Pictured here is a composite cedar and sitka spruce soundboard, the pieces of wood glued together, planed in a uniform sander, and placed in a clamp that provides even pressure while we glue the string ribs on the front and back. I was proud to be able to use another macho power tool in the shop: the miter saw (rahh!)
A soundboard like this, where the grain runs perpendicular to the strings, makes for a stronger soundboard than if we'd used the wood lengthwise down the harp. The soundboard would likely crack along the lenthwise grain under the tremendous pressure the 36 metal and nylon strings place on it when its all strung up for playing.
The two different kinds of wood into the soundboard mellows out the sharp upper octave strings and gives good sound to the large bass wire strings. You can't tell from the front of the harp whether the soundboard is composite or not, because we put a beautiful wood veneer over it. But if you look through the sound holes into the back of a harp, you can see the soundboard.
The smell of cut cedar is my new fav-or-ite thing
(to add of course to the list of...cream colored ponies and crisp apple struedels, doorbells, and sleigh bells, and shnietzel with noodle)
How does a harp, like this little 22-string Triplett harp I'm holding, come to be?
Well, I found out. Not from books but from a bonafide master harp builder, Rick Kemper from Sligo Harps. Rick had me start by learning first how to make the hollow, round back shell of the harps. Below, you'll see a vacuum press that Rick constructed for molding the shape of the shell. He instructed me in making the "sandwich". Making a harp shell sandwich consists of
choosing, bookmatching, cutting, and sanding wood veneers to fit on the outside of the shell
laying down the plywood caul onto the nails of the "sandwich" board (like the long boards Subway uses to assemble their party subs)
laying out a piece of butcher paper on the caul
mixing 8 scoops of powder plastic resin to 4 scoops of water and mixing like crazy to get the powder mixed in well (There were a couple times I didn't mix it right and ended up with clumpy epoxy--not good for a fine craft as this)
spreading epoxy on a trapezoidal cut piece of plywood with a roller (With practice, Rick showed me how to become a talented harp builder who knows just the right amount of bead to spread to the edge without making a mess of the workbench, putting it on the butcher paper, and with epoxy spread on the outside of the second piece of plywood, sandwiching them together
lying the veneer on the outer epoxy covered plywood
wrapping the sandwich in the butcher paper and taping it down
transferring the sandwich onto the blue foam form
using a power drill to screw down the sandwich in place
sliding the form into the vacuum bag, precisely in the middle so there is equal pressure as the bag pulls the wood into the form
turn on the vacuum press
let sit for 6 hours or more while the epoxy cures
And voilá, you have your harp shell. Rick found me willing and able to make the shells, so he set me to work during the day while he worked his day job in D.C.
After I finished the shells, I'd put them into a cool wedge holding board Rick made to keep them safe until we could put the sound holes and support struts inside.
I thought I would include in this post the new music I’m becoming quite fond of as I spend my days transforming wood, screws, and glue into beautiful harps.
I discovered her one day whilst searching for examples of bluegrass harp music to help me get ideas of how to make my little 22-string Triplett harp work into my folk band The Lucky Crickets
I was immediately enthralled with her style, her voice, her energy.I had the most exciting opportunity to do a masters workshop with her in Gettysburg the first weekend I arrived out here.She taught us some of the traditional celtic tunes she has arranged in addition to performing at night with her bass player. Wow. Harp + Bass = sweet, saucy, rhythmic sass.
Maeve Gilchrist performing at workshop in Gettysburg (notice she's barefoot. Love it!)
Grainne Hambly is new to me (a fact that I’ve found astounds most folk harpists around here because she is so well known in the celtic harp world).The family I am living with introduced her music to me and she has since become a celtic harp guru to learn from.Check out her set “Flying to the Fleagh” on her myspace page:
Silly Wizard is group that Rick introduced to me during one evening we were working in the shop. They’re an old Scottish folk band, started back in the 1970s in Edinburgh.Rick (the harp master) is constantly dating himself by bringing up old musicians or figures in history. This is a group I’m glad he showed me and one that will forever remind me of Rick’s wannbe Scottish accent he uses when he works in the shop. Check out the funny and seriously catchy “Rambling Rover”: http://www.myspace.com/sillywizard06
Today's task is to mount levers on this harp. Being a tedious task, I am taking a break after having worked on it last night and started on it again at 7:30 am. The process went like this: We finish dinner and Rick motions for us to head down to the shop Rick places harp on its side on the table and shows me how to lay out levers on tool stand (notice the levers in the top right) Then Rick demonstrates how to check the placement of the levers with the tuner (notice the tuner in the middle of the tool bench), mark the placement of the levers with the awl, drill holes with the power drill, reset the levers, check the placement again, and sets me to work. Its slow going and takes me a couple hours to complete the first octave. In the meantime, Rick is working with a friend of his, making a Gothic style harp Rick developed--the first they've ever done. I go upstairs for a drink, as I'm getting more and more tired, and Rick suggests we stop and continue at 6 am. ( I'm thinking: Dude, you're crazy. But then again, --you--are-- the Master Harp Builder, I want to learn your curious harp constructing ways, so 6 it is). At 7 am, Bridget, Rick's 7 year old daughter comes into my room, crawls into the other side of the bed, and tells me its time to get up. Usually Bridgy or their 18 year old daughter will arouse me from my dreams. With early morning seminary a daily habit in this family, the first are up by 5:30 am at this house (early morning seminary meant 7:00 am in my hometown!) Getting out of bed and putting on my work clothes, I go down to the workshop and Rick supervises while I put on some more levers. He gave me some good tips for making the process more accurate and streamlined, and then left for work. At 9, I had finished my second octave and went upstairs for a breakfast break (And in true procrastinating fashion, I decided to make our St. Patricks Day dessert (Kiwi-Lime Frappe) and make a blog entry before going back down... And now I have no excuse. Back to mounting levers. I may have to resort to some positive, affirmative mantra to get me through the upper octaves Mounting levers makes me happy, mounting levers makes me happy....
Sunday, March 14, 2010
I was missing my camera for a little while when I first arrived, but its been recovered and FINALLY, I can upload pictures of my work at the Sligo Harps Workshop. I've spent the last two weeks working under the direction of the illustrious and highly entertaining Rick Kemper, M.H.B. (stands for Master Harp Builder ;) This is a picture of me from this past week where I spent an entire day going back and forth between sanding the sound holes of these 6 harps we're working on and gluing soundboards to the sound boxes. Rick had shown me what to do that morning and then while he was at work I stayed in the shop and sanded and glued while I listened to NPR or one of the numerous Celtic CDs stacked next to the CD player in the shop. One thing that I like about this apprentice work is that Rick, having degree in engineering and having had experience building boats in the past, is so very knowledgeable and skilled in the construction of these harps that I have been able to learn a lot about the whys and hows of harp building. Why harps are made the way they are, why he chooses certain materials to create the best sounding, beautiful, lightweight, portable harps possible, and then he shows me how to do it. He often will give me a little demonstration in the shop while he's explaining a concept. Like why he places the template for the harp neck along the long grain of the wood so that it doesn't break when we put all of that pressure of 36 strings pulling on it. Working in the shop has been very eye opening so far.
After work has been a lot of fun too. I have been able to see some of the sights in Washington D.C. and have been able to learn more music on the harp. In between being a husband to his lovely wife Jill and father to 4 darling children, a lobbyist in D.C., and a harp builder, Rick has also learned to play a number of musical instruments including the Uilleann pipes, harp, flute, and concertina. (Check out the pay scale he uses for his lessons on his piping web page. Sometimes after work Rick, his daughter Caroline, and I will jam out on celtic tunes together. Caroline really knows how to fly over those strings! I am learning a lot from her and from being able to go to harp workshops and lessons together. We also just went prom dress shopping for her first prom this Saturday. It is so fun living with a family again after 4 1/2 years living away from mine!
That’s how I got landed myself in a harp builder’s workshop in Maryland and there’s no place I’d rather be right now! It has already been an amazing experience.I have so much to tell you guys about.
First things first.
I can trace it back to that Sunday afternoon when I had been thinking about that relative who built harps.So, I decided I would just send an email to this relative of mine, who I’d never met, and throw the idea out there.Here’s part of the email I sent to Rick, the harp builder of Sligo harps:
“…I am still interested in the fact that you build harps! I think that is such a neat skill and I am interested in learning more about it and more about harp in general. …So I had this idea and I'd like to know what you think. Would you consider taking me on as an apprentice or intern of sorts for the month of March, so that I could learn how harps are made…
Just throwing the idea out there to see what could work…”
I really had no idea whether that idea I'd just thrown into cyberspace would fly, but on February 10th I got a phone call from Rick Kemper of Sligo Harps ... ! ... Here's some snippets from the email he later sent me as a recap of our conversation:
“But of course we'd love to have you, given the provisos we discussed earlier today.
-There is no pay.
-If you are a danger to yourself or the shop, we'll have to figure something else out
-If you prove handy and able, you are likely to return with a nice new harp
-We will feed you and provide a bed in the guest bedroom for the duration of your stay
-I work at an office during the day so harp building happens in the evenings and on weekends
-We have good public transportation, so you can go see D.C. sights during the day
-You will be exposed to the privations of living with an active family of 6
-No drinking, smoking or carousing out till dawn with the boys “
If you can make it two days earlier, February 27, you could go to the masters workshop on the 28th and March 1 with Meave Gilchrist (www.maevegilchristmusic.com)
While you are up here, you can go to harp lessons with Caroline to learn a few tunes from Sue Richards (facebook and www.suerichards.net)."
I could hardly contain my excitement when I emerged from my bedroom to announce to my roommates the newest developments in my plans.These were provisos I could DEFINITELY live with.
Have you been thinking of things you want to do after my first blog entry? I’d love to hear them! Leave a comment!
Diana Stork of MCMF and I plucking out an Irish tune together
Diana's Paraguayan, Celtic, Medieval harps
The blog worthy portion of this realization begins with this past fall semester, when I began to seriously mill over the ideas I had had of what I wanted to do when I graduated from University. From my studying to earn a degree in cultural anthropology and a minor in music, I knew I wanted help people develop better understanding and respect for each other by providing opportunities to experience the meaningful art of other cultures around the world. Language, music, dancing, painting, sculpture, drama, literature, film (and more) are different ways we can access the topics and feelings that sit at the heart of an individual or a group of people. In my experience, listening to and gaining an appreciation for the music of my own or another culture, has given me one more way to better understand the people I've met and will meet. My next step was to find out if there was some organization that already doing this. I decided I would google "multicultural" and "music", just for kicks. A page of results appeared on my computer screen and one name in particular caught my eye: The Multicultural Music Fellowship (MCMF). To make a long story worthy of space in this blog, I ended up meeting the director of MCMF, Diana Stork, in Berkeley Californ-i-a. I absolutely loved every granola, eco-friendly bit of that place and I especially loved the things I learned about Diana. I felt one of those "kindred spirit" friendships with her as we discussed what she has done to promote multicultural music appreciation in the Bay area through the harp. She is an accomplished harpist who performs, gives workshops around the world, directs youth harp ensembles, and organizes music festivals, including an annual festival of harps. She has great connections in the harp world and the multicultural music world.
What is interesting about me finding MCMF and making all these plans to come out to the San Francisco Bay area to meet Diana, was that in the process of trying to find a job and housing I found I had family that lived a few hours away from her AND through emailing them, I found out that my Dad's cousin built (builds) harps. I've been playing for 7 years now, and just now, I find out I have family connections to a harp builder! I have no idea how this happened.
Yet, with the process, I feel very lucky to have met Diana and to have such a valuable contact as MCMF.
I have recently embarked on my newest, grandest adventure: a trip to the east coast to learn how to build harps. To help answer the question of how I ever got the whimsical idea into my mind to fly out to Maryland to be a harp maker's apprentice, you first need to meet my father Lorin H. Low.
My Dad is a doctor, a dentist actually, in our little rural town of Cardston in Southern Alberta Canada.But more than his profession, he is a father and a dreamer.He does the things people talk about doing but never actually follow through with. As he was nearing his 50-year mark, he realized that just because he had chosen dentistry as his initial career path, it wasn't a single path leading to his retirement and eventual demise.He had many other interests set back on the shelf of his mind while he went through dental school, started his dental practice, and helped his lovely wife raise 5 remarkably attractive children and he realized that he could pursue his dream of doing a family sabbatical in Mexico.Realizing this initial dream in 1999 (when I was 12) proved to him that he could do the things he wanted to do in life; he didn’t need to stick to some prescribed life path that seems to permeate our mentality and direct our big life choices. His realization came as somewhat of a shock after 50 years of living, and for that reason, Lorin has put forth every effort to instill in his children the belief that anything is possible. Both of my parents give daily of their time and thought and especially enthusiasm, to support our family’s pursuit of collective and individual dreams.
One Family Home Evening night, my Dad asked us:
If you could do anything, anything at all what would you do?Suspend for a moment the things that get in the way your imagination running free.Forget that maybe you just don't have the time or perhaps the money to do what you want to do right now.
If you could have anything --things, skills, experiences, a way of thinking or being-- what would you want?
The setting for all this was one of us in the big overstuffed chair, one person giving them a foot massage, while Dad would ask them “What do you want?” He wouldn’t say anything else, just a single question, and he wrote down our thoughts as they came and at the end, we had a list of 50 or so “things” we wanted.
I have added to that list since.
Number 59 on my list reads: Learn to build my own harp
H
