a) Museums
If you plan to do some deeper research, ask the musical department of a
museum that has harps (sometimes old instruments would not be displayed
but only stored in some ugly place.) Most of the museum staff will
(hopefully) be ready to let you take the measures and proportions of the
instruments.
b) Existing harp sources
There are a number of harp construction plans available in some
harp-related shops. For instance, Robinsons's Harp Shop/California has
always sold plans of some "standard" historical harps like the Trinity
College Harp.
c) Books
There are some important books about harps, some of which offer a section
with plans and construction hints. At least they have some photos...
You will need some degree of imagination and visualisation to build a
harp from a plan or a photo, as well as some insights into woodworking,
tools, and access to a friend's workshop.
d) If you can imagine to spend some weeks in Germany, you could also
visit one of the harp making courses that are held at least twice a year.
There is one course, three weeks long, in which you can build a
high-quality Celtic or Bohemian harp under the supervision of a
professional harpmaker.
Different languages are normally not the problem. According to my own
experiences, there are always people who speak German (surprise!) and
English, as well as French, and sometimes Italian or Spanish.
If you need more informations about those courses, please let me know.
I hope this helps.
Ciao,
Ralf
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Ralf Kleemann, Heidelberg, Germany
*** Harfenspieler zum Mieten! ***
http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~rkleeman/
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