Re: Favorite harps

[grantd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <grantd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Chris Michalek said...
> ...
> Certain country and folk tunes I'll use a high F harp in C to get a particular
> sound, but even then I usually opt for my G harp and play in twelfth
> position....

This was a new one on me. I've heard of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions on the
harp, but 12th? Is that just playing the thing upside-down or what?
(I am interested actually: Which holes, what order?)

As for favourite mikes and amps: 

Eric O. Schol says...
>...
> I use a microphone from a '50s telephone,
> connected to a much too sensitive microphone preamplifier, causing a
> terrific distortion effect....

Well hell, lets all come out of the zuinigheid (skin-flintishness) closet...
Whenever I play amplified (IE My wife and neighbours are out of town), I get
out this old, broken headphone set which has one ear"muff" broken off the 
headband. Hanging the headband round my neck, I can have the attached ear-piece
against my throat, while cupping the other, unattached but still wired-up ear-
piece, over my harp. The cushioned ear"muffs" make for a pretty good shield 
against feedback, and a comfortable adams-apple. The headphone plug is then 
stuck into the mic-socket on my 1984 Aiwa ghetto-blaster, and we're away.

The sound quality is, of course, not quite "there" =;o), but does compare to
some of the older, live recordings I have, and is well on the way to Chicago
(well, maybe round N. Dakota anyway).

Maybe we could get together sometime and make some enemies in the Noise Police,
Eric!

Goobs,
--
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