God knows, putting them in fluid MADE THEM WORSE...
Perhaps I simply disliked having my lips ripped to shreds?
Hi John
My understanding is that some of our harp forefathers, when faced with
what you describe, would trim back the swollen comb so that it would
again be flush with the front of the harp. Likely they smoothed sharp
edges at the same time. Then they could continue to play with
increased comfort.
Once the wood dried out, the comb shrunk back inwards and was hard to
play unless rehydrated to expand the comb to be flush with the front
of the harp. To facilitate this, the harp wold be placed in water for
as long as necessary.
From a historical perspective, to me the most interesting aspect of
this relates directly to your experiences:
Given that wood combed harps have a propensity to swell and harps with
these were around for a long time, how did a poor musician busking on
the street for hours with only one harp, deal with a an uncomfortable
to play harp, with a swollen comb?
Did they usually trim and smooth the sharp edges and swollen tines?
Did they play regardless?
Did they seal the combs? With what?
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