Harp Notes

Almost, But Not Quite

February 2005

The month started off with some great news. Christina Tourin announced that she was coming to the UK to play and run several workshops. Tina is the founder and director of the International Harp Therapy Program, one of the accredited healing harp courses in the United States. As my own studies in this field had come to a grinding halt, I immediately signed up for one of her workshops in the hope that I would regain my enthusiasm. I also wanted to take Annie to the workshop to soak up some of that healing energy.

I then drove across the moor to take Annie to the home and workshop of Peter Brough . I was a little worried about meeting him, as I found myself quite in awe of such a well known luthier. However, Peter went out of his way to be friendly and helpful, encouraging me to play on his beautiful elegant harps and even taking time to show me around his huge garden with its sweeping vistas of Dartmoor. I felt relaxed within moments and incredibly honored.

Unfortunately, as soon as Peter looked at Annie, he delivered some bad news. Some of the pins were not set deep enough into the neck to work effectively with his levers. The irony of the situation wasn't wasted on me. In order to ensure that his levers worked, all the pins would need removing, and all the holes would need re-drilling before replacing the pins. With Peters' work commitments at the time he wasn't able to do the extra work that day, but did offer to undertake it as soon as he was able. I was very disappointed, but realised that to get those lovely bird-like levers, I had to wait.

I also asked his opinion on 3 'cracks' I had found in the body of Annie's soundbox. These had appeared around the beginning of the year, and I was worried in case they might affect not only sound quality but the longevity of my harp. Having looked closely at them, and confirming their existence (I thought I might be overly concerned about nothing!) Peter diagnosed 'blistering' which occurs as the layers of laminated wood raise up slightly after the glue has dried. He suggested I ask Mick what type of glue was used, before dealing with them.

As soon as I got home I emailed Mick for advice and assistance. To be fair, he did return my email and confirmed the use of and type of glue on the laminated layers. But then he specifically ignored the questions regarding repairing the cracks in the soundbox, and indeed my further emails. I was unimpressed and very disappointed especially after his wonderful behavior and excellent advice when I was buying my harp.

In the mean time whilst I was waiting for unanswered emails and the weather in Devon being dry albeit rather cold, I took Annie out to the Fernworthy complex to continue my Millennium Harp Quest.