Re: [Harp-L] closed covers



At 10:52 03/09/2004, fjm wrote:
While many customised harmonicas have opened up coverplates this is not
a universal preference.  Jason Ricci was showing me his custom bodied
Golden Melodys and expressing a very strong preference for the closed
cover plate design.  He likes the tone.  He went so far as to play a
string of licks on his harmonica and then switched to an open cover
harmonica to show me how different the two sounded.  Of course it was
all amazing but if he likes the closed cover design I'm not going to
argue.  fjm

I'm sort of coming to the conclusion that the openness of the covers is literally a matter of choice. It seems to me to depend on how you use your hands. You need a certain volume/shape/ whatever of air to get a resonance on a note... you get that with a combination of in/out cover and your hands. Closed cover/ more air in hands, open cover/less air in hand can give same resonance but (IMO) different tone colour.
My experience of this is solely on chromatics where it is much more difficult to get good resonances on 280 style designs than 270 designs because of the greater volume of air under covers and therefore a more limited range of movement for the hands.
This is somewhat controversial and I expect to be shot at from several different directions :)))


Douglas t






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