Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1885-11-26
THE JswsHARP.
Something About Its Manufacture and IL
Mnnlpnlntora.

Something About Its Manufacture and fts
Manipulators.
81 suppose that the majority Of peo-
pie do not consider the jewsharp as
worthy Of being classified as a mus.cal
instrument. But then their experience
has probably been limited, and the
only iewsharps they have ever heard
are the penny jewsharps that the boys
on the street corners twang for their
amusement"
The speaker was gentleman who
has little shop over on the West side
and is engaged exclusively in the man
ufaoture Of jewsharps.
III only make harps Of the best quail
ity,n he continued 'and have been en-
gagged in the business for over forty
years. th'rty-five of which have spent
in this country. My father and brother
were in the business before me. aud are
now at work at the old trade at Bel
fast. Ireland. / make every one of my
instruments by hand, and never have
an assistant, because the art is one of
which very few possess the secret AS
/ know of only one other manufactures
in this city who makes the same kind
Of harps, you will see that tbs demand
for them is not enormous. i DO most
of my work on orders from music and
toy stores down town. and these keep
me busy most Of the time.
"How many do | make in a year?
Well. that's rather hard question to
answer. for | never keep track of them,
but Just work along till | get an order
finished and then tackle the next one.
suppose | could finish on an average
six or eight first-class instruments in a
day, and perhaps twice or three times
as many Of the less expensive ones.
The lowest price which | charge for a
harp is fifteen cents and the highest
two dollars. The latter are made
with German silver frames, and
the tongue is of finer steel.
The frame. however, does not have
anything to do with the musical tone
of the instrument, and It is usually
made of iron, which is aftcrwurd
timed l have all my frames east
and timed at q foundry, and then
finish them up here"
Then il is not so easy to make q
fine toned iewsharpP"
Certainly not. II requires a great
deal Of experience to be able to make q
harp that will produce true musical
tone. The making and fitting OF the
tongue are the hardest work. / have
my little portable forge here. and man
ufacture the steel tongues myself.
The edge of the tongue must be made
perfectly straight and filed in partic-
ular manner, so as to produce the
smoothest vibrat ous, and then the in.
ner edges Of the frame must be made tc
correspond W tn the edges Of the tongue
The closer the frame is made TO fit the
tongue without coming in contact with
it the better will be the quality Of the
tone produced. With one of the best
harps almost any melody can be repro
duced accurately by the performer, and
a skillful player can get more music
out of one Of these Instruments than
YOU would imagine. | can not play
well myself. or / would show you
some of the effects which might be pro
duced."
Are the harps tuned TO any particu
lar pitch, so as to be used with Other
Instruments
mo, do not take the trouble tc
pitch them, unless they are ordered
that wav. 1t is easy enough, however
to do this by shortening or lengthen'
ing the stem at the end of the tongu,
until the tone corresponds with the not'
required. Some people can play
two harps at the same time
and when a par is ordered for tina
purpose | always have to give them thu
same pitch. Most of the instrument
of finer quality are made TO order, ant
of course have to make them to sui
my customers. A very fine instrumen
is made with polished iron frame, {
little heavier than the cheap grades
which are usually only sold for toys
The additional weight of the frame
gives more solidity to its tones
The penny harps are made b,
unskilled workmen, and are of verl
little value as musical instruments.
Most Of The harps are made for out
of.town trade, and large number arr
sent West every year. For the last two
years business has been very dull, anC
it seems # jewsharp-playing was wan
l ing in popularity, especially among Tn,
Scotch, who take about two-thirds o
all the icwsharps made in Belfast. III,
finer class of goods are usually made
with silver-tipped stems, but this doe
not make any difference with the tone
the richness and volume Of which de
pended entirely on the Workmanship
and the dclicacy with which the tongue
is adjusted to the frame. The onll
trouble about a jewsharp is thas it i
not a very durable instrument, 70
after years use the tone usually
becomes dull and loses the clearness o
its vibrations. 1t can easily be re
renewed. however. by reftting tn
I tongue. and a large number Of instru
ments are received every year to b.
| rennired. ~ Y Mil and ELnresS.