[Harp-L] Re: Born in Chicago (XB-Melody)



Hey first let me say "THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" to all those who took the time to offer
their critiques!

I have a few comments:

1. There appears to be some confusion as to which song my 18-year old son played.    Despite
someone's comment that it was "so smooth and even that it had to be canned",  that was my own
personal "canned" heat, Dexter Fairweather playing "Born in Chicago" on his Flying V.   What you
hear there is his VERY FIRST time he ever played the song.  In fact he'd never even heard
Butterfield's version until about 1 minute before he started recording when I played it on the
stereo for about 30 seconds before he said, "Ok, ok I got it, start the recording."  One take and
that was that.  If you want to hear some really amazing guitar work, visit Dexter's website 

http://www.soundclick.com/troutsniffers  

and be sure to listen to his all-guitar version of the overture to Jesus Christ Superstar.

("Moody's Mood" on the other hand, is "Band-in-a-Box" accompaniment.)

2. I absolutely agree with Pierre's comments that my rendition of "Born in Chicago" doesn't swing
enough and sounds too shrill and amateurish.  What I want people to take away from that recording
isn't that "David Fairweather can play like Butterfield" because I most certainly CAN'T.  Instead
I want people to say "Hey, that XB-Melody is a real viable choice for playing Chicago-style blues
in 6th position!"   I thought the best way to prove that was by attempting a note-for-note
translation.  That way you can hear exactly what the XB-Melody can (and can't) do well in 6th
position.

3. Winslow's comments are (as usual) incredibly insightful and right on the money. And his last
paragraph about it being an "Object Experiment" in alternate tuning position play is exactly what
I had in mind, although I prefer to call it a "Proof of Concept!"  

In fact, I must confess that a great part of my motivation for posting "Born in Chicago" warts and
all, was my excitement in wanting everyone to know that I had discovered 6th Position XB-Melody
blues!  And that its a genuinely viable and legitimate approach, at least as legitimate as 3rd
position on a solo-tuned chromatic, if not more so.   Years from now when you're all doing it, I
want everyone to remember that I was there first! ;>

4. My next "Proof of Concept" will be 3rd position blues on the XB-Melody. (Key of C on a Bb harp)
Our ever-astute Winslow alluded to its potential in his comments (a very impressive feat of
imagination since Winslow doesn't even have an XB-Melody yet!) 

Its a mellow, pleasingly jazzy sound, nothing at all like the haunting minor sound of 3rd position
on a chromatic or Richter diatonic.  I'll let you know when its online.  Until then, thank you all
again for the comments!




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