Re: [Harp-L] re: bendability

[IronMan Mike Curtis <ironmanmc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Feb 13, 2006, at 11:21 AM, Jonathan R. Ross wrote:

> I think the reason is mostly to do with tone and feel.  While valved
> bends do give you "bendability", they cannot have the same tone as a
> double-reed bend, due to the physics involved.  This can be seen by
> doing an experiment.  Valve the blow reed in holes two and four of a
> standard diatonic (thus eliminating the dual-reed bend), but leave  
> holes
> one and three unvalved.  Now, try playing bends on each, especially
> focusing on switching from unvaled to valved holes and vice-versa.   
> You
> will notice that both the tone of the bend and the physical  
> sensation of
> bending are very different between the valved and unvalved notes.

They can sound quite different if you don't normally use them.  My  
experience is that, with practice and attention to tone, the  
differences in timbre can be minimized.  I spend time playing  
acoustically, using a microphone a few feet from the harp feeding an  
oscilloscope, and adjust my technique for the most sinusoidal  
waveform on all notes, blow, draw, dual-reed-bent, or valve-bent.

Interestingly, the most challenging for me to "equalize" is not  
valved vs double reed, but the 3Dbbb (double reed) bend.  I tuned 3B  
up a tone (from G to A) so I could reduce the triple bend to 2 reeds  
with a semitone bend each.  It worked.  The blow chord is a nice  
jazzy C6/Am7.


--IronMan Mike Curtis
ironmanmc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx