Order Of Work
Just getting started looking at your videos to upgrade my skills. In my work I tend to shape all the reeds first to get them to enter their slots the way I prefer. I then gap all the reeds. My final step is tuning each reed. I'm not sure about the benefit v time of embossing so I generally forego that.
My question is about the order of your work as gapping is in a lesson after tuning. I might have thought gapping could impact tuning as I'm messing around with the reed so I gap first. Admittedly I haven't watched all your videos as there are so many so I was wondering if you address the proper order of steps somewhere you could point me to? Thanks!
I tell people to learn tuning first, gapping and reed shaping second, and embossing last
When you start customizing harps the order is reversed - emboss first, shape and gap reeds second, and tune last
if you learn how to tune, you are ready to mess with your reeds ( shaping, straightening, curving, lowering, raising, whatever it takes to make them close the slot as completly as possible during the "magic moments" of the reed swing...,You almost always change the tuning when you re-shape reeds....
when you get good at shaping reeds you are ready to emboss cause you will (almost always) change the shape of the reeds when you emboss
thanks my 2 cents!
Richard Sleigh
Thank you Sensei!
Kinya
I decided to do some light embossing on a harp just after I'd shaped all the reeds as Richard demonstrates in his videos, and managed to play 4,5,6 overblows. Very happy with how it turned out (my first overblow harp) maybe I'll try embossing. Just a light touch...
ouch! Spent the rest of the day digging out reeds and resetting them. I'll remember that lesson.
Yeah Dave, you're preaching to the choir ;o)
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Hi SmokeSJ
Yes, you are correct. Profiling/gapping reeds will impact the tuning:
Your Harpsmith, Kinya