[Harp-L] Combs

[George Brooks <gbrooksvt@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

But which is more important, the player's subjective impression of tone 
or what the audience hears?  I agree that if what the player hears is 
not satisfying, the performance will suffer.  Other than that secondary 
effect, I think the most important thing, by far, is the audience's 
experience of the performance, not the performer's.

I used to play in a Latin acoustic band.  We had a female vocalist for 
a time, and she was very good.  One day, she arrived at a gig and 
announced that she had a terrible cold and felt lousy.  I told her she 
would do fine and that the audience would probably never know.  Her 
reply was that she felt really rotten and was not going to have any 
fun.  I told her that it was much more important that she sound good 
than that she feel good.  Her reply, which she delivered with obvious 
skepticism edging perhaps into hostility: "REALLY?"  She was not with 
the group much longer.

If you play privately, your private enjoyment ought to be paramount.  
If you perform for others, I believe the enjoyment of your audience 
ought to be paramount.  I do not believe that it makes even the 
slightest difference to your audience whether your comb is made of 
wood, metal, or concrete.

George