Hello, this is Matthew Bullis from Phoenix, AZ. I discovered this instrument
last week, when someone on the autoharp e-mail list had questions about it.
I did an internet search, found the Wikipedia entry for it, and found a
demonstration of the instrument as a video presentation. It sounds
interesting. The pieces I've heard though haven't been the kind of music I
play. I've found several builders of HGs, including the owner of this
mailing list. One builder has a HG which has the keys in a fixed position,
with the notes like a piano keyboard. These you'd probably play with your
left hand, and I'm not even a very good piano player with my right hand.
Then there are the kits you can build, or buy them finished for you. These
say to adjust the keys until they're in tune. The kit one has twelve keys.
If you have to adjust them, do they still fall within specific notes, or can
you line them up with the twelve notes you'd like to have? Would I be able
to align them so that it played like a mountain dulcimer? Or, could I choose
to skip a note and align the keys to whatever notes I wanted along the
string for a different sound?
Thanks a lot.
Matthew
