Chromaharp Caroler

The "Mothership" of autoharps is the Chromaharp Caroler, with 27 chords and 43 strings.

It was designed in the 1970s for small churches, community choirs, and other groups that couldn't afford a piano. It includes the ability to play in keys that standard autoharps don't allow like Ab and E major. It also allows you to play in more minor keys.

Ironically, it's one of the few Chromaharp products that wasn't a close copy of an Oscar Schmidt instrument. That said, they didn't catch on as much as RBI hoped, and they went out of vogue when digital keyboards became available. But that may work in your favor: many were retired early, and very few were dragged around or handled by children like standard autoharps. So they often come down to us in playable or restorable condition.

Because it retains a chromatic scale in the middle and top octaves, anyone used to playing melodies on a standard 15- or 21-chord autoharp should be able to adapt to this quickly.

That said, for most people, it's better (and louder) on a table or some sort of stand than it is on their laps.

Unlike most 21-chord autoharps, it puts the major chord buttons in the center row, in circle-of-fifths order.

The top row is mostly minor chords, and the bottom row is all seventh chords. Still, a person used to reaching around for those buttons should have little difficulty adapting to reaching across for them.

The blank button at the lower right is for deadening all the strings at once.

And if you come across one in playable condition, you can even order replacement strings from Greg Schreiber (they're not cheap, though).

I love these, personally, but their unusual construction may raise issues you don't often find on other autoharps. If you're not mechanically inclined or don't know someone who is, consider passing up any Carolers you see that aren't already in playable condition.

Difference from most other autoharps include:

• Potential for More Overtones - Because the felts are very narrow, overtones may be more prominent on some chords, which may bother people who can still hear high frequencies.

• Non-Felt "Felts" - Replacing the felts is more complicated. Technically, they don't even seem to be felts, but a kind of high-density foam rubber.

• Few Cases, Flimsy Cases Most of these never came with a case. Those that did came with a cardboard one that is not likely to last long if you use it much - these things are heavy. If you decide to use your Caroler out of the house much, you may want to make or commission a custom gig bag or case.

• Button Issues - The little round buttons may seem to be a pain to find and push. RBI could have made them a little larger, or made them more concave. Also most Carolers I've seen lately are missing one or more buttons. They could probably be replaced by something 3d-printed, but it's not optimum.

• Unusual Spring Arrangement - The is hinky, compared to other autoharps. Little roundhead nails stand upside down in the chord bar cholder, with springs over them.

  The chord bar sits between the nails, just close enough to sit on the springs at both ends.

  And when the little nails and springs get out of place, they're hard to get back where they belong.

• Machined Chord Bars - On all other autoharps, the chord bars are all the same physical shape.

  Only the felt cutouts make the difference between one chord bar and another.

  The Caroler's chord bars have deep notches in the aluminum itself.

  The photo to the right shows the E minor, E7 and E major chord bars. I didn't think to line up the chord bars with the note names under the strings, but you can see that

  • The E minor chord bar has deep notches for E, G, B, E, G, B, E, G, B.

  • The E7 chord bar has deep otches for E, G#, B, D, E, G#, B, D, E, G#, B.

  • And the E major chord bar has deep notches for E, G#, B, E, G#, B, E, G#, B.

  If I was designing these chord bars, I would have been tempted to notch out a B below the first E, but maybe they tried it and it produced too many overtones.

  At any rate, adding a new chord to a Caroler would just about require a machine shop.

  By the way, you can't see the "felts" in the photo for two reasons: first they're black, and second, they're almost gone. Along with many of the spring assemblies. I bought this one for parts.

With all of those potential issues, why would anyone want to bother with these? Because they have greater ranger, more chords, and more volume than standard autoharps.

And if for some reason you can't or don't want to hold your autoharp in the upright position - you have a great excuse. Nobody but a left-handed pro basketball player could hold one of these upright.

Put it on a wooden kitchen table and rock the house!

Conclusion

Don't get me wrong, I love my Caroler. Its tone, volume, range, and available chords are superior to any other mass-produced autoharp. Played on, say, a dining room table, it booms!

If you are typically accompanying hymns, carols, and other situations that require big sounds and more chords, you may find one handy - provided that it only needs cleaned up and tuned up when you get it. Because it's not as easy to maintain or tweak as most autoharps, so Caroler ownership is not recommended for autoharp beginners.

More articles are likely to come soon. In the meantime, I hope these articles help answer your questions about these under-rated instruments.

Whatever else you get out of our pages, I hope you come away with some great ideas for "sharing the joy."

And please stay in touch!

    - Paul Race

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