About Rick

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Rick was raised in a family that played music together around the living
room. He worked as a professional musician in Ann Arbor, Detroit,
Baltimore and the tri-state area here in Colorado. He learned early on how to maintain
and repair his own instruments. Later, he would build them for his own use.
Rick's highest qualification as a harp builder is that he is a musician. To that end Rick loves instruments that respond, breathe and project. Good dynamics and feel are essential to all his harps. The final test of a newly crafted R Harp is "does it take him there?"…to a place where the harp and the player take a back seat to the magic of the music. Only excellent instruments can take you there. And an excellent instrument is what Rick offers.
Rick's highest qualification as a harp builder is that he is a musician. To that end Rick loves instruments that respond, breathe and project. Good dynamics and feel are essential to all his harps. The final test of a newly crafted R Harp is "does it take him there?"…to a place where the harp and the player take a back seat to the magic of the music. Only excellent instruments can take you there. And an excellent instrument is what Rick offers.
In His Own Words
"I'm a very fortunate man. I derive a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction from the conception, designing, building and refining of all my harps. For many years I had been building harps two at a time – with only one variable between them – to truly compare a tweak here, a design change there. Does this harp sound better than that one? Which one "sings?" This is called "A-B testing.
Through years of A B testing, theory has been replaced with knowledge. "I think" has been replaced with "I know," – at a huge cost in terms of building and burning. But twenty years of experimental building pays off when my customers recognize what they love about their R Harps. I just have to smile because I know those qualities were deliberately placed there in that instrument.
All the harps I produce now are the best I've ever made. I am still so thrilled when the sawdust settles and I hear my customers produce beautiful music on my creations. These are the moments that make all that hard work worth it.
Sincerely,
Through years of A B testing, theory has been replaced with knowledge. "I think" has been replaced with "I know," – at a huge cost in terms of building and burning. But twenty years of experimental building pays off when my customers recognize what they love about their R Harps. I just have to smile because I know those qualities were deliberately placed there in that instrument.
All the harps I produce now are the best I've ever made. I am still so thrilled when the sawdust settles and I hear my customers produce beautiful music on my creations. These are the moments that make all that hard work worth it.
Sincerely,