[Harp-L] "On the Road Again" solo on the RP355

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I recorded several minutes of myself playing and singing the Canned Heat tune "On The Road Again" recently, using the Digitech RP355 and its built-in looper. 34 seconds of that recording--the part that includes the (effected) harmonica solo--can be found here:

http://www.hunterharp.com/on-the-road-again-with-the-rp355/

The sounds include beatboxed percussion (run through a patch with heavy vibrato and delay), a double octave down patch with a wah wah set to low-pass the frequencies, a tenor sax octave-down patch, and a kind of psycho organ patch with heavy vibrato (the same one I beatboxed through, if I recall).

The Canned Heat version of âOn the Road Againâ that features Al Wilson on harmonica is a great classic from every point of view. I think itâs pointless to recreate it, but this arrangement borrows the spare, sombre tone of the original. The harmonica is a Big River harp tuned to a Dorian Minor scale (3 and 7 draw reeds lowered 1/2 step) in second position (G minor, in this case; the original key of the harp is C). Wilson used a harp with the draw 7 reed lowered 1/2 step, and I think it was a great choice, which I why I use it too. 

Regards, Richard Hunter
author, "Jazz Harp" (Oak Publications, NYC)
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