Subject: Re: [Harp-L] The Coupled Diatonic Harmonica

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

Richard:
 
Last Evening I made the point on  the site itself about players using  
stacked harmonicas giving Jia-Yi He as an example...mentioning that I  really 
enjoyed Mr. Price's playing and hadn't yet seen anyone bolting two  diatonics 
together but disagreed with his idea of diatonics being in  dramatic decline 
having just come home from SPAH where so many new  models were available 
and being sold by the major manufacturers (bought two  myself, in fact).
 
I also brought up the 'six-sided tremolos' set long since been in  use by 
people (someone I currently accompany uses one).
 
  Reread his claim about diatonics being in a major  decline this morning 
and he asks for 'proof' to the contrary, so found a  very good Steve Baker 
YouTube about 3 separate diatonic tunings to use as an  example (one of them a 
country tuned harp)...clicked on the site to add it and  found my original 
post 'disappeared'. ;)
 
Here's THAT youtube which you might wish to use as an example since I doubt 
 I'd get it posted:
 
   
Steve Baker: 3 special tunings for Diatonic harmonicas


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptkCrQBW7LU&list=UU0Y4nFu7QWUN4yMU4Ay6hzA&ind
ex=51

 
Unsure whether this gentleman (Bill Price - not the same Bill Price we know 
 from working on harps at Garden State/Buckeye, etc.) accepts comments only 
 from those who agree with his 'new' method or not? Here's a link to that  
particular claim:
 
 
http://harmonicareinvented.com/cpt_news/harmonica-declining-public-interest/

 
 I'd love to read some responses from people here who do know  better--and 
can cite facts and stats. He calls the diatonic redundant and 'it is  what 
it is'..perhaps never having heard of alternate tunings, Brendan and those  
others who think well outside the box.
 
While the long bolts do seem to stabilize the 'stacking' of two  harps and 
he obviously makes it work for him - playing some really nice tunes;  as 
you've pointed out the idea isn't at all new.
 
Elizabeth 
 
"Message: 2
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 19:15:14 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
From:  Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] The  Coupled Diatonic Harmonica
To:  harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx


[snipped]
****************************************************************************
*
This  is an interesting technique. I can see it being used with various key 
 combinations, e.g. Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood" would work 
nicely  with a Bb harp or a D natural minor (to play the sections in D minor/F) 
and a Db  harp (to play the sections in Db). 

However, it wouldn't be my preferred  approach to most material. The video 
example is "Over the Rainbow." This piece  can be played very easily without 
overblowing using a single diatonic harp with  a Country tuning (draw 5 
reed raised 1/2 step) in 2nd position (cross harp),  using bending to fill in 
the few notes that are otherwise unavailable. Most  players find it pretty 
easy to bend after a little practice. In other words, if  you only need one or 
two notes outside the built-in scale on a diatonic, there  are easier ways 
to get them in most cases. On the other hand, if a piece  modulates from E 
to Ab, two harps might be an easy way to make it happen. And it  might be 
very useful when chording in multiple keys is desired; in fact,  although there 
are a number of single-harp techniques for getting all 12  chromatic scale 
tones, there aren't many alternatives to using multiple  diatonics for 
chording if the chord changes move around a lot.

Another  issue: the size of the double harp stack would require a change in 
microphone  technique, since very few people have hands big enough to hold 
a mic plus the  two harps in a tight cup. 

Finally, with practice it's usually possible  to use two harps without 
bolting them together. On Norton Buffalo's classic  "Runaway" solo, he uses 4 
harps, one after the other, and he simply drops one to  pick up the next. 

By the way, the two-diatonic approach has been widely  used by Asian 
harmonica players for decades, although I haven't seen anyone bolt  them together 
before this. Cham-ber Huang used to demonstrate amazing virtuosity  with two 
diatonics tuned 1/2 step apart.  
****************************************************************

I  should note that I made a mistake in this post; "Over the Rainbow" works 
well on  a Country tuned harp in 1st position, not 2nd, although you need 
to be careful  about the exposed long bent note on the (sharped) draw 5 reed 
that's part of the  melody. I spent a little time today working on this 
melody in 2nd position on a  Melody maker harp, and it lays out very nicely, 
with only one bend on the draw 2  reed needed, and that not a very exposed one.

In other words, a lot of  the problems that this double-harp setup is 
supposed to solve can be solved very  easily with altered tunings and traditional 
bending techniques.

Regards,  Richard Hunter  


------------------------------