# Harp options



## Guy Rowland (Jul 23, 2013)

With the release of Spiftire's harp redux, I've taken a good look at it and all the options - Sphere and especially Project Sam's updated Concert Harp. I do like the sound of the latter, and I have a feeling it might be a little less fiddly in use - I wasn't so keen on having the pedals on the UI, direction on CC1 and speed on another CC. PS have gliss pedal variations on keyswitches from what I can work out, and different speeds of gliss are across the keyboard (I think). It's also substantially cheaper (in my company's case, I don't need to pay VAT on purchases outside the UK, but do within, courtesy of the strange ways of the UK's flat Small Business rate - this makes PS's pretty much half the price for me).

Anyone have experience with the latest Project Sam harp, or any other alternatives?


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## thehuman (Jul 23, 2013)

I have been really curious about ProjectSAM's harp as well. Since I have OE, I get a discount on it that puts it at 50% of the price of Spitfire's. I would love to hear some personal experience with the two as well--I am strongly considering picking up Spitfire's harp in the next two weeks, but I have trouble determining if it's worth twice the asking price of PS (especially since the harp is definitely not something I will use in every composition).

Although I have to admit the 10% voucher is a HUGE draw, because putting that against something like Albion (2 or 3) or Sable is pretty substantial.


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## Synesthesia (Jul 23, 2013)

Hi Guy,

I'm not sure how we'd manage it without keyswitches unless you have a 16 octave keyboard? 

by the way - back a while I also investigated the flat rate scheme, as I understood it you *do* have to pay VAT at the prevailing rate on purchases from the EU:



> Input tax is the VAT charged to you by other businesses. Under normal VAT accounting, you claim this back from us on your quarterly VAT return. If you use the flat rate scheme, you do not recover input tax or VAT on imports or acquisitions.


But maybe it has changed? 

Anyway - just to clarify, you can change pedals with CC, pretty cool as it means you can set them up on a control surface, ipad etc..

and the new legato gliss mode is a massive time saver as well.

Anyway - enjoy making your decision! Its great there are so many nice Harps to choose from!

Best

Paul


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## BenG (Jul 23, 2013)

I'm currently using the Spitfire harp (recently updated) and it sounds fantastic, playability is great and it has tons of different options. 

There are actually now two harp's (kind of) with the "slid" feature and tons of Glisses, FX, and more. When I play this harp, it's almost like having a harpist in the room with me playing, I can hear all the nuances of a real performance.

Of course, aside from all of that I would suggest to you that above all, it is which sound you like the best. A very personal opinion of course. Listen to the demos, they don't lie


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## Guy Rowland (Jul 23, 2013)

Ben - I think all these harps sound very good, both Spitfire and PS would be top of my list. I'd love some more first hand reports of PS though for functionality.

Paul - off topic I know, but I twice rung the HMRC tax office to clarify the status of purchasing electronic goods from outside the UK if you're on the flat rate scheme. Their official line is "we have no opinion on the matter" if goods are sold VAT-free on production of a VAT number. Back on topic - the Spitfire harp does look great - as is often the case, I'd love to play around with it to see if it would fit into my workflow well or not. Being a hack, I guess I'm after something relatively simple to use and sit there in the template


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## BenG (Jul 23, 2013)

Guy Rowland @ Tue Jul 23 said:


> Ben - I think all these harps sound very good, both Spitfire and PS would be top of my list. I'd love some more first hand reports of PS though for functionality.



I do agree with you that they all sound great, though they all have very distinct and different qualities. I found the concert harp to be rounder, while Spitfire was a bi more plucky, etc. Although, I could be hearing things

Hopefully there are some PS users out there, that can chime in as well.


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## Synesthesia (Jul 23, 2013)

Hmm.. very odd! They are very clear about it on the website:

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPort ... 5#P40_3122

Anyway - back on topic!


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## 5Lives (Jul 23, 2013)

For basic harp stuff, how does the Cinesamples CineHarp perform? Spitfire Harp Redux looks amazing, but I don't think I need all of those articulations. CineHarp is a good amount cheaper too.


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## Guy Rowland (Jul 23, 2013)

5Lives @ Tue Jul 23 said:


> For basic harp stuff, how does the Cinesamples CineHarp perform? Spitfire Harp Redux looks amazing, but I don't think I need all of those articulations. CineHarp is a good amount cheaper too.



Though I love CS in general and the scripting on CineHarp is clever... sonically its not near these other libraries. It was a very early release of theirs.


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## Hanu_H (Jul 23, 2013)

Check this one out: http://impactsoundworks.com/products/wo ... and-harps/

It's not a traditional one but to my ears sounds good. Has 3 different harps with up to 7 velocity layers. And it's cheap.


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## techeverlasting (Jul 23, 2013)

I'm not familiar with the Project Sam Harp but I do own Symphonic Sphere. SS is a different sounding instrument, I would describe it as being closer to a Celtic Harp than Spitfire's. 

Where Spitfire really stands out is in how well both the normal and "Slid" Harp transition through the different dynamic sample layers. This is very smooth and natural. With Symphonic Sphere once you get above a certain velocity there's a drastic change in the timbral quality, very difficult to play musically in real time. I also love the way releases are implemented with Spitfire's Harp, play short and you hear a natural dampening of the strings, play long and the notes decay naturally.


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