Valves

[<Randy.Lilleston@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 > From "RICHARD A. MURPHY " <uunet!UICVM.BITNET!U14663>
 > Please forgive my ignorance but several contributors
 > have mentioned
 > valves on reeds.  I'm not familiar with this
 > terminology.  I'm used to
 > playing Marine Bands and Golden Melodys.  Is this
 > valve something you
 > buy and add on or do some harps come with them or
 > what?

Richard:
A "valve" is a new addition to the reeds in some harps that allegedly allows you
to bend the low blow holes and the high draw holes (in other words, all the
holes you can't bend now). Some new harps, particularly the Suzuki ProMaster,
can be purchased with valves. Me, I'm suspicious of whether this all works,
which was why I was asking for advice before paying the outrageous price Suzuki
wants for these harps (I've seen them for _ I kid you not _ as high as $70 for a
10-hole diatonic harp).