Fwd: Re: Re: Harmonica range - and tremolo harp bending

["Winslow Yerxa" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Coast to Coast is wrong. I do this all the time.

When you are playing both of the double reed pair, liwk, say the C 
reed and the C-slightly-sharp reed, then trying to bend will give 
uncontrollable and probably not very satisfactory results. But if you 
isolate just the top row of holes, where the regular C reed lives, 
then you can bend.

The problem with some harps, like the Hohner Echo, is that there is  
little hole punched in the wall between the top and bottom rows. This 
is not to prevent bending. it's just to make sure that sloppy players 
don't miss playing both rows if they don;t aim right. You can always 
plug up the holes.

Now, once you can isolate the top row, a tremolo or octave harp 
actually has a much bigger bending potential than a regular harp. 
Each reed is in its own hole. This means that you can

1) Bend an isolated reed in a "valved" bend. This is available for 
every single blow and draw reed anywhere on the harp.

2) Play a dual-reed bend on any draw note that can be played with a 
lower-pitched blow reed in your mouth at the same time. This can even 
happen in the upper range of the harp where draw notes normally don't 
bend.

3) Play a dual-reed blow bend on any blow note that can be played 
with a lower-pitched draw note in your mouth at the same time. This 
is even possible in the lower ranges of the harp where blow notes 
don't normally bend.

4) Play overblows on any draw reed, and play overdraws on any blow 
reed, anywhere on the harp, by isolating just that one reed.

I've been playing a lot of tremolo harp lately with the San Francisco 
Scottish Fiddlers. Sometimes there is a key change (like from A to D) 
or a mode change (like from D Major to D Mixolydian). Rather than 
switch harps, I might use a few bends here and there.

In the sequence of tunes where the key changes from A to D, the scale 
changes so that it contains a G-natural instead of the 
G# that the A-harp has built in. Depending on where I am on the harp 
this will take whatever bending form works best - it might be a dual-
reed draw bend, and overblow, or an isolated-reed draw bend. Or I 
might get lucky and find that one of the tunes never uses the note 
that differs between the two scales.

Some tunes stay in the same key but shift mode. For instance, Pipe on 
the Hob is a tune that moves back and forth between D Major (with a 
C#) and D mixolydian (with a C natural). Switching harps for one or 
two notes in a phrase is too awkward, and maybe I want the tremolo 
sound that I won't get from a chromatic. So I choose either a D-harp 
and bend when I need the C natural, or choose a G-harp (second 
position) and bend when I need the C#. (in the case of Pipe on the 
Hob I chose a G-harp).

Winslow

- --- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "BT" <bulldog483@xxxx> wrote:

Coast to Coast  said that the double reed Harmonica cannot be 
bent ,yet in
that Kim Wilson NPR interview , it sounded like he was bending a 
double reed
,,was it my imagination or is he that good . I do not have ,nor have 
I ever
played a double reed but I have wanted to since hearing that 
interview.
He may have played some tongue blocks and I am not accustom to 
hearing them
on the doubles..
Bulldog

- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Winslow Yerxa" <winslowyerxa@xxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 12:24 PM
Subject: Fwd: Re: Harmonica range


>
> Actually, Coast to Coast has a pretty good section on the tuning
> layouts of tremolo and octave harps from several manufacturers. Only
> three problems: (1) they describe several tunings as "solo" tunings
> which are not, (2) they misuse my trade name "Discrete Comb" as a
> generic term (I've been meaning to have a chat with them about 
that),
> and (3) No ranges are given - high or low (C or D instruments can be
> either, possibly F as well).
>
> http://www.coast2coastmusic.com/double_reed/tuning_charts.shtml
>
>
> I'm also not coming up with tuning layouts for orchestral models.
> Neither the U.S. nor the German Hohner websites gives a clue - I
> think they used to.
>
> Winslow
>
> --- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Scorcher"
> <s_c_o_r_c_h_e_r@xxxx> wrote:
>
> Is there a resource on the www that details the range (scale, notes,
> tuning) of "other" types of harmonicas?
> I'm pretty familiar with most diatonics (10, 12, 14 hole) and
> chromatics (12, 14, 16 hole), but I'm looking for
> more detailed information on Tremolos, Octaves, and "orchestral"
> harmonicas.
>
> I haven't found the information I'm looking for in any of 
the "usual"
> places; Coast2Coast, FR Farrell, HohnerUSA, HarpOn, Mike Will's 
page,
> etc....
>
> Anyone?
>
> -Scorcher
>
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>
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