Hip Harp Academy Weekly: Harpists Crack the Code — The Buddy System versus Looper Pedals

At last week’s Hip Harp Academy Office Hours, the story of a long-time frustration with Looper Pedals turned to laughter as two members revealed their secret weapon for conquering the notorious Boss looper pedal manual: Each Other!

Jolijne and Joke shared how their weekly Harp-Buddy Zoom sessions transformed the head-scratching experience of deciphering technical manuals into a genuinely fun collaboration. “We take baby steps together,” they explained, demonstrating how they’ve been making steady progress with their RC-30 and RC-5 models.

The approach struck a chord with other members and two others immediately volunteered to pair up for their own looper practice sessions, recognizing that two confused harpists are somehow less confused than one.

Meanwhile, DHC grabbed a harp and showed the group how a simple melody can evolve into a full composition, and if you play it long enough, it grows words, in this case a song emerged called “It’s good enough just to be alive” proving that sometimes the best teaching happens through doing, not explaining.

This session highlighted one thing that makes the Academy tick – COMMUNITY! In this case, harpists help harpists turn technical headaches into creative breakthroughs.