Re: [Harp-L] Re: Rockers in the Rockies - Hole 6 overblow interval



Uh, fiddle with it until it works.

Sorry, I'm not very methodical; those who are tend to hold the
information close and charge money for the work.

But slot narrowing is one part of it, and that includes the entire
length of the reed slot. The root of the reed can be problematic. If
the slot edge metal can't be pressed inward, then something like wax or
nail polish can be used, or the edge of the reed can be pressed
outward.  Another part is lowering the reed profile at the root of the
reed without dipping the edge of the reed below the surface of the
reedplate. The rest is profiling.

One thing to look for, though you have to temper it with other factors,
is bending travel. By this I'm referring to the travel of the center of
motion of the reed tip while it is virbating and being bent up or down
in pitch.

You can see this by holding a reedplate up to a mirror and playing a
reed that faces away from your mouth and is thus visible in the mirror.
This reed will function like a draw reed. Play the reed unbent with an
inhaled breath. Note how wide the vibration of the reed is and where it
seems to hover - where its center of vibration is located relative to
the surface of the reedplate.

Now bend the reed's pitch down. You'll notice two things. The center of
vibration seems to get closer to the reedplate as the pitch goes down,
and the reed will appear less agitated - the reed will appear to
vibrate with less energy and not to swing as far. At the point where
the reed does not seem to swing away from the reedplate at all, the
note will choke out and the reed will stop speaking.

Now, if you leave the reedplate in place on your lips and play that
draw reed with a blow breath so that it now sounds nearly a semitone
higher than the default pitch when played with a draw breath, you will
notice a similar but in some respects opposite phenomenon.

First, note the center of vibration and the width of swing while played
at the lowest pitch. Now start bending the note up in pitch. As you do,
you shuld notice that the reed moves farther and farther away from the
plate and that the width of vibration decreases. At the point where the
reed no longer swings through then slot to chop the air, it will stop
speaking. This can be offset by greater volume of air, which will
increase the swing travel of the reed and keep it travelling through
the slot, thus extending the upward bending range of the reed.

Now, if you intention is to extend the downard bending range of a reed,
setting the gap higher off the reedplate will increase the range of
bending travel before it sinks too low. If your intention is to extend
the upward bending range of a reed, setting the gap lower to the
reedplate will increase thre range of bending travel before it rises
too high.

Of course, both extreme low and high gaps impact reed response to
attack and air volume and will also affect the pitch of a reed when
played. And in a two-reed system, gaps of both reed will affect playing
response.

I've been playing around with a hint I received from a chromatic
customizer - obviously a very different set of desired outcomes from
diatonics, what with valves that both isolates reeds from interaction
and prevents them from receiving the breath direction that activates
overbends. The hint - which I am only passing on and not advocating as
I have not determined its usefulness - is to make each reed play as
easily as an opening reed as it does as a closing reed (when  the reed
is played by holding the reedplate up to the mouth). In other words,
let's say you're working on a draw reed. Hold the reedplate up to your
nmouth so the reed is facing away from you and draw. Note the ease of
response. Now blow instead, with a bend embouchure but with no more
pressure or force. Will the reed now sound a semitone higher? And how
far up in ptich will it bend? If you do this with both reeds, what
happens with attack, bending, and overbgending when you assemble the
harp and play it? Experimentation will tell . . .

Winslow

--- Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Winslow Yerxa wrote:
> <If you adjust the blow reed to get out of the way in a reliable way,
> <that helps create a platform for a stable overblow. Then, if you
> adjust
> <the draw reed carefully, you can get it to bend up beyond the
> default
> <pitch of a semitone above the draw reed pitch.
> 
> And you make these adjustments how?
> 
> Thanks, Richard Hunter
> hunterharp.com
> latest mp3s always at http://broadjam.com/rhunter
> 


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