[Harp-L] Re: Harmonica Challenge

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 "Chris Michalek" wrote:
"This has nothing to do with the legitimacy of overblowing. It is and
forever will be a legitimate technique."

Sure.  The question is, is it a legitimate technique for everything.  

Chris: "I'm no longer willing to participate because the event has lost it's
original intention which was to help tom albonese learn the tune. 
It's very playable in a number of positions..."

Well, maybe.  Hitting the pitches is not the only issue with "A Night in Tunisia."  The piece includes a lot of wide interval jumps that must be executed at high speed. The problems begin with the first 5 notes of the piece:
A Bb Db F C

The A is a lead-in to a fast roll through the the Bb-Db-F minor arpeggio, followed immediately by a jump of a 5th to the C.  Never mind overblowing; that passage is almost impossible to play with the right articulation without tongue-switching, i.e. playing out of both sides of the mouth.  I'd be amazed if someone could do that and overblow at the same time.

An example of the same difficulty -- and the murderous problems it poses for diatonic -- can be heard on Sandy Weltman's recording of Chick Corea's "Spain."  "Spain" twists and turns at high velocities, and Weltman just barely gets through it, with lots of notes that are clearly out-of-tune and muffled in articulation.  Weltman is a great player, and there are parts of his albums that blow my mind, but in this case the technique and the piece are poorly matched.

Chris: "I personally don't need to prove my playing abilities to
anybody.  I would rather spend my time writing and playing my own
music rather than demonstrate how well I can play somebody elses. My
goal is to transcend musicianship and become an artist."

Right on, and never settle for anything else.

Regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com