Re: [Harp-L] Harp amps and mics for a beginner

[MARK BURNESS <markwjburness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

If amplified playing is something that you intend to do regularly, then yes it is important to learn to use a mic & amp. Some people are lucky & sound good off the bat, the vast majority have to work at it.
 
You don't eed any particular amp or mic, but if you are mainly practicing at home you probably want something under 5W, Fender Champs (reproductions based upon them), Harpgear HG2, VHT Special 6 are all popular with harp players. Amps like these can be "lined out" into PAs & bigger stage amps, or mic'd up to boost up the volume, good for recording, they never outlive their usefulness.
 
Shure SM57, SM58, 545, CR/CM mics..as well as numerous other vintage mics (EV, Astatic, Turner) will do the job, for playing through an amp you ideally want a high impedance mic, or a low impedance mic with a device to boost the signal like an in-line impedance transformer, or a DI box/impedance matcher (transformer driven ideally).


________________________________
From: Sridhar Rajagopalan <sridhara1@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Friday, 20 January 2012, 20:51
Subject: [Harp-L] Harp amps and mics for a beginner

How important is it for a beginner to play with an amp? Is it all
right to just play acoustic to start out with? But if you were to
recommend an amp for a beginner what would it be? The other thing is
when we submit lessons for critique do we need to be amped?

Any pointers would be highly appreciated.