Re: [Harp-L] Combs!



In my experience there is one important difference regarding comb material - where the saliva goes! In the old days unsealed wooden combs absorbed saliva - we used to soak the harps before playing live usually in water but beer was known. Nowdays when I play keenly into a plastic or metal comb, I get sprayback. Sealed wooden combs slightly less sprayback, unsealed wooden combs even less. I still find the sprayback disconcerting.
Richard
On 19 Sep 2008, at 21:28, Vern Smith wrote:



----- Original Message ----- From: "John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx> To: "Vern Smith" <jevern@xxxxxxx> Cc: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, September 19, 2008 9:20 AM Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Combs!


Vern,
True enough. But I don't know that "Summertime" which is a very melodic tune would be as good a test workout for tone as it is affected by changing airflow as, for example, Butterfield's "To Many Drivers" might be, but a tune like that would introduce a lot of variables that would be difficult to keep constant. Oh well....
JP

I'll bet if you asked a hundred people to name a suitable test ditty, you would get a hundred answers.


I argue that the more complex the ditty, the more extraneous variables there are to obscure subtle differences of tone. If there are differences of tone arising from comb materials, should they not appear in a single machine-blown note?

Vern
Visit my harmonica website www.Hands-Free-Chromatic.7p.com

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