Harp, Harpist, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Harps, Reuben Correa, Twin Cities, Minnesota, Weddings, Worship, Party, Background Music, Harp Lessons, Receptions, Composer, Harp Recordings, harp teacher: Journal

Recording the Harp Tips

Hi There N.
Can I ask how you mike your harp? Sometimes placement really helps. I'll tell you what has worked well for me and maybe it will help you. I mike my harp High and low instead of right/ left.
Because sound always travels upwards first then out, I have found that if I place the microphone 8" - 10 inches off of the top of the crown slightly in front of the harp where the sound is still strong but also begins to blossom and aerate (kind of like wine)
Also 5" - 8" inches in front of the harp a couple of inches near the floor on the bottom where all of the sound is pushed out of the sound box so you get a really great bass sound. I use a soft carpet remnant or large piece of velvet to eliminate sound reflection off of the floor. It depends on how warm or bright you want the sound. In a recording situation you usually don't want a solid wood or cement floor to reflect the sound because it tends to muddy the bass.
Well there I hope this helps. I love the harp and I love to hear other people play it and I love for harper(ists) to be successful so I try not to keep secrets.

1-10-07
Time to introduce a new subject do you agree?
So now we will discuss:
Mastering Curved Finger Plucking.

First you may ask, what is curved finger plucking and why is it so important?
Plucking the strings of your harp with curved fingers is an important part of making the tone quality solid and controlling the dynamics.
While most harpers / ists are content to pluck the strings with the finger tips as many people believe is the correct way. It really limits the sound production, tone quality and dynamic range of the music you play. In order to be very expressive with your music you must have control of the string and the plucking of that string.
01-16-07
I will try to describe how to form your hand to get the curved finger look.
1. Stretch your arms out in front of you.
2. relax your hands so that they hang downward.
3. you will notice that your fingers naturally curve that is what you are looking for.
4. now by bending your elbows outward slowly bring your hands toward your body. (you should look like an angel with elbows pointing outwards from the center of your body.)
5. slightly bend your hands at the wrists upwards about a 45 degree angle. keeping your arms and elbows parallel to the floor.
{Do you feel like a contortionist?}
6. the goal is to have a round space between your fingers, palm and thumb almost as if you were holding a raquet ball.
And of course you are totally relaxed while doing this. Right?!
7. When you pluck you will still want to use the sides of your fingers, and you will essentially be catapulting your fingers into your palm. (kind of like snapping your fingers.
Place your fingers on the strings. You will have to modify the position to fit your hand and it will feel totally alien for a while.
Practice plucking one finger at a time as in start with the 1st finger (index finger). only pluck one string until it starts to feel normal. It can get boring but you want to teach your finger a new feeling, and not get side tracked by trying to pluck other strings or melodies.
After about three days
of plucking with both L & R hands, try the 3rd or middle fingers of each hand. Not an easy journey but it will immensely improve your ability to express your music and make it more interesting to the listner.
** DO Not Pluck from the first or second joint use the main knuckle as your plucking point.**
If none of this makes sense you are on the right track!!
I will try to put a picture of this on my picture gallery.
01-31-07
One thing to remember is that when you pluck you want to displace the string, not just slide off of it. If you find yourself sliding off of the string you will also find that you are probably plucking more than one string and so are getting extra notes.
Let me know if you need more of an explanation. I'd love to hear from you.

This morning at 5am Reuben performed as a special guest and background music for Interviews which took place at the Minneapolis / St. Paul International Airport. He was filmed by all of the local stations and inteviewed by WCCO.
It was an interesting gig and took all the concentration and focus that he could muster.
Reuben's picture in his full Renaissance regalia also graces the cover of the brochure advertising the music the airport has hired to give as a gift to its stressed out passengers.

Soon Reuben will add two more titles to his web site. He has Mantle of Peace and Rock of Ages.due to come online in December.
Mantle of Peace is his Christmas / Winter CD chock full of favorite classics and traditional carols in beautiful and fun arrangements.
Rock of Ages is a meditational, Ultra Stress Relief offering, which does indeed relax the listener. One of Reuben' students told him not to listen to this one and drive since she actually fell asleep at the wheel and went off of the road.
Thankfully she was on a road that had serrated edges which woke her up and she continued on uninjured.

Reuben Correa placed sixth in the Category of Best Solo Instrumental Song for his original composition Chas'n My Tail. This song can be heard on the Our Beautiful Baby cd.
Being present for the Awards show really opened his eyes to the array of talent that his song competed against. it was mind boggling to say the least and he is excited to have been a part of this incredible occassion.
The awards show was held at the Galaxy Theater in Santa Ana, CA. It is considered a premier hall for talented artists to perform.
Reuben will return to the cold Minnesota tundra to create more music and hopefully have an entry for next year as well.

Reuben is proud of his 2006 Nomination to the JPF Music Awards for his original composition
Chas'in My Tail from his Our
Beautiful Baby CD.
Below is a description of the field and process of the nominations.

Hi 2006 Just Plain Folks Award Nominees!

I want to congratulate all of you on receiving nominations in this years JPF Music Awards. In case you missed the announcement earlier this week, we had 25,500+ albums and 350,000+ songs entered for the awards this year (including yours) and we announced nominees in 81 album and 67 song categories. This year's nominees come from over 70 countries around the world and include seasoned well known veterans and some of the best up and coming artists and writers in the music community. We spent 13 months screening all the music 1 song at a time and we couldn't be more proud of and impressed with this year's slate of nominees.

Reuben Correa's CD
Sea Whisperings is now available to download tracks or the entire cd! This is very exciting news for Reuben because his
music is now available to be heard and enjoyed Internationally!!!

Hello Friends:
Many inquiries have been made about what I have experienced in the healing settings of hospitals, NICU’s and home visits.
I have written a brief missive on the subject of playing for early newborns and it actually applies in many different situations. Adults and children alike as well as animals respond favorably to harp music in all kinds of situations.
The medical situation is just a little more interesting because you can actually see results on the monitoring machines.
The tones of the harp in an NICU setting produce a variety of wonderful results from calming a fussy or irritated baby to slowing the heart rate and allowing the child to relax so that bigger breaths are taken and more oxygen is available to the body, to stimulating the minds of child, parent, and medical staff.
A child is so sensitive to the feelings of the people around him/her that they can sense a troubled spirit. This can be a cause for fussiness. I have noticed that when the parents and staff is calm a baby will sense that it is all right to be calm and will become more stable.
It is exciting to see the results on the monitors as the heart rates descend, and the O2 rates ascend. The child is able to take deeper breaths and more of its energy can be put toward healing, gaining weight and becoming healthy enough to be removed from life support and eventually the NICU unit.
Unfortunately there are politics and jealousies in these units and of course funding is almost always an issue and live music is not availble on a daily basis.
The best case scenario would be an independently wealthy musician who has a heart for such work on a daily basis and a unit that is open to have said musician come in. Even a daily two hour stint in various parts of the unit would be a huge benefit. (big someday dream)

Of course the next best thing would be recordings available to the babies in their space whether it be a big open room or individual rooms. Actually cd and tape recordings do help, of course most of the good vibrations are produced by live harp because the ears and the body actually absorb the healing vibrations. Unfortunately the recording machines can only capture a particle of the spectrum of tones and vibrations.
The ear and body have a wide spectrum of absorption of the sound coming from an instrument such as the harp, guitar and other quiet strings. Quite possibly, a psaltry, and dulcimer would also work. The key is a wide range of tones produced in many octaves. There are undertones, overtones, harmonics and enharmonics that are produced even by plucking one string. These tones and vibrations are sympathetic to various parts of the body.
It is not really necessary to play very softly, however many medical staffs are very cautious and to an extent afraid of music that they deem too loud. Remember most of these units believe themselves to be very quiet and in comparison to lets say a grocery store yes, it is a much quieter atmosphere.
But there are a lot of noise makers in these units. The alarms and other mechanical sounds caused by the various machines and traffic in the unit. Staff dropping things and talking loudly, phones ringing, other babies and parents crying. All can make a terrific noise.
I have been told many times by staffs that as soon as I begin playing the babies and children stop crying, the staff and adults go quiet also because every tone is a precious beautiful experience and they all want it.
Actually I have three harps that I use in various units. One of the most beautiful is a tiny 2 1/4 octave clairseach. Which is the name for the wire strung Irish harp. This harp sounds like bells and has a very long reverb so that the tones overlap and become like a musical mist that hangs in the air. It is difficult to describe but it is like musical light, a shining colorful, sound. It makes adults cry from the sheer beauty of it.
It is played with the fingernails as opposed to the finger pads and is only 7.5lbs. There is a picture of it on my site. I have named it Friendly and I allow the parents and patients and staff to sign it. Once that is done they also become part of the music. I have a 31 string Gothic harp from Music Maker Kits Inc that has a warm mysteriously deep rich tone. It can be heard by clicking the LINKS button on my website and visiting the Sea Whisperings page. and a magical harp made by Steen Harps of WV. which is 5 full octaves. It has a clean clear uplifting tone that is half way between a clairseach and a celtic harp and has overtones of harpsichord in it. You can actually hear this harp on my website by clicking on the music button and hearing my recording "Our Beautiful Baby" dedicated to our son.
I probably should end this missive but there in a very big nutshell is what I do with my harps. I welcome any dialogue that you wish and residents of MN can have me play for them.
Thanks for listening
Reuben Correa

This will be a many months long smorgasbord of comments and musings concerning tuning your harp.
Reuben has been playing, composing, teaching and recording the Celtic harp for 22 years.

Many comments may be harp specific meaning that the harps he plays are the ones that have given him these experiences.
He basically plays a 31 string Gothic harp from Music Maker Kits Inc. and a 36 string Troubador built by Stephen Green of Steen Harps.
This is not to say that other harps won't respond in the ways that he writes about, but if you experience a different result it may be due to a different construction method, or material used on the harp you have.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. July 5, 2006 Know Your Harp
2. July 6, 2006 How Construction Materials Affect the Tuning of your Harp
3. July 12, 2006 New Harps vs. Seasoned Harps
4. July 13, 2006 Now We Begin the Actual Tuning Process
5. July 25, 2006 Tuning Pins

July 5, 2006

First things first:
KNOW YOUR HARP
Know how the wood that it is made of is affected by different environments.
High or low humidity, high or low temperature,
method of moving harp from one environment to another if you do gigs, changing environments due to the opening and closing of doors, entering and leaving of people or animals (Live creatures are moist) Changing Barometric pressure, it is difficult to master this one even in very controlled environments. Your personal element. Yes even how you hold the harp, angle and such, whether you are sweaty, or more on the dehydrated side affects the tuning of your instrument.

July 6, 2006
HOW
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AFFECT THE TUNING OF YOUR HARP
The harder the wood the less short term affect the environment will have. In other words. If you have a harp made out of birdseye maple or curly maple or birch the wood will not be as affected by subtle environmental factors such as your body heat. For instance if Reuben is performing a wedding and will only be in a church or building for less than two hours, he may experience less changes in tuning than if he is playing for a longer period lets say 3 - 4 hours.

Generally Reuben tries to arrive at a performance site 45 minutes to an hour before the event.
The longer you wait to tune the harp the longer it will stay in tune as it has had a chance to acclimate to it's new enviroment.
If he can let his harp sit for up to half an hour before tuning it will basically tune itself. Resist tuning the harp as you warm up your hands and if possible move the harp into the position you will be in for your performance.

Drastic changes in temperature due to air conditioning or heating will affect the strings, especially the metal ones.
The metal strings will go sharp if the air temperature is cold even with humidity. If the air is dry and cold the wood of the harp shrinks but that change is only reflected after 45min - 3 hours.
The nylon strings however will go flat, as the harp shrinks . The nylon strings are not as readily affected by temperature as the metal strings. However after an hour or so in a very cold environment they can become brittle and break easily as you try to tune them up to pitch.
If you are playing a solo performance, it might just be wise to tune all of the strings a little lower in pitch or slightly flat.
Unless your audience members have perfect pitch they aren't going to know and you won't have to risk breaking strings before a performance.


July 12
NEW HARP VS SEASONED HARPS

Here's one for new harp owners.
"A new harp is very different from a seasoned harp. You will hear phantom buzzes and squeaks and clicks, distortions and the like, that you will not be able to locate as the harp becomes an "instrument"
Initially it looks like a harp but in reality it is just a bunch of pieces of wood held together by glue, nails, screws and string pressure. It will take approximately 3 - 7 years to really become a harp or rather a seasoned instrument. Some people call it breaking in a harp. If it is never moved from the spot it was first placed in when you bring it home and rarely played, it will remain unseasoned and the tone will not change much.

Some people play only a limited range as in the middle octaves and never venture to the very top or bottom of their harp. This results in an uneven seasoning. Where the middle octaves have blossomed into warm solid tones but the high and low tones remain thin, brittle, and unexpressive.
The harp will change and mature and it will tune easier and stay in tune longer if it is played throughout its entire range and tuned regularly."

July 13, 2006
NOW WE BEGIN THE ACTUAL TUNING PROCESS

Now then to begin tuning, It is really quite simple. Reuben starts with the middle octave. Middle C to C an octave above. He recommends getting a chromatic tuner unless you are fortunate enough to have perfect pitch. Mr. Correa does not so he tunes each note of the middle scale using a chromatic tuner.

Sometimes chromatic tuners have trouble distinquishing one note from another as the whole harp rings sympathetically to the one note you are plucking as you try to tune. The needle or graph will swing wildly and it drives him nuts. However it will gradually settle on the right pitch.
A way to avoid this ringing in other notes especially in the base is to take a block of rubber foam approximately 6" x 2" and make cuts where your strings are and position this foam on the strings you are not tuning. This will stop the strings from ringing sympathetically. This works especially well on the lower strings which are more likely to ring.
A much simpler way is to dampen the strings with one hand as you pluck / tune with the other.

For best results use a pick - up cable that clips to the harp and plugs into the tuner. The pick-up device will isolate the pitch easier and it makes the tuning process faster and more realiable. It also filters out any unwanted surrounding noise or music if you are in the midst of an orchestral setting.
Reuben finds that Korg and Chromatina have very nice tuners. They are small and very accurate. he is sure there are other companies that do a fine job as well.
Tune by octaves descending, and then return to the middle octave to fine tune.
Then pluck by octaves ascending to see / hear which strings need tuning.

August 4, 2006
The reason for tuning by octaves descending first is that the bass strings are thicker and more powerful. They actually move the sound board and can cause breakage of the upper thinner and shorter strings if those are tuned first.
For example:
Lets say that your upper strings especially the smallest ones are flat and you have to tighten them to bring them up to pitch.
Now lets say that the lower strings are sharp and you have to loosen them.
By loosening the lower strings the strength of those strings actually lowers the sound board therefore stretching the shorter thinner upper strings even tighter. This can cause the upper strings to break.
This is also why Reuben comes back to the middle octave to fine tune before he moves on to the upper octaves. If the sound board has moved then chances are the middle octave is just a little bit off.

August 15, 2006

TUNING PINS

There is a slight chance that hanging on to your tuning pins will change the pitch of that particular string ever so slightly.
What this means is: If you are sitting when you are tuning there is a tendency to hang your arm on the tuning wrench which creates a downward pull.
Try not to pull down on the tuning pin. it creates a miniscule amount of pressure or tension as you tune each string. Miniscule is everything especially in the high strings.

For those of you who have zither pins for the tuning pin, your pitch will be greatly affected by hanging on to the tuning wrench as you tune.
This is because zither pins are threaded and are usually screwed into the wood, but do not go through the entire width of the neck.
They are usually made of a softer metal and are longer and skinnier than the tapered tuning pins that are used on the concert harps and other harps depending on the builder.

They bend much more readily and can greatly alter the pitch of the string. In some cases you can actually press the pin with your finger and create a vibrato while you are playing.

August 20, 2006.
For those of you who have tapered tuning pins it is important to remember to clean the pin hole when you change the strings. Use a stiff brush to remove the resin created by the pressure of the pin on the wood. Since wood still has a fair amount of pitch in it the pressure from the tuning pin will squeeze this miniscule amount out of the pores of the wood and create a slick surface inside of the pin hole.
Cleaning this residue out of the pin hole will prevent the tuning pin from slipping when there is a change in the weather. This is especially valueable to know if you live in drier climes, as the wood shrinks there is a tencency for the wood to shrink making the holes slightly larger.

September 2, 2006

There is a way to do some extra fine tuning. let the harp settle just a bit more after an initial tuning. Do some more warm up, run through your performance music then do a final tune. This is especially indicated when the barometer is moving a lot as in the spring or fall when weather can be volatile or there are storms in the area.

September 10, 2006

Reuben uses his 2nd and 4th fingers to play an octave. This is two fingers plucking in the same direction. As opposed to a thumb plucking in an opposite direction of the finger.
The 2nd & 4th fingers have the palm, wrist and arm behind them. This muscle mass actually tempers the timbre of the pluck and gives it a more warm full tone.
The thumb (on the other hand) or should I say finger, is essentially an apendage attached to the hand. It doesn't have the benefit of all of that muscle mass. Therefore it produces a much brighter, staccato timbre.
This difference in timbre can mask the slightest difference in pitch.

September 26, 2006

Another idea that I thought of while teaching a student today. her harp was terribly out of tune though she was lacking the right tools and just beginning to take lessons again after an absence.
She knew her harp was out of tune but didn't know how badly. She was beginning to accept that tuning as true. However after working on it we found that she was a complete step below A 440.
This is one reason you want to keep your instrument in tune and at the right pitch per string. If you allow your harp to go out of tune and practice it this way you will gradually begin to accept it as being in tune. Your music will not be as clear, and beautiful as it could be.
The music carries farther if your instrument is in tune. People will be more apt to hang around to hear you play if your instrument is tuned up and making music that doesn't hurt their ears.

Reuben is always looking for ways to share the beauty of the harp and about how to make playing it less intimidating. He will try to share things that he has learned in his 22 + years of playing various sizes and types.
Some things that people have asked him about are tuning, stringing the harp, memorizing music, playing gigs, & recording. how to play really long gigs like more than 4 hours and survive and how to care for your hands afterwards
He recognizes a need for this because many times harp teachers are no longer playing gigs being too busy with students.
Also a lot of things are learned "on the road" but are not necessarily found in books.
And of course everybody is different so there are always different angles on how things are done. There are smaller hands and larger hands, different body shapes, and sizes, strong people and weak people. You know, all the types that would like to play the harp, play it well and enjoy it too.

Reuben Correa and his magical Steen harp were asked for a return engagement for the Life Source Awards Banquet with an awards procession of over 500 donor families. The Govenor of MN Mr. Tim Pawlenty and his wife were the guest presenters of beautiful gold medals in thanks for the families' act of courage.
The Pawlenty's are staunch supporters of this organization and the cause of donating organs and have done much to promote it.
These special awards were given in heartfelt thanks to the families who donated the organs of their loved ones to the many people in need of them.
Reuben was thrilled to be asked to return to perform his beautiful healing and relaxing music after the very successful first banquet 3 years ago which included a procession of over 1000 donor families.

Through Reuben's distributor, His music will soon be made available to several sites, eventually over 40 of them throughout the world that make music available to Ipod and Mp3 users to listen and download either single songs or entire cd's. Reuben is especially excited about this new chapter in the advancement of harp music availability and his dream of sharing the Celtic or Folk harp (non pedal) with the world.
Often people discount the smaller harp as not a real instrument. This is wholly untrue as the Celtic harp has a much longer history that the modern version pedal harp.
The music that the Celtic, folk (non - pedal) harp produces is no less elegant, uplifting, or romantic.
Both styles of harp have their place in the music realm. Reuben learned how to play a pedal harp first and was totally in love with this instrument until he built his first harp. A Gothic 31 from Music Maker Kits. The thing he really enjoys about the smaller harps is the portability. Now he can play indoors and outdoors without fear of ruining his instrument. And he loves to be outdoors in nature composing and improvising on the beautiful sights he enjoys whereever he travels.
Reuben will eventually have all five of his cd's available hopefully within the next year.
Soon a list of sites will be available as well. You can start looking for these sites in Jun or July by searching Reuben Correa or Reuben Correa and a recording title

Reuben Correa's music is now being made avialable to the physical on the street stores throughout the world.
The process involves walking into your local store to special order a copy of Reuben's cds. If you would like the name of a store in your area that carries them contact us through the website email.
Thank You

The very first wedding that I played I was probably more nervous than the bride. I along with other musicians were stationed up in the balcony of a small Lutheran church in Minnesota. While I was tuning my harp to perfection I was plucking hard to be heard above all the other activity going on.

This is when the top string of my harp broke snapping me in the face. But that had never happened before so I thought that somebody had
shot me with a rubberband.

Well you know how people are if they've shot you with a rubber band. They are instantly very busy. So I scowled and examined each person intently.

At this time one of the other musicians was studying my behavior and asked me? "Are you Okay?"
At the instant of her question I looked at my harp and saw that this string was broken and said Oh, yes! My G String just Broke!

Everybody in the room stopped what they were doing and stared at me in disbelief!
"Well you know, uhh my harp string broke" I stammered.
She started laughing, ran to the balcony edge and yelled down to the bride and her family as they were taking their pictures and said "Guess what so and so your harpist's G-String just broke.

Upon which the entire church was engulfed in hysterical laughter.
They got really good smiling pictures and we all had a good stress busting laugh.

Reuben Correa has finally managed to accomplish the task of having music for web site visitors to listen too.
It has taken many months but it's finally accomplished. Throughout the month of February and March Mr. Correa will be sharing his inspirations behind the music he has included on this recording.
You may hear short clips usually a two or three minutes of music, however you may not download music from this site.
Thank you for visiting this site.

Reuben is still in the process of composing repertoire for the new recording. He is actually trying to force himself to write out the pieces before he records them. Because people are always asking him for the music to his compositions, he thought that it would be better to have the music written before he records.
It is so hard to get excited about writing the music afterwards. "I guess that this one will have to wait for the new year to be produced." says Reuben.

Reuben has been invited to repeat his performance during the months of November and December at the Lindberg Terminal of the International Airport in Minneapolis, MN.
He is very excited to have the entire breadth of the ticketing lobby at his command.
He will be playing on the Mezzanine Level above the ticketing lobby come and say Hi! if you are in the area.

Reuben Correa is currently working on new costumes and repetoire to perform at the Renaissance Festival. He says:" It's a great place to meet people, friends and fans and share the exquisite beauty of the harp."
Reuben's schedule will include most Saturdays with a few Sundays sprinkled in. Dates will show up on the Calendar of Events.
Hope to see you there!

Reuben Correa is in the beginning stages of planning a new recording featuring the sweet bell like tones of "Friendly" his little wire strung harp.
He is composing, arranging, and practicing like crazy so it won't take a lot of time in the studio.
When will this recording be done? You ask. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Don't know hopefully in the late fall or early winter.
This harp will be especially difficult to record because of the Vvvveeeeerrrrryyyyy Lllllllooooonnnnnnggggg reverb that can't be cut into if there is a mistake.
But in the end Reuben Says: "I think it will be a very rewarding experience and a wonderful recording to be enjoyed by all who are interested in harp music some new original pieces.
Visit the site again for more updates.

Reuben Correa found out that he could walk and play harp after all. Using "Friendly" his little wire strung harp Reuben strolled throughout the Arboretum's gardens, charmed guests by the singing brooks and even got the frogs to sing a chorus while he played by the bog.
On a picturesque day amongst the beautiful spring landscapes and within the forests of newly budded trees the bell like tones of the little harp swirled about the guests.
Tom Dreeze of the Aboretum, spoke of the dreamy calming quality of the music in the gardens and in words echoed by several guests it was magical, joyous and beautiful.
Contact Reuben for music at your next garden party. 763-546-5290 or email rubatomanmusic2@aol.com

Reuben Correa has been performing for over 12 years in various special occasions. He enjoys being a part of the happy atmosphere that the harp music brings to any event.
You can hire him for Occasions ranging from: Weddings, Receptions, Grooms dinner, showers or teas, Garden parties, business occasions, banquets, meetings, silent auctions, Centennial celebrations, Grand Openings, Retirements, Graduation celebrations and Open Houses, Funerals, Memorials, Wakes, Conventions, conferences, Stress Relief, Peaceful Healing Harp Music, Church related events and services, and Birthday Parties too.
Never Assume he's too busy and call him at 763-546-5290 or email him at rubatomanmusic2@aol.com