Why lay out?

[Norbert Brunhuber <brun@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

  This topic is a tangent to the one that has been very big recently on 
this list.  I agree that the harp does need restraint to sound well in a 
band situation.  However, the bass guitar is playing throughout the 
song.  The rhythm guitar plays throughout the song.  Even during the 
vocal parts.  Why is this so?  I mean, what is it about these instruments 
that they play all the time whereas the harp does not seem suited to this.

  Have people try to tackle this problem?  I hate being told the harp 
must only be a "call and response" or solo instrument.  I've been 
experimenting with ways to integrate the harp into the music more 
completely.  Some people love the punch a harp solo can provide a song, 
but doesn't that just degenerate the instrument to the equivolent of 
being put on a pedestal?

--Norbert