PROVO -- The harp business has become a Pratt family tradition, one Carl S. Pratt is continuing wholeheartedly.
The craftsman has been building harps since he began learning the trade from his father, Samuel O. Pratt, in 1974. He currently operates Pratt Manufacturing in Provo, where he builds two types of student model harps and repairs harps for people all over the United States."We're very well known in the harp world here in Utah," Pratt said. "I think it's a disease, something about harps in my family." Using high-quality wood and metal pins and levers, Pratt constructs the Protege and the Nancy Rae, both a little over 5 feet high and weighing around 40 pounds. With its simpler design and price of $3,275, the Protege is more affordable than the Nancy Rae, which has more decorative elements and takes longer to construct. The price for the Nancy Rae, named after Pratt's daughter, is $3,995.
Harps fit into two classifications: lever harps and pedal harps. Pratt constructs lever harps; the strings' pitch is raised a half step by flipping a small metal lever located at the top of each string. Larger concert harps are known as pedal harps: a series of seven pedals at their base are used to perform more complex adjustment of the strings' pitches. A concert grand harp has 47 strings compared with Pratt's slightly smaller models, which have 38 strings each.
His harps, which he designed, are unique in the harp world because they are specifically made to help people make the transition to a larger concert harp. The strings' tension and length and the space between the strings on Pratt's harps are all similar to the larger harps. While there are many lever harp makers across the country, most make "folk harps," which are smaller and produce a different kind of sound meant for folk music, Pratt said.
In the late 1950s, Pratt's father designed the Troubadour, a midsize harp similar to what Pratt is producing today. At the time, only large and small harps were available with nothing between.
"That harp honestly changed the whole harp business," Pratt said.
Samuel O. Pratt sold his design to Lyon and Healy, the oldest harp maker in the country, and that company still makes a version of the Troubadour today, Pratt said. Samuel O. Pratt worked for Lyon and Healy before leaving to start his own harp repair business.
"That's how I started. I learned from him," Pratt said.
Pratt's parents were divorced, and Pratt lived with his mother, Louise F. Pratt, in Orem. She worked for decades as a harp teacher at Brigham Young University and a music teacher for Jordan School District. He learned the trade while visiting his father's home in New Jersey as a youth and working with his father after Samuel O. Pratt moved to Utah.
Pratt has left the business occasionally for other interests such as obtaining an engineering degree at BYU but has never been able to leave it completely. His customers have demanded his services. He does repairs on harps, from adjusting the mechanisms to complete refurbishings of old or damaged instruments. Most instruments will require repair eventually because of the great stress from the tension of the strings. Pratt said he constructs the neck, or top section of the harp, using 13 layers of wood laminated together. This gives the instrument strength and helps avoid cracking.
His own creations are made using machinery such as a lathe and various saws and sanders, with only one part truly carved by hand. The use of automated equipment allows Pratt to consistently produce a high-quality product, he said.
"The consistency in tone and quality of my harps is very high," he said. "You can't be as accurate as a machine can be."
Pratt produces about six Proteges a month and three to four Nancy Raes. He hopes to increase production of the Protege, which he began making this year. His construction of the Nancy Rae design began in 1995.
Although he makes the instruments and his mother taught harp students for years, Pratt said he can only play a few chords on the harp. "I've heard every lesson there is," he said, adding that his mother would start with music lessons in their home at 7 a.m. every Saturday.
"She likes to come up and play every one that I finish."
The Deseret News regularly features stories on businesses that create or produce products in Utah County for the retail market. Got a story idea? Call 437-7602 or e-mail Sharon Haddock at haddoc@desnews.com.