Becoming a Harp Technician

When I decided in 2017 to bring my concert grand pedal harp to Africa, I knew it would be difficult, if not impossible, to have it serviced.  Routine maintenance by a specialist is recommended every year or two for a harp – but to my knowledge, no such professionals live on my continent.  A pair of British technicians visits South Africa every other year, but road conditions rule out my taking it there, not to mention the complexities of importation documentation and the fact that the instrument doesn’t fit in my vehicle.  My harp originally arrived by sea inside a shipping container of hospital supplies, within the window of time in which I, as a new resident of this country, could import my belongings without customs charges.  Now it leaves my bedroom only for my annual recital in our front yard.

In January, as it became difficult to ignore the fact that my harp was not sounding its best after a decade without maintenance, I inquired as to whether a technician could possibly arrange for a layover in our city, at my expense, to service my harp on his way to or from South Africa.  The response was negative.  After much prayer about the dilemma, I asked an American harpist friend for advice, and she put me in touch with a master technician whom God used to answer my prayers.  

After a video call to meet my instrument and me, the technician generously donated the materials necessary to change its pedal felts, shipping them at his expense to an American minister who brought them to me in April.  He then sent me an orientation video and patiently answered all my questions as Blaine and I did the work.  We propped up the harp on my bed, removed its base, and used a razor knife to cut (and a chisel to scrape) the worn-out felt pieces off of the pedals.  For each pedal, we carefully positioned a plastic piece using masking and double-sided tape, tightly wrapped a new felt strip around it, hot-glued it to itself, and cut off the excess felt.  Finally, we reinstalled the harp’s base and carefully lowered the instrument to the floor.  The following weekend, we again used my hot glue gun, this time to replace the felts on the harp’s body against which the pedals rest.

I marvel at this provision from the Lord to equip me to service my own harp.  And none of this cost me a cent!  The American expert has kindly offered another video call to identify and plan for further maintenance which my instrument may need.  Please pray that I will aptly learn and apply the techniques necessary to keep my harp healthy so that my music-making may continue to bring joy to others, as well as to me myself, for as long as possible.