FULL BENDS ON A CHROMATIC?

[Steve Jennings <100010.1152@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Gordon:
Bending the draw reeds on a chromatic will probably shorten their life
a little, but what the heck? You will find that you can't bend them
down more than about a semitone, though, because the windsavers stop
the blow reed interacting with the bent draw reed in the same way as on
a blues harp. Incidentally, you categorically *cannot* do overblows on
a valved chromatic - the windsavers ensure that all the air goes to the
blow reed. What happens in a successful overblow is that the blow reed
is stunned, and the air escapes through the draw reed, which obligingly
vibrates a semitone higher than the note it's tuned to.

The Tower is a different proposition again, because it only has one
reed per hole (two actually, but you can only get at one at a time).
This means that draw bending and blow bending are about the same as on
a regular chromatic, and that overblows/draws aren't available, 'cos
the reed you need just ain't there!

Hope this helps.

Steve Jennings
Editor, Harmonica World