03/28/2026
Hey Friends and Fans!
Last Friday, I got home from refreshingly cold and rainy Seattle, oh so green with spring flowers blooming. I was there to record demo clips for Dusty Strings. Owners and super hosts, Ray and Sue Moores, rolled out the red carpet for me. Their generosity and kindness was much appreciated.
I recorded clips for the DS website on their newest harp model, FH34S (the is the model I currently play on). Same harp built in five different woods – walnut, sapele, maple, cherry and bubinga. While I was there, I played a couple concerts and gave a workshop on improvisation.
Dusty Strings harps have been part of my harp career for a long time. Kolacny Music was a dealer, many a fine harp came through their store. The well-built Ravennas are my suggested rental (if you want to rent a harp, contact the Kolacnys at their new website Harps Nouveau.com ).
I was inspired by my time in Seattle. This long post is probably most interesting to folks who are interested in harps. I learned so much while there, here are some of my insights:
* There is the Dusty Strings Music Store, where they sell loads of instruments, (not just harps, but guitars, mandolins, dulcimers, and whatnot) And then, there's the factory where the harps get built. It's in a separate building. Between the two, I saw more harps than I could possibly count.
* DS made 23 prototypes of the model I play (FH34S). Many local harp players gave their input. I just learned that one of the prototypes is here in Colorado. A student of mine went to the Seattle to try out harps, and after playing a bunch of different harps, she chose one of the prototypes!
* I thought I knew a thing or two about building instruments. My brother, Max, made guitars for years. Jigs, forms, inlay, spray booths, woodworking tools are somewhat familiar. Now, add wood drying racks (see photo below that looks like a bakery rack), installing all those little levers, robotics, and a string winding machine. Figure out how to store a bunch of shipping boxes and what to do when cases get held up in customs. 'There's always something...' Photos below are of Mitch Wittenberg, Doug Pierson, and Sean Kasper.
* When my brother visited the DS factory some years ago, he raved about the factory. His praise is justified; the setup and workflow are impressive. Precise, efficient, artistic. Novel ideas realized by smart, passionate, caring folks.
* Most folks say Sapele with three syllables, Sa-pel-lie, or sa-pel-lay, It's a good sounding wood from Africa.
* Dusty Strings started building hammered dulcimers in 1979 and harps in 1985. They’ve built A LOT of harps - 25,000!
* Seattle - there is water everywhere- bays, sounds, lakes, moist air and rain. Bridges, tunnels, ferries. There are a lot of big trees. It makes sense to me that making harps in the midst of all that wood and water adds to the magic of their harps.
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What an honor to play all five woods. At my concerts, we had fun coming up with descriptives. Ray Mooers describes the tone profile as you would wines-
Bubinga is the Cabernet Sauvigon, Cherry and Sapele a Red Blend, Maple, Sauvignon Blanc, or Chardonnay, and Walnut is Merlot.
Saturday's concert included desserts and wine (the wine shop choose 5 wines to represent the five woods). Home baked goodies from Sally and Sue.
To top all this off, Laurie Riley joined me in concert on a jig set. There is NOTHING like harp duets- Laurie's playing is sweet, rhythmic, inventive and sensitive. I ginned as my heart went flying off into that magic place where Irish music lives.
I'll send a newsletter out when the sound clips are up on their website so you can hear the differences yourself.
Are you in the market for a fantastic harp? The FH34S has a rich, Dusty Strings sound, but it's lighter than their FH 36. Of the five I played on, the maple and the walnut were my top favorites. Call the store to ask for the exact ones I played. If they’ve already sold, more will be made! Read harp reviews here. (find the reviews at the bottom of the webpage)
Praise the harp makers of the world,
We could not play with out you. Thank you, all,
Margot Krimmel Boulder Harp
