Re: [Harp-L] Re: The shapes of the covers




On Jul 10, 2008, at 7:19 PM, Ken Deifik wrote:


Steve Baker wrote:
the Blues Harp (like the Old Standby) was never anything else
but a standard Marine Band comb & reed plates fitted with closed
covers, which made the sound slightly less bright due to the
different shape and of course the closed sides.

Wow. This opens up something like a legitimate version of the materials debate. Aside from the holes on the sides, is there anything else about the shape of the covers that changes the sound of a diatonic harp?


As a guy who mainly plays acoustically, I'd LOVE to experiment with various shapes for the covers, if that's going to give me different colors of sound.

Has anyone on Harp-l monkeyed around in that jungle?

Yes, as I recall the blues harp cam out in the mid 60s (maybe 67) but you couldn't find them here (in music stores) till around 71. Then a year or two later, (maybe 73) along came the spl-20. I was stupid enough to try the blues harp and was very disappointed. I thought I got a bad one, so I tried another, then another. After 3, I gave up on them and was elated a year or so later when the spl-20 came out.


First of all, I don't know how the reeds on the blues harp could possible have been thinner than the Marine Band. I found them very hard to bend. More importantly, when you DID get the bend, it was harder to control. AND, many times getting a bend already IN it's second or third 'bend step' spot ON and on the fly, was difficult. At least for me. I would have blamed myself if it weren't for the fact that heretofore, I hadn't been having any trouble.

Then when the spl-20 Marine Band came out, I was overjoyed BECAUSE all the things that the blues harp wouldn't do, and the Marine Band could do, the spl-20 'gleefully' did. It was tantamount from going from a stock harp to a custom job. Well, at least partly.

Beyond shape, here goes an actual materials question: do different metals or coatings on the covers change anything?

Absolutely. Some things will deaden sound, some will enhance it. I put sticky foam tape inside my Herings to cut down the pinchiness. A coat of sizing and then application of gold leaf will deaden the sound. Chrome plating seems to be brighter than cadmium or nickel. The REEDS are the most important sound maker. Changing the clearance (s) are the most significant change you can make. Then whippiness.


I recall being knocked off my feet by the sound of a tenor sax that had just been coated with an ounce of platinum.

Horns are different Ken. The sound is made differently. I have 2 trumpets. One is plated and one is coin silver (87.5%). The solid horn is way sweeter.

K


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