[Harp-L] Harmonica Tone Test

["Harping On" <harping.onandon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I grabbed a bunch of my C harps, 3 Hohner's and 2 Suzuki's and recorded a short identical riff on each harp to see if I could hear the difference in tone across the range on playback and to my surprise the results were not as obvious as I thought they would be.

 

They certainly sounded different when I was playing them, though this might have something to do with the sound travelling internally to the ear via the physical interaction with the harp., combined with the sound travelling through the air to the ear. From a playing standpoint the character and playability of the harps was distinctly different.

 

I recorded the samples acoustically with no effects on a Zoom H2n recorder and here is the sample in WAV:-

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/61606615/5%20HARPS%20TEST.wav


In no particular order the harps are Suzuki Harpmaster, Suzuki Promaster 350V,

Hohner Marine Band, Hohner Golden Melody and Hohner Pro Harp.

 

I wouldn't expect anyone to be able to name the harps in order of play (though it might be fun to try) but you might like to hazard a guess at a favourite brand in the sample or make an observation.

 

I will post the actual playing order in a couple of days.