Re: [Harp-L] sound amplification



There have been harmonicas with individual chambers cut into the
covers, like the CBH 2012 and 2016 chromatics and the Suzuki Overdrive
diatonic.

However, in neither case was the purpose amplification. 

The CBH chambers were intended to give the player precise control over
the tonal shaping possible with the hands, but with no specific
reference to the hands' potential for amplificiation.

With the Overdrive, the purpose is to block the reed channel with the
fingers to favor extended bending behaviour on the other reed in the
same hole.

With both instruments, some players have worked to at least partially
defeat the discrete nature of the individual channels due to undesired
side effects. I'm not aware of anyone exploring thei potential for
amplification.

Tubes or other resonators fixed in place may have have been used on
some instruments in the Sheng family; Pat Missin might be able to
comment on that.

There was a pipe-flue harmonica that Sam Hinton used to play, but this
involved miniature organ pipes strung together into a row with an
interface approximating a harmonica mouthpiece, and did not use free
reeds.

A free reed instrument with amplifying resonators could use one of two
models: 

- multiple resonators, one for each reed or pair reeds, tuned to a
narrow range of frequencies (think Sheng)

- a single large resonator that amplifies all frequencies (think guitar
or trombone)

A trombone-like solution is the one Will Scarlett came up with. He took
an old acoustic gramophone horn - from the days before electrical
amplification when the vibrations of a needle wiggling in the grooves
of a 78 rpm record were used to excite larger vibrations in a horn -
and cupped the stem of the horn around his harmonica and rested the
bell of the horn on his shoulder like a tuba. I've played harmonica
through his gramophone horn and it is LOUD.

Winslow

--- Zombor Kovacs <zrkovacs@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> What about my question below? Nobody said nothin about
> it.
> 
> 
> --- Zombor Kovacs <zrkovacs@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> > So let me ask the question on the list as well:
> > 
> > Has anybody tried to install actual tube sort of
> > channels onto the individual reed exits (slots)?
> > That
> > would do something wouldnt it? Like the pipe
> > installed
> > on a trumpet mouthpiece (called trumpet).
> > 
> > Zombor
> > 
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