Re: What types?

["Ms. Carolyn Mayr (CADIG STAFF)" <carolyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 Regarding RE: What types?;
 CHRIS PIERCE <pierccm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

 CHRIS> OK.  Now I know that there are at least 50 people subscribed
 CHRIS> to this list.  I know I said that you do not have to post to
 CHRIS> be a valid member, but this group will go kind of slow if only
 CHRIS> the same 4 or 5 people always do the posting.  We want to hear
 CHRIS> from everyone (if you care to voice your opinion).

 TIM MCALICE <tim_mcalice@xxxxxx> writes:

 TIM> [1] For those of you who can bend - how'd you figure it out, by
 TIM> reading a book, by hearing someone else bend, or just through
 TIM> perseverance and hard work????

 TIM> [2] How about if everyone sends a quick note stating their experience
 TIM> level and any other interesting biographical notes that are relevant.
 TIM> Maybe if I didn't think that this list consisted of 49 world-class
 TIM> harp players and myself, I might be less shy in the future :-)

OK Chris and Tim, here's one of the 50 people who just needed an ol' kick
in the butt to post.   You asked for it:

I first picked up a harp while on a school bus trip from Connecticut to
Maryland when I was 15 (I'm 30 now).  I had lots of time to kill so I
just *quietly* played around with it until the other kids were ready to drag
me behind the bus!  But I just kept playing and ignored their whining.

When I was 16 my friends and I formed a rock band (I was the only member with
no prior experience and female--2 strikes against me).  My job was a
vocalist/percussionist (I knew keyboards too but we already had a keyboardist).
Question:How do you fit in with 4 immature teenage guys who think that if you
play real good keyboard or guitars you can impress lots of girls?.
Answer:  Learn anything but guitar.   By mere chance a harp friend of theirs
moved and left his nicely broken in Marine Band B flat harp and blues harp
book in the band room.  Well, I got my edge and became "one of the guys".
(Of course, some band members wanted me to teach them harp after they found
out the audience loves harp players -- NO WAY!).  Anyhow, I figured out how
to play cross harp and began my harp collection.  I bought a couple Hohner
Blues harps (nice slender body and easy to hold in my small hands).  We
started playing standard blues songs and some rock like Long Train Runnin'.
Most songs I needed the following keys:  A, C, G, B flat.

Over the years, my harp playing would get stale then pick up as I joined
and quit bands.  I have become a pretty good harp player (don't think there
are any female harp players around here) and a good musician (in the current
band I formed I am the lead vocalist/keyboardist/harp player and I run all
the sound from onstage--whew! (oh yea, I can't forget manager and roadie).
I've sat in with a number of bands and have really made a name for my
bands (and current band) because not everyone has a harp player.  I just
learned Bonnie Raitt's Runaway which requires 5 harps to do the solo.
The crowd really loves how I juggle the harps in my solo.  I slammed the
guitarist in the knee one time (oops)!  Crowd goes wild ...

Harp amplification is not easy (READ -- FEEDBACK!).  I originally used a small
Seinhauser, moved onto using my vocal mic (Shure SM57), and tried a Barcus
Berry transducer (unacceptable for live use).  In all cases I found that the
highs on the EQ have to be turned WAY down.  My current rig is a mic'ed up
Peavey backstage amp (it has a cool overdrive/edge setting which I use for
that dirty blues sound) and have a Shure Green Bullet with a long cable so I
can walk around (it sounds real good but I still wish my small hands could
find something a bit smaller and lighter).  When I don't have my green bullet,
I use my vocal SM57 but I have to remember to turn down the highs just before
I play my harp solo.  I use Hohner Blues and Special 20's depending on the
sound I want.  My harp collection is around 15-20 Hohner harps in all different
keys and 2 Hohner chromonicas (which I have used live and they are hard to
play).  I bought an "A" Lee Oscar which I keep in my van just in case I am
at a party or something.

I've never had any professional instruction but plan to do soon.  I still don't
consider myself an exceptional harp player but I apparently know enough to
work with bands.  Something I've never mastered is that slick hollow
tremelo-bend type sound in lots of rock songs I've heard (not the regular bend
or tremelo sound--I can do that easy, but the type you hear at the end of
phrases in solos).  Anyone out there know how to do it and can explain it over
the net?  Thanks.

OK, so there you have it.  Who's next????

				Carolyn

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