping upper part of the track, and fade in the first two thirds of the lower overlapping audio." - Audacity - emphasis mine.

2012-01-24T15:46:00.000-08:00

I've been exercising, adjusting my harp, and letting it settle.

Today, I started work on Prelude 2, and had just decided to try to record again, when it started (loudly) pouring rain. Another day then.

2012-01-17T14:10:00.000-08:00

Urg. This - http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/File_Management_Tips#Avoiding_loss_of_project_audio_due_to_missing_dependent_file - is what happened. Usually, I plug the Zoom into my computer and it's no problem, but now it's saying it's plugged into F: instead of G:. How do I fix that? By doing the workaround found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297694. But does it work... Yes!

Now on to practicing...

2012-01-16T15:36:00.000-08:00

Harp is finally restrung AND almost settled and string gauges measured. I think I will measure the string gauges under tension, too, but after my harp has really settled. Maybe in a month? Or a couple weeks since then it will be next month. This year is already flying by.

I exercised mostly today because Audacity was not playing my file properly so I couldn't hear what I wanted to work on.

2012-01-11T12:06:00.000-08:00

Harp is finally restrung "properly" after having been strung "more properly" - moving the strings up one hole in the soundboard centered the strings in the discs up to 1st octave G! I would expect harps normally only have this happen in the 7th - 4th octaves, and my soundboard is really not bowed out by much at all.

I'm also measuring string diameters as I'm cutting off the ends in prep for calculating tension/length/pitch.

This also means I could start recording again.

2012-01-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

Worcester > City Information >Business Directory
Listed under Teachers > Music
11 Murray Ave: 1903, 1904
765 Main: 1905
5 Benefit: 1906, 1907

Listed under Orchestras
Alhambra String Quartette, Mrs. M.L. Childs, Director
11 Murray Ave: 1903, 1904, 1905

2012-01-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

She is listed in the 1906 Cat Register book as owning a cat with one Mr. James H. Howland. Maybe that had something to do with the divorce?

2012-01-05T22:24:00.000-08:00

On the 1900 census for Worcester Mass, there is a listing for Hattie M.L. Childs, musician. It's got to be her! She lived at 11 Murray Ave (possibly in an apartment) with her husband Harry A. who was a bookkeeper in a Printing? shop. She was born in Apr 1870, as was her husband. They had been married 5 years and had no children.

Searching marriage records by Harry's name, I found a listing for him and Hattie M Lynn Kittridge on 12 April 1895, so I really do think it's her. However on the marriage record, she's listed as a bookkeeper, too. I wonder if she just up and decided to play the harp one day...

Her parents on the 1900 census are listed as: Charles W Barker, Sarah E Barker, on her marriage license they are: Charles W, Sarah E Knapping. ???

And sadly, Harry is listed as divorced in the 1910 census and living back at home with his mom.

2012-01-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

I'm continuing to cobble together different pieces of Prelude 2.

The 2nd sequence of chords is out of tempo, even with the metronome! And I'm not able to remove the metronome clicking because I've already deleted the sample areas I could have used.

I need to re-record the whole thing after I restring my harp.

I'm becoming more of a critical listener (I hope).

2011-12-26T18:57:00.000-08:00

I can't really tell if the tension on my harp is less. It sort of feels like it. The harmonic overtones are completely different. There are definitely different tones ringing longer.

2011-12-24T20:57:00.000-08:00

I experimented with shifting my strings up one soundboard hole to compensate for the amount the strings are offset from the center of the tuning discs. There are so many variables that I need to sit down and list them tomorrow.

I can feel my heartbeat all the way into my fingertips and my joints are stiff. I think my hands would be so much stronger if I did this every day.

Also started combining the good parts of Prelude 2 into one file.

2011-12-18T21:31:00.001-08:00

Audacity only lets you add one label track? That's a little inconvenient if you're wanting to make specific notes on specific tracks and have to keep scrolling up and down.

2011-12-14T10:37:00.001-08:00

Tinnitus is a little loud today, so no Audacity work.

2011-12-13T17:08:00.000-08:00

If you duplicate your track, then apply an effect, you can also adjust the gain (volume) of the effect. I believe the duplicated track would then be the original sound (dry signal) with effects, not just the effects. I think I could tease out different areas that need more or less work and then mix them back together! Cool stuff. Or even do a straight substitution.

"You can save a selection in a label. When you create a new label, the left selection edge determines the position of the label's flag. However, the right selection edge is also stored in the label, and when you click on it, the full original selection will be restored. " - AudacityI took a couple hours and started labeling good parts.

2011-12-13T14:36:00.001-08:00

I worked a little Prelude 3 and my rt hand started to get shaky, so I switched to xmas carols. I get bored with those pretty quickly, though.

2011-12-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

I recorded myself three times: the first a once-through, and other two playing Prelude 2 three times each.

Yesterday, on the first file, I played around with different Gverb settings based on the wiki page. The Quick Fix sounds ok all around, but the Small, Bright Hall makes the high plinky notes sing. It gets rid of most of the finger noise and makes my harp sound like what I think it should sound like.

Today, I went through the other two files and split out each repetition of the Prelude. As well as little bits I played here and there to try to correct dynamics, mistakes, and loud pedal changes.That took about 1.5 hours including a popcorn emergency. :)

2011-12-11T15:04:00.001-08:00

In Audacity, if you open a sound file and save it as a project, then move the original file (ie, disconnect your Zoom microphone from your computer), the project will have no sound when you try to play it. Momentary panic averted with google search.

2011-12-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

Playing with Audacity is fun!

2011-12-06T11:33:00.001-08:00

I've recorded enough stuff I think I can do something with the bits and pieces. I hope. I will be doing some audacity tutorials, that's for sure.

2011-12-02T17:47:00.001-08:00

Took out 3rd and 4th finger slides in (Flight) since my tendons allow my fingers to just bend backwards instead of sliding. Nice.

2011-11-27T15:00:00.001-08:00

More exercising.Record one thing a month no matter the quality. Details close up, messy pieces further away. Try dresser.

2011-11-27T08:49:00.001-08:00

Harold Budd: "Haru Spring" from 'In The Mist'

2011-11-25T17:18:00.001-08:00

More exercising and remembering to bend my thumbs.

2011-11-22T20:36:00.001-08:00

Flighty exercises.

2011-11-08T16:58:00.000-08:00

Back to things I can play with harmonics in them. My free time has been eaten up so I will not be practicing as much.

2011-11-01T20:20:00.001-07:00

Another version of Here Comes the Flood is here: http://www.motorharp.com/music.html#PeterGabriel

2011-10-31T21:30:00.000-07:00

On a whim, I emailed L&H to ask if they could tell me anything about my harp. I knew it was a style 21, but I now know it was definitely made in the early 1890s and the original owner was Mabelle Lynn Childs. I researched a little at work today and asked a couple Library Assistants to find out a little more about her, but no luck. She may have owned a longhaired female cat named Tootsie in 1906, but that is not confirmed.

2011-10-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

I can play harmonics again! Well, sort of. Modified harmonics.

Last version of Flood - need to get hands together, practice trouble spots and pedal changes. And try to get it not-so-clunky.

2011-10-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Recorded individual tracks. Wish I knew how to match them up in Audacity. I tried eying them and got cacophony.

2011-10-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

Recorded 1st track, played 2nd track with it - need to see if I can print out individual parts as the page turns are inconvenient.

2011-10-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

Editing two versions of Flood.

Put in pedal markings.
Practice trouble spots and page turns.
Record the multi-part in separate files.

2011-10-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

1 hour of Notturno in the 4 bar section/pg 2. More thumb slides in Gagliardiandia.

2011-10-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

Strengthening thumb for 20 min.

Bacon Palms

2011-10-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

I realized halfway through playing that harmonics are not an option at this point.

Yowza.

I played a little Gagliarda by Mortari to get my hands moving again. I'm still twisting my entire arm when playing thumb slides. Are there more robust exercises I can do for thumbs?

2011-10-20T20:13:00.001-07:00

Took another tumble off my bike and ripped skin off my palm so no practicing today!

Note to self: Get biking gloves!

2011-10-18T15:58:00.001-07:00

Notturno is finally corrected and printed out. !

2011-10-16T17:24:00.000-07:00

Eyeball-stabby headache. Could either be from trying to deal with Finale again (thanks for changing my note spacing again) or because of the Archives Crawl yesterday.

Went through Notturno to see if I could play it more efficiently, and I can. I took out some notes and transferred others to my right hand.

Played Zarabanda and my mind is still blanking in places, so I guess I will not be able to play it without the music.

Worked on (flight) a bit. My thumb joints are really jiggly.

2011-10-14T19:26:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned lately I hate Finale? I printed out some music and noticed some of the notes were wrong. I went back in a fixed the notes (Finale helpfully respaced the notes as soon as I changed them so there was one measure per LINE) and now Finale will not print this file. It will print other files, just not this one. I have shut down and restarted and still nothing. Urgh!

2011-10-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

I took the old guy in for regulating today. I now have a much less creaky base and way smoother pedals. Unfortunately, the E (and the B a teensy bit) is still hopping in between ♯ and ♮, and there's nothing obvious that's causing it. My super-nice regulator gave me a recommendation for a second opinion about the E pedal located in Corvallis.

Also, my new harp cover is SO MUCH BETTER. I had a much easier time getting my harp in and out of the car. And just holding onto it in general. Yay!

2011-10-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

I am overwhelmed by my choice of music, so in order to preserve the little bit of energy I have, I am leaving the rest for tomorrow.

2011-10-10T21:22:00.001-07:00

Ok, now I've gone through all my music. Now to cull. Then ... what?

2011-10-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

Played through the rest of my music. Or so I thought.

2011-10-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

Played through more.

2011-10-07T17:45:00.000-07:00

Played more music from my repertoire (and wore myself out - surprise nap on the couch!). I think I'm good for quantity. Need to go through the rest and sort for quality. Then come up with a program. Then find a place/places to perform. And RELAX!

But before all that, my harp needs some regulating to take care of the creaks that have crept back in, and the jumpy pedals, and the sour notes.

2011-10-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

Timed things and I have about 45 min of music. And that's not even everything. Try to be ready in 2 mos?

2011-10-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

Got sucked down the Finale hole again - And why is my computer playing Sean Penn?!? - so didn't really practice today. Spent most of my time trying to figure out if the scale I'm listening to is really chromatic. I don't think it is, but at the same time it really sounds like it. So I'm trying to figure it out with math, without actually using math, which is probably why it's taking me so long.

I'm really concerned about my recording guy - shoulder issues in both shoulders. Send positive healing thoughts his way, please, dear readers.

2011-10-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

Played a skosh, but mostly cleaned up and organized. Waiting to hear from recording person about their health. I hope he's ok!

2011-09-30T15:18:00.000-07:00

There is a new crack in my harp. *sob*

Next step is to take detailed pictures and send to L&H for an estimate.

Or not, because I'm hallucinating. The crack I just saw that I could insert my fingernail in has closed up?

2011-09-29T15:44:00.001-07:00

Messed around with Flood - I had to adjust the measures, then played with formatting. It's now much more readable.

But I still need to practice!

2011-09-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

I think I may have possibly discovered that ignoring the order I've been taught to place helps stabilize my thumbs. Placing everything all at once helps. Possibly. It needs further testing.

This is exciting news, people!

2011-09-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

Back to playing today. I feel a little lost without massive amounts of cordura, flannel and foam lying around waiting for me to stitch them together.

Zarabanda is still mostly memorized, woohoo!

Fingers are stiff as expected. Maybe do some exercises later.

2011-09-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hmm... last publish 14 Sept. I've been busy poking holes in my fingers. You can read about that over at the old motorharp lj. I jammed my thumb (hard!) against the floor in addition to all the slicing and dicing. And since I have the bendy thumbs, I actually jammed it backwards. Ow.

I hope I play tomorrow. Lots of work to do.

2011-09-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

Looked through different version of Flood. Need to write it out enharmonically. Or figure out which parts M wants, then write it out.

2011-09-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

Short play-through of Zarabanda with memorization work.

2011-09-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

Visited a St. Patrick's this morning while it was still cool. The highway noise is incredibly loud, but the space sounds amazing.

Zarabanda: I cannot frakking memorize this thing! I forget the page-turn section on the 2nd play-through.

2011-09-09T15:40:00.000-07:00

Prelude : Problem spots. Need to place both thumb and 1st fingers together not separate.

Prelude 2: Need to build up muscles for small glisses.

Prelude 3: Count!

Zarabanda: Almost memorized - work on page turn and last two major sections.

I want my Amhrán Slán!

2011-09-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

Skipping things because of hotness and just now getting to harp stuff. Excitedly ordered sheet music of Amhrán Slán to download, but email servers are down. Rrrrrrr!

2011-09-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

Got a call back about a location. Need to contact sound engineer.

Insónia and Zarabanda. I just need to memorize the last page and a half.

2011-09-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

http://socialmusicrecords.com/: find "Portland.
http://paullaxer.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/summer-round-up/
http://jackpotrecording.com/engineers/

http://www.uprecords.com/discography/072/
http://www.orartswatch.org/portland-cello-project-these-are-the-voyages/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mariner%27s_Revenge_Song
recorded portland or
record harp in portland oregon

2011-09-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

Analyzing Zarabanda did help. Probably from having to look at it so closely, and the 2nd half of the piece is almost identically third down from the first half.

Singing (ow) and chords.

2011-09-02T16:49:00.000-07:00

Zarabanda: Analyzed it. As best I could anyway. Probably not going to help me memorize it since I was unable to identify many of the chords. Em11 or Em + D? Are there Maj, Min, Dim, and Aug 9ths? Urgh.

The discussion/article by Phillip Magnuson may be helpful.

Or not.Also got a hold of an actual person when calling for recording spaces. No luck, though.

2011-09-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

Zarabanda: memorizing.

2011-08-31T13:49:00.000-07:00

Was going to do critical listening of Insónia, but ran out of memory RIGHT BEFORE I started playing. Got all of me talking, though. Not really useful.

Zarabanda - played around with which chords in which hands and memorizing is a lot easier when the hands make sense.

But I do have some sort of cold, so that may not be accurate.

Harmonic Resonance

2011-08-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

My grandmother's brass roses I have in an old raspberry soda bottle from Russia have a resonant frequency of about 65Hz. In case you were curious.

Fighting off a cold and feeling under the weather. The weather seems to be under the weather today, too. So I exercised for a little while focusing on relaxing.

2011-08-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

No motivation to play. I think it's because I'm itching to record and tired of playing the same things over and over.

Played some things to keep my fingers limber.

2011-08-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

Just warm up. Zarabanda extra notes are to give the impression of a sustained note, but I'm not sure if it works. Record with and without.

2011-08-26T15:59:00.000-07:00

Prelude 3: got 2 measures further, almost.

Insónia: played with dynamics and "swing". Proper slow fast is more difficult to achieve, but more necessary?

2011-08-25T14:31:00.001-07:00

Too hot to play and too fatigued.

ETA: I ended up practicing Prelude 3 anyway.

On being creative

2011-08-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

This.

2011-08-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

Crocheting is not a less fatiguing substitute for knitting. Shaky, shaky hands.

Exercised.

Listened to Insónia and put in dynamic markings. We'll see if they help.

Going to compare Zarabanda versions later on this evening. Or I guess I should say "night".

List of Recording Locations

2011-08-23T17:26:00.000-07:00

Studio recording final today. Completely dozy today and having a hard time getting going.

List of cathedral-y/historic churches (can I make a custom map?):
✓ Westminster Presbyterian NE 16th & Hancock, variable times, chimes at noon and 5pm, daycare/preschool in mornings and afternoons, $50/hr, Rose City Park United Methodist 503.281.1229
First Unitarian Church SW 12th & Salmon
✓ Brook Hill Historic Church 11539 NW Skyline Boulevard 503.629.9700, very busy street (!), evenings are better, call for times and pricing when I know how much time I need.
First United Methodist Church SW 18th & Jefferson - Mookie contacting? but on bus and max route
First Congregational Church SW Park & Madison
Central Lutheran Church NE 21st & Hancock
Oaks Pioneer Church SE 13th & Tacoma
St. James Lutheran Church SW Park & Jefferson
✓ The Old Church SW 11th & Clay - Can't hear myself on stage, on bus and max route, $35/hr to record
Ascension Episcopal Parish SW Vista & Spring (SW of downtown)
First Baptist Church SW 12th & Taylor (streetcar)
Zion Lutheran Church SW 18th & Salmon (Max)
~~Mizpah Presbyterian Church SE 24th & Tamarack Ladd's Addition private residence?~~
✓ St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church NW 19th & Savier Left message 8/25 Could be a possibility - highway 30 right next to it so need to go check it out. Available during the week or Sun afternoon or evening. No A/C.
✓ First Presbyterian Church SW 12th & Alder (bus routes) Left message 8/25 Not great acoustics, recommended Trinity Episcopal Cathedral NW 19th & Davis, St. Mary's Cathedral NW 17th & Davis
✓ Old Scotch Church Off 26 past Rockcreek Hillsboro Office hours: 9-1 T-F Very helpful person answered the phone - they don't usually allow recording because of the work involved, ie staff extra hours. Not something I would have thought of. Gave me a recommendation for St. Matthew Catholic Church. Thank you!
Saint Sharbel Church Ladd's Addition emailed 8/25
St Philip Neri Catholic Church Ladd's Addition
St. Stephen's Catholic Church SE 41st & Taylor
Holy Trinity Cathedral Ne 31st & Glisan

View Recording Locations in a larger map

2011-08-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

Exercises.

Zarabanda: Trying to re-memorize. It's ok if it's slow going!

Prelude 1: Pushed up to 152 again, then back down to 120 and it was a little easier. But still need to work on loud arpeggios. I can play them quietly, but then I don't get the intense sound that section seems to call for.

Prelude 2: Played with and without metronome. Just needs polishing and paying attention while playing.

Prelude 3: Need to keep up what I've worked on.

Insónia: Ran through, need to put explicit dynamic markings in after listening to recordings.

Too hot to record today - the fan would have drown everything out.

2011-08-20T18:40:00.000-07:00

Busy day - CSTS!

2011-08-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

Exercises.

Recorded Insónia. Need critical listening to add in dynamics.

Prelude 1: Working on speed and relaxing. ETA: Sort of kind of played it at 152, which is the outside range, and my wrist hurts. What would it take to relax at that speed?

Harp Recording Locations

2011-08-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

I'm delving into the recording details of one of my favorite harp recordings: The Genius of Salzedo by Judy Loman.

It turns out it was recorded at Grace Church-On-The-Hill. No wonder it sounds amazing.

Dear readers, do any of you know of any place like this (old stone cathedral-type church (not like the Old Church downtown)) close to Portland, OR that's super cheap?

Blogger is annoying

2011-08-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

I'm trying posting music here again. I recorded dragging cassette tape tied around bass wires through my fingers.

ETA: Nope. It is nowhere to be found. I followed the directions! You can find it here: http://www.motorharp.com/sounds/cassette-tape-harp-bass-strings.mp3

2011-08-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

Tried the cassette tape thingy. It is interesting, but for any constant drone purposes would probably need to be recorded and looped.

Listened to more versions of Peter Gabriel for friend. Waiting to find out what next direction is.

Exercised.

Practiced Insónia. Not sure if I like it when I play it. And I need to focus on playing hands together. In unison!

2011-08-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

Memorizing - or re-memorizing - Zarabanda just using my brain. It's a difficult piece.

I got a couple volumes of piano music by Turina and I LOVE his stuff. Volume 1 has Partita in C in it, which contains Zarabanda. I think I may want to transcribe more of his music.

Exercises and played.

Cape Breton Duo

2011-08-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

There are really good quality videos for one of my favorite performances of the 2011 World Harp Congress, Cape Breton Duo. Yay!

2011-08-12T16:47:00.000-07:00

I got a tetanus shot today and my arm is completely useless.

Correction, it's quite useful as a noise-maker - every time I move it, you can hear a little squeak of pain.

I was told that moving it would help it hurt less. This is not true. In fact, the opposite is true, complete with nausea. I think the "shotter" managed to hit a nerve, THE nerve that goes from my neck, around my funny bone, and into my pinky.

I did, however, remember this little factoid: "Mental practice - If you are injured, play hard two hours a day WITHOUT TOUCHING THE HARP. Apparently, you can learn up to 90% of your music this way! I must try this." Did I do this? Not today. But I would like to remember it's an option in the future.

2011-08-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

Kicked my own ass with a long bike ride to class and an even longer one home, despite it being downhill, and not eating properly. Managed a few exercises and run-throughs, but couldn't hold my arms up. Another day wasted. And I still have a headache from throwing my neck out.

2011-08-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

My new tuning key holder:

I didn't do the best job sewing it, and I will probably try to make another one at some point, but it is sturdy and works and now I don't have to hunt around for it every time I want to tune!

ETA: Exercises

2011-08-09T16:32:00.000-07:00

Stretched before playing.

Warm-up with Lariviere.

Played everything quietly and focused on relaxing and playing longer amount of time rather than loudly and for a short time. More of an aerobic thing than weight-lifting thing?

Tuning key holder thingy

2011-08-07T23:15:00.000-07:00

I'm also making a new harp tuning key holder thingy.

2011-08-07T15:44:00.000-07:00

Worked on Prelude 1 trouble spots - really helps in upper registers if I relax.

No stamina after taking time off and transcribing.

ETA: Got all of Insónia into Finale.

2011-08-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

Finished Insónia, just need to get into Finale.

2011-08-04T20:30:00.001-07:00

More transcription of Tiago Sousa.

2011-08-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

New music. *sigh*

New blister. *sigh*

World Harp Congress - Day 6

2011-07-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

The last day was just travel, and not music related, but I couldn't believe what happened.

Things I wished I'd had during my travels:
- More business cards
- Tried on my nice outfit before I left and found out it didn't fit then
- More music memorized
- A travel pack of tissues

World Harp Congress - Day 5

2011-07-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday

Is it really the last day? I finally managed to get everywhere on time and then I have to leave.

I went to another technician's workshop and got to ask some personal harp-specific questions that some other people were interested in, and I'm feeling a little better about not wearing out my harp beyond repair.

Then, since I hadn't checked anything as "must see" for the rest of the morning, I decided I must see more harps. And by "see" I mean "play". All the harps I played sounded better than mine.

I played:

Aoyama's Sakura and Orpheus 47. There were slight differences - the Sakura really does seem to have lighter tension and was easier to play. The Orpheus was heavier.
Salvi's Echo Rainbow EA sounded fine without the amp, but plinky in the headphones.
Salvi's (forgot which model) CG extended sounded plinky in the top, ok mid-range, and good bass and the glisses sounded great from the mid-range all the way to the top. But the body is way too thick for me and puts my neck in an awkward position.
L&H - too many other people playing so too loud to judge any type of sound quality. I played a Salzedo model because my teacher growing up had one. They're much smaller now than when I was 9. :)
Camac was gone by this time. :(

On to the Library! It's a wonderful space (they have a workroom to die for) with plenty of signs telling you where you are and what you can do on each floor. I got an internet access library card which is good for a year. Anyone can get one!

Back to St. Andrew's for a Renaissance lecture and recital on Handel and the Baroque style. Maxine Eilander played a triple-strung harp with the Pacific Baroque Ensemble. The played a delicate and lovely version of Handel's Harp Concerto. Handel apparently had a thing for the harp in an era when it wasn't popular. Go Handel!

The White Nights recital was another ticketed event at the Vogue Theatre. Once again, I liked Scottish alright; Irish is just not my thing. But they totally rocked the audience. And they had such charming accents that I recorded a little bit for a friend of mine and ended up catching a pretty funny story.

Since the afternoon events at the Vogue had one ticket, and there were no entries after exits, I stayed to catch a little bit of Máire Ní Chathasaigh's Irish harp through the centuries. It was interesting, but I decided to head out to dinner a little early instead.

Onto the final Evening Concerti at St. Andrew's. I have checks next to everything in my program. All four pieces were so good.

Kaori Otake played "Concertino for Harp and Strings" by Jean-Michel Damase. It sounded like it was written in the 50s for a television performance by a harpist wearing lots and lots of tulle.

Mieko Inoue played "Piano Concerto in D+, Hob. XVIII arranged for harp" by Joseph Haydn and arranged by Inoue. The cadenzas were cool and composed by Tomoyuki Asakawa specifically for Inoue.

Willy Postma played "Ballade for harp and strings" by Einojuhani Rautavaara. This woman gets fantastic sound out of the harp. The piece is incredibly atmospheric and should have been the soundtrack to Ladyhawke (worst. soundtrack. ever.).

Belgrade Harp Quartet played "Dream, light, movement, for four harps and orchestra" by Božidar Obradinović.

At last, it's over. Good-bye, Wall Center. You've been tall.

World Harp Congress - Day 4

2011-07-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

Friday

I thought I'd stop in to hear a bit of Peter Wiley's Technician's Workshop and cut out early to catch the performance I had marked as "must-see" on my schedule. I got there late (really? still?) and hung out in the back. His information consisted mostly of don't-touch-anything-let-the-professionals-do-it, which as a mechanical engineer and tinkerer, Does Not Work For Me. Oh well.

The Pictures on Silence duo was first up in the Coffee Concert. I had wanted to see them especially because it's a harp and SAX duo. Would that work? How would that work? It turns out: perfectly. The harp and saxophone were so well balanced and complemented each other impeccably. They played "Alba" by Graham Lynch, "Empty Every Night" by David Smooke, and "Rumba" by Maurice Whitney.

"Empty Every Night" is described on their website as a "challenging work using many extended techniques." One of the techniques Jacqueline Pollauf used was tying a length of cassette tape around a couple of her bass wires, and pulling them through her fingers - like curling Christmas ribbon - to create a buzzy/droning sound. In the picture, Jacqueline is at the end of drawing the tape out. So cool! I will be trying this posthaste. They also just released a CD. Score!

I had 45 minutes before I had to be anywhere else, so I took the time to play harps from all the manufacturers. I have a brief note that says: "L&H & Aoyama tied 1st, then Camac, then Salvi?" It took me a few plays to get my hands warmed up and remember Prelude 1, but pretty much every harp sounded amazing.

Salvi Apollo

Salvi Daphne detail - Of course I'm drawn to the only ebony harp. And the accents are teal, yummy!

Aoyama showroom

Camac showroom

Lyon & Healy/Salvi showroom (be careful of the volume)

Next was a panel discussion on "Hand position and relaxation for better playing and preventing injury". I made it ON TIME. The panel was made up of harpists, harpists with medical degrees and a hand therapist. Guess what! Once again, my hypermobility means I have to work harder than "normal" people to play the harp. The reason my thumb bends completely backwards is because of the loose volar plate in my thumb (Thanks, Mom!). However, a lot of people have that "design feature" and are not hypermobile.

The panel talked specifically about hypermobility and had us test ourselves. I got a 9 out of 9, of course. But then they had people who were 9's raise their hands. Yes, I was the only one. (Besides a Alison Austin (teacher) on the panel.) AND THEN I GOT CALLED UP ON STAGE. Luckily, it was not only me - people who were (I think) 5 and higher were considered hypermobile and also got on stage. I didn't have to do any bendy stuff, just talk about what problems hypermobility creates for me (have you got an hour?).

Other interesting things from the panel:

Proprioception - Is something like compensating for the lack of tactile input due to calluses by increasing pressure used to pluck the strings.
Kinesthesia - Knowing where your thumbs are! Mind mapping is a way of looking at what the mind considers important - the thumbs are the biggest followed by hands and face. There were sculptures that showed this and were quite silly.
To find your comfortable playing position, hold your hands out like a zombie, wiggle your fingers over an invisible ball, slowly turn your palms as if they would face each other (keep wiggling your fingers), and stop when you get to the right spot. If you go too far, you'll know because your fingers won't wiggle as well.
During the day - do light activities first, then heavy (lifting weights). Don't do heavy before practicing. (I had already figured this out through trial and error.)
Mental practice - If you are injured, play hard two hours a day WITHOUT TOUCHING THE HARP. Apparently, you can learn up to 90% of your music this way! I must try this.

The lunch concert was "Renaissance to Early Baroque Music" by Therese Honey. She spoke a little between each piece and I finally know what a bray harp is (pegs are turned so they buzz against the string giving it a middle eastern flavor). It was sweet.

The afternoon concert was a tribute to Ceren Necipoğlu who was a well-loved teacher and who had passed away in 2009. The notable pieces for me were "Sultan-i Yegah Saz Semaisi" by Danyal Manti played by Sebla Akbulut and "Amhrán Slán" by Garrett Byrnes played by Lavinia Meijer. You can hear a sample of "Amhrán Slán" on Garrett's "works" page and I recommend checking it out. It really is beautiful.

The next event was a Master Class with Marie Pierre Langlamet. I did not know anything about her or the pieces; I had never attended a master class before and wanted to know how they work. It's basically like watching someone else's harp lesson. So I headed out to another performance at St. Paul's. I would like to say that I managed to walk straight there and back. No getting lost or turned around. W00t!

I wanted to catch Jennifer Swartz performing "Storm's Morrow: Haikus and harp solo" by Amit Gilutz. She narrated the haikus between each movement.

Back to St. Andrews for the afternoon recital with Heidi Van Hoesen Gorton. She is an incredibly expressive player and she was wearing an awesome sparkly floofy dress.

And Arpello Duo were wonderful together.

After dinner I headed over to the Orpheum Theatre for the evening concert with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. It's really fancy.

The standout piece of the evening for me was "Baker: Harp Concerto" by Michael Conway Baker performed by Kristan Toczko. Modern yet melodic. The piece is "dedicated to [his] wife, Penny, who has always loved the harp and who has provided [him] a warm and loving home". So sweet! I found out the harpist had stepped in at the last minute (6 weeks) and had learned and memorized it in that time. Three orchestral movements, people! Holy. Crap.

World Harp Congress - Day 3

2011-07-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday

Armed with a Translink day pass, I completely skipped all the morning sessions to head out to Capilano bright and early. I got every place I was supposed to be when I was supposed to.

Waiting for the shuttle

But don't let that allay any assumptions you have made about the rest of my day.

I started out on the Cliff Walk. This picture gives a slight sense of the possible vertigo you might feel there:

I was fine for the most part. However, crossing the main bridge is ... arduous. For some reason, I didn't think the suspension bridge would be bouncing and swaying like, oh, I don't know, a suspension bridge. It was nearly impossible to get decent pictures on the bridge as I was bouncing around.

I got back in enough time to get lunch sorted out AND attend the lunch concert (late). The Debussy Trio was in the second movement of "In the Blue Glen" by David Evan Thomas when I arrived. It was a piece well suited to the trio and I really liked the third movement - Debussy re-imagined for modern times.

I had some time between performances so I decided to do a little shopping and take a quick look at the vendors (ie HARPS!). I stopped by La Magasin de la Harpe and prevented myself from buying a metric crap-ton of music, just some basics that my collection has been lacking.

Then I checked out some of the harp rooms. *drool*

Aoyama's Sakura

Me wants.

For the next concert, all I had to do was cross the street to St. Andrew's Wesley Church, which I managed to do. The Four Seasons Quartet is four harpists (without a website!) who formed to play The Four Seasons by Vivaldi arranged by Quartetto d'Arpe di Venezia and stayed together. I really think Vivaldi is better suited to the original instruments he composed for, but despite that I forgot how relaxing harp music can be when I'm not the one playing.

I then headed to St. Paul's Anglican Church (without the labyrinth this time) and got turned around again and arrived late. I didn't think too much of it because I normally am not fanatical about Irish harp music. But it was unfortunate because I was sorry to miss any tiny morsel of the "Cape Breton" Harp Duo. They were amazing! They completely blew me away. Their focus is the musical cultures of Scotland, Ireland, and Eastern Canada. It turns out I like Scottish harp a LOT. You can see and hear them (not the best quality) here playing a beautiful slow song. Their voices are so well suited to each other and they were just spot on together. Go see them if they play near you.

Alys Howe and Seumas Gagné

I left the church and got lost. Again. I had wandered a little past where I wanted to go because I wasn't paying attention because I assumed by now I'd know where I was going. Right.

I grocery shopped and took a couple much-needed hours for dinner.

This evening's concert was again at the Vogue Theatre. I made it without a hitch. Yay!

First up was Park Stickney et al. I'm not a fan of jazz harp, but he's quite talented and I see what all the fuss is about. He and Rudiger Opperman (Oppertronic Electroharp), Ricardo Medeiros (bass) and Craig Scott (drums) did a version of Jimi Hendrix's "If 6 was 9" that I actually found not-too-cheesy.

Next was the Eastman Chamber Ensemble playing one very short piece, Venezolana for 5 pedal harps by Alfredo Rolando Ortiz. Pretty setup.

Celso Duarte Gonzalez, Eduardo Betancourt, and Celso Duarte Lopez

The final performance was titled "Latin American Virtuosos!" I didn't quite get into it at first, but halfway through they (or I) seemed to catch their (or my) snap. It was after Eduardo Betancourt soloed. This guy is an INSANE player and completely charming.

You can see a video here (warning: the sound is not good). What are his hands even doing?!

World Harp Congress - Day 2

2011-07-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

Wednesday

Whew! Crazy day. I hit the ground running at 8am and didn't stop until 9:30pm.

The first (late) stop was a panel discussion "The Acoustics of Harps" presented by three enginerd professors from Canada and France (and France), Chris Waltham, Benjamin Elie and Jean-Loïe Le Carrou respectively. Even though the French guys were not speaking their native language, they were speaking my language. I found their experiments and charts mapping the sound envelope of the harp interesting. Unfortunately, they ran over their time and didn't want to miss my next session so I left before I could find out any conclusions. However, I did get a couple websites: www.pafi.fr and www.phas.ubc.ca/~waltham that I will check out later.

Next, I was headed off to someplace called "St. Paul's Anglican Church LABYRINTH", which did not bode well, for a session titled "Yoga and Pilates for Harpists". I found the actual labyrinth ok and... (I just realized right now that it was referencing the Chartre Labyrinth that was painted on the floor of the room we were in. Dur.)... Anyway, the walk to the church was .5 miles, but I made it more. Did I mention I'm a panicky traveler? Vancouver is so completely easy to navigate I have no idea what was going on with me. I arrived late (you will be hearing that more - it was my theme for the congress) and missed some info, but I think I got the gist.

It was taught by Danielle Perrett (England). She is a harpist and saw a need for this kind of instruction and filled the need. She teaches mostly Yoga with a little bit of Pilates and McKenzie Method (My PT folks use this method!) There were some things she said that really stuck in my mind:

Our bodies mold themselves to playing the harp, therefore we need to do a lot of opposite motions.
Instead of shoulder rolls, perform shoulder "D"s (no forward motion).
Core strength is what holds us up when playing -strengthen it!.

The demonstration harp was loaned and made by David harps. I don't know if you can see in the picture, but it is a grey and white marble finish with maroon accents. Yes, really.

I got turned around finding my way back to the hotel, so I didn't have a chance to get lunch before my main reason for attending: The Hongyun Konghou Ensemble. I have a 30 second video of them playing posted over at facebook. In this short span of time you can see and hear the girl in the middle bending the strings and using her retractable pick. They have picks attached by string to tiny retractable rollers attached to rings they wear around their index fingers.

Warming up.

The rest of the afternoon was a free afternoon for tours and such, however the Capilano Suspension Bridge tour was cancelled due to lack of interest. By this time I was famished, so I decided I'd find a place to eat and then just go out to the Bridges myself using public transportation. I made my way back to a sushi place I found on my earlier wanderings back from pilates, surprisingly accurately, I might add, and had an extremely late lunch, something which I cannot function well doing at all.

By the time I was ready to catch the hotel shuttle to the Bridges, I would have had to get across town in a record two minutes to catch the last one of the day, so I mapped out a route taking all public transportation. The instructions had me get off the bus too early so I walked (some more) to the Waterbus station.

This is the bus I hoped to be on:

I went into the station to get a ticket for the next one and couldn't find my bus transfer, which meant I would have had to shell out another $3.75, which I refused to do on principle. The station also does not have a bathroom in it, and a guard pointed me in the wrong direction to public restrooms. I ended up using one in a coffee shop, but it was actually in a health club to which the barista escorted me through their storeroom and up a couple flights of stairs to a room with showers and ONE toilet.

I walked all the way back across town.

To give myself a break, I got takeout at a restaurant downstairs from my apartment. They got the order wrong.

The evening concert was Winter Harp and Patrick Ball. I wasn't too interested in Winter Harp, so I wasn't too concerned that I arrived late (Surprise! I got lost. But I found the Vogue Theatre with the help of an increasingly concerned police officer). My suspicions they weren't my cup of tea were confirmed, but they are some talented musicians.

The pedal harp is, I believe, a sister to mine. The decorations and carving looked almost identical.
They have a 5 foot tall Psaltery (they're normally 1.5 - 3 ft) you can see 2nd from the right.
At the far right is an Organistrum, which is a hand-cranked drone-type instrument. There is an engraving in Latin on the side that says, "Do not turn past 300rpm." Hee!

I had never seen Patrick Ball perform, so I was looking forward to it. Right before he came out, though, they announced no photos. Grrr. In this day and age, that seems a bit odd. And he looked really great, too - his costume made me feel nostalgic, even though it was period from the 1730s.

Patrick's performance was a scene acted entirely by him, punctuated with music. I had difficulty following the performance, which was the story of Turlough O'Carolan's last days as told by Charles MacCabe. The music was a different matter. Patrick's playing is effortless and flawless. Watching his hands move over the strings seemed more like he was gently scratching a cat's ears and the harp purred its content. Simply amazing.

I managed to make it back to the apartment in a relatively straight line and collapsed in bed, hoping to have a better navigational next day.

World Harp Congress - Day 1

2011-07-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

Tuesday

Travel Day
I hadn't taken the train out of Portland and had only seen pictures of Union Station. It's a lovely old station that originally opened in 1896 and has lots of great neon.

I'm an infrequent traveler (and tend to be a skosh panicky) and I figured once I got there I'd just print out my tickets and hop on the train. As I was printing out my tickets at the kiosk, a preemptively helpful attendant was walking by and let me know I'd need to get in line at the desk across the room 1/2 hour before boarding to get my seat assignment and that there would be an announcement when that happened. Thank you!

The trains all have digital signs on the side identifying the train and car numbers. Once you're on the train and have located your seat, the clear plastic bar covering the seat number serves as a holder for your seat assignment paper. The attendants can then come through and easily check full and empty seats.

One of the great things about train travel is you get lulled to sleep whether you want to or not. One of the not-so-great things - the bridge out of Portland was stuck in the "up" position for about 15 minutes, then we got diverted behind a freight train. But another great thing about the train: you're guaranteed a connection even if the train is late. I ended up having 5 minutes to spare to catch my bus from Seattle to Vancouver, where I was originally supposed to have an hour.

Catching a bus from the train station into Vancouver was pretty easy, as well. Their "Community Shuttle" bus numbers all start with "C" and I caught one to the place I was staying in town. It was a nice studio apartment with rooftop access.

I found this place through airbnb, which I highly recommend, even though I've only used it once. You can rent things like castles and igloos, for Pete's sake!

2011-07-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

I've been playing off and on, just not posting.

Started transcribing Insónia.

2011-07-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

I thought another rainy day would have inspired me to hole up in my room and practice, but it simply inspired me not to be inspired.

I did, however:
Work a little on Prelude 2.
Download insónia, which is, happily, licensed under the creative commons.
Download an mp3 of Monastery Bells which was not available the last time I checked amazon.

I think I was also superannoyed because of several technology fails today, the main one being my iPod turns the volume down on its own. Yes, I've tried resetting it, and I'm not looking forward to having to exchange it/visit the apple store/research something else to replace it.

2011-07-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

I received Bortniansky's Concerto in D major sheet music from ILL. I now know how some of the sounds I like are made; the ones I couldn't separate out with my ear.

And here's a fun music quiz from the New York Times.
I picked the blend of human and machine 75% of the time. CYBORG MUSIC!