Ralph, a charaid,

To rebuild the Gaelic harp in order for it to have a larger bass and
wider spacing between the strings does show a significant response on
the part of Gaelic harp culture to developments elsewhere in Europe.

Building high headed Gaelic harps with a wider spaced gamut would
facilitate more use of the pads of the fingers and would allow one to
play both Gaelic and any non-Gaelic harps floating around, with equal
facility of technique.

Arthur O'Neill played with the finger pads and the following
information is recorded from him.

"I forgot to mention that when I was in Cork I got acquainted with a
gentleman of the name of Dowling, who lived in Mallow Lane. He was
rich, miserly and an uncultivated boor. He liked music. He had a harp
in his house that was made in Belgrade, and though it was as large as
mine it did not weigh more than twelve pounds. Not a man in Cork
could tell what kind of wood it was made of. I played on it myself
and never heard anything like it. I would give him any money for it,
but he would not part [with] it. Indeed at that time I had not much
money and was as childish as when I set out. I was fond of sweet
things, such as raisins, figs, prunes, gingerbread and the like, of
which I and my boy used to have our pockets eternally crammed. At
this time I'm sure I never tasted whiskey."

Would this be a Gaelic harp or something more typically continental?
One would think the latter option more likely, so here we might have
an example of a Gaelic harper both admiring and desiring to play both
his native Irish harp and a Serbian harp. Using fingerpad technique
on a wider spaced Irish gamut would certainly make moving between
both these harps easier.

Perhaps this example illustrates an original practical purpose for
enlarging the Gaelic harps, spacing the gamut more widely and using
the pads of the fingers. Harpers who travelled on the continent
might have had a particular interest in altering the build of the
Gaelic harp, along the concomitant fingering technique, in order to
make it more standard with continental practice.

O' Hampsey is noted as not preferring Carolan and that might indicate
a degree of distate for the foreign fad, hence the lack of impulse to
play with the fingerpads.

Beannachdan,


Alasdair




--- In clairseach@..., "Danny O'Mara" <shenachy@...>
wrote:
>
> Chad said ;
> "These musicians were facing tremendous social pressures of a
rapidly
> changing world. They adapted and compromised as best as they were
> able."
>
> That's a very good explaination, thanks. People who make their
living
> playing music only survive by staying abrest of social preference.
> Unfortunately.
> Also,
>
> Chad said ;
> "It seems possible that the some of the professional harpers where
> using short, modified nails on their treble hand. Many Latin
American
> harpers I've met play very effectively this way, and unless you
look
> closely at their hands, it appears that they using pads only."
>
> We are dependant upon Bunting's observational abilities. It could
be
> that Bunting simply didn't notice closely manicured nails.
>
> I am in proximity, and I often get to see Alfredo Rolando Ortiz
play.
> He was at the Edinburgh Harp Festival at least once. I've not yet
had
> a chance to speak with him about wire harp but I'm hoping for an
> opportunity.
>
> It's amazing how much closer S. American/Latin harp style is to
wire
> harp than the gut strung 'folk harp' style. With the narrow string
> spacing and the plectrum style.
>
> By the way, my profile got hacked by this, 'Danny Omara'. And it
seems
> I will remain 'Danny' here, even though I recovered my profile.
> However for the record, I'm Ralph Conner!
>
> Slan
>
>
> --- In clairseach@..., Chad McAnally <chadmcanally@>
> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Hi all,
> > Danny, you mentioned that it was an enigma to you why
> professionals in the late period of Gaelic harping were using pads
or
> tips instead of nails as it limits the possiblities of the
> instrument. It is puzzling until you look at what was happening in
> Gaelic speaking areas at the time.
> >
> > Historically this trend towards using pads occurs as the system
of
> patronage enjoyed by the harper fell apart in the 17th century. Or
as
> Simon puts it on his Early Gaelic Harp site:
> >
> > "Changing musical tastes led to more than instrument design
> changing. The use of long fingernails to strike the strings -
> ubiquitous all through medieval times - started to be abandoned in
> the 17th century. Instead, the brass harp strings were sounded
using
> the tips of the fingers. These conservative harpers that retained
the
> old nail technique were increasingly regarded as backward and old-
> fashioned."
> >
> > It does seem crazy to us now not to play with nails, but we have
> to consider how things were in those times. These musicians were
> facing tremendous social pressures of a rapidly changing world.
They
> adapted and compromised as best as they were able.
> >
> > It seems possible that the some of the professional harpers where
> using short, modified nails on their treble hand. Many Latin
American
> harpers I've met play very effectively this way, and unless you
look
> closely at their hands, it appears that they using pads only. This
> might explain the retention of the "thumb down" hand position seen
in
> depictions of these late harpers. Also those harpers who elected to
> use only pads likely were using a technique similar to what modern
> players of historical gut strung harps now use. It yields a much
> nicer sound on metal strings than the common pedal harp technique
and
> better allows for string damping. While not equal to nail technique
> it was a workable alternative to abandoning the instrument
altogether.
> >
> > Chad
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > To: clairseach@: shenachy@: Sat, 5 Apr 2008 19:20:47
> +0000Subject: [clairseach] Re: nails vs. tips
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks Simon,The 'Irish Law' reference pops up quite often on
> Celtic, Irish (Brehon) Law, and Clarsach related websites. But not
> usually with a reference to the source.Like kere -
> http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/solander/lure-of-celtic-
> lore.htmI certainly cannot find many refenences using the 'search'
> function. I suppose I'll query the person who makes the reference
for
> the sourcedirectly, next time I see an instance.I think that
> the 'pads vs. tips' reference is very explainitory.However, my
> understanding is that Buntings comments specifically referred
> to 'nail technique' vs. fingerpads.Perhaps an examination of the
> terminology may provide a clue.For me, it's an enigma why
> those 'professional harpers' wouldn't haveused the plectrum style
of
> playing. That's because I don't believe fingerpad technique
produces
> much more than a fraction of the instrument's phonic capability
> usingfingerpads.Of course, that may not be everyone's opinion.>---
In
> clairseach@..., simon@ wrote:> Hello Danny,> > I cant
> recall a reference to a law as you suggest, but on your second >
> point - I always say, not pads but tips. I have collated a range of
>
> nail / tip quotes here:> http://www.earlygaelicharp.info/nails/> >
> Simon>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
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