Hello all,
Sorry for the delay in posting; once school picks up I rarely find time to do things without planning in advance. Today I would like to share info on where to get an arpa jalisciense. To be quite honest, I do not know too many place to get them. In my quest to get one, I really only found two people who are still making jaliscienses worth purchasing. For professional quality mariachi-specific instruments I can heartily recommend Rubén Morales, the man that made my harp. He does very fine work and is part of the Morales family, a line of luthiers who have served the mariachi community for a long time. My friend Dr. Lauryn Salazar (Associate Professor at Texas Tech University) plays a harp made by Rubén's son Rubencito. There are minor differences between the two, but both are excellent harps. To place an order you may send an email to Don Rubén, but eventually you will need to call him to hash out all the details. Living in the US, this can present some issues, especially if you do not have a phone plan which lets you make international calls (most cell phones, for example require you to pay a monthly fee to be able to make international calls). If you need to make a call, but do not want it to come out to be too expensive, you can purchase a phone card which allows you to call internationally for some predetermined amount of time. The entire time I spoke to Rubén we were speaking in Spanish, so I do not know if his English is any good. Considering he lives in Guadalajara, México, I can only assume that his English is very limited if he knows any at all. If you want to order an arpa jalisciense and don't know any Spanish, you may wish to ask a Spanish speaking friend to translate between the two of you, or you may wish to learn a little Spanish first (this will serve you well, if you plan to play mariachi music anyway). I've never spoken with Rubencito, but I can only assume that he also primarily speaks Spanish, since he also grew up in and lives in Guadalajara.
My harp is a lever harp made with Camac levers. Rubén insists that mariachis do not need sharping levers on E or A. I have found this to be true of older mariachi songs, but in many modern ones, or in arrangements tailored to a specific voice you may find these notes (Eb and Ab) necessary. For example, right now I am learning the Camperos de Nati Cano version of "La Malagueña," and the original key was too high for our singer, so we lowered it to Bb. The problem is that the key of Bb requires an Eb sharping lever, which I do not have. I have found a nice work around, but wish that I had insisted on a full set of levers (at least in the bass). Lauryn's harp has even fewer levers on it from what I remember, but she also said Rubencito can put a full set of levers on if requested. Judging by what I have seen on Lauryn's harp, Rubencito uses Truitt levers. People who have lever preferences, might keep this in mind when deciding who to purchase from, but those completely new to harps should just be happy to have levers. As discussed in the last post playing in a mariachi without levers is next to impossible if your group decides to play popurrís. If your group is more interested in ranchera music or traditional sones (more on these in a later post) you can get by without levers. Put this way: Party mariachis don't necessarily need levers, but will be retuning all night without them, and for performance mariachis levers are a must.
To pay for the harp I used Western Union. If I remember the quoted price was $32,000mxn plus shipping for a medium sized harp with levers on all strings except for E and A as well as a harp shipping case. While you are in negotiations about the price, ask about getting a couple of spare tuning keys. Rubén puts traditional-shaped tuning pegs on his harps and it is nearly impossible to find people who can recreate the keys in the states. Losing a key can be devastating as it leaves you without a reliable way to tune your harp. A Lyon and Healy tuning wrench will get the job done, but it will eventually strip your tuning pegs and render the harp untunable. Rubencito puts a hex-shaped pin on his harp and finding an extra key is as easy as going down to the hardware store. If you choose to get your harp shipped to you (via DHL) I highly recommend getting a hard case for it so that your maker can ship it fully assembled. Be aware that such a large package will get seized and held for a few days by customs. I'm not sure if the two are connected, but the day after I called DHL International and asked about it, the package was released from customs the next day. Altogether my harp cost about $3,000 usd out of pocket, payed for in two payments. Your harp will most likely not have colored strings when you get it. I highly recommend sending the folks down at Guadalupe Custom Strings a message and asking them to make a set of colored strings for you. This is not strictly necessary, but it will help you identify which strings are which very quickly.
http://instrumentosmorales.com/ is Rubén's website. For those who do not speak Spanish, the harp section reads:
"Harps are one of the oldest instruments used in mariachi groups. It is used primarily as a bass instrument (or solo) and cord accompaniment
Our harps are made in three sizes: Small, medium, and large, with metal tuning pegs and support legs.
They are made in the color of your choice from our catalog. If you require a different color let us know."
You can contact Rubén by email using the @Contacto link on the left, or you can call him at:
011 52 (33) 3644.2817
If you are emailing him, in the "lada" box write:
00 + (country code) + (Area Code)
<The US country code is 1.>
and then just write your 7-digit phone number in the teléfono box. Make sure that this is a number with which you can receive international phone calls. In your message remember to let him know that you live in the US (or where ever you live).
If you need help with this process, feel free to email me: jrodriguez@physics.ucla.edu with the subject line "Harp Help" or something like that.
See you next time. Happy Harping
-Julio
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