Re: help guys!

[G.Jackson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

> 
> hello..
> I need some help badly...
> the new marine band i bought...
> it didn't sound right on the second draw.
> the G sounds very muffled (almost like playing your harp 
> under a blanket)

	This is a problem with *ALL* second position notes on EVERY harp.
The wierd thing is, it is to do with breathing control, not the reeds.
Get a harp which you have not tried ro *repair* :-) i.e. a new one.

	Now try this: draw on hole two with air coming in from your nose
AT THE SAME TIME. It should sound much better.
You can play all the rest of the notes *almost* any old way, but hole two
is less forgiving.

	The bottom line really is that you need far less ait than you think
to produce a good tone (as a rule).


...so, i took it apart (thanks to modular components) and tried tweaking
the reed. 

	Bad move, see above. It's a shame that harps are not sold with
a warning about this problem at least. Just about every new player
has the same trouble.

The harp looks like a simple beast at first, so folk don't think they need
a book on how to.... Shame.


I was inexperienced and
> "overbent" the reeds...i quickly bent them back to normal. Itired
> my best but the draw note still sounds weak. I don't remember it
> sounding like this when i frist bought it (yesterday!) but i don't
> really remember anyway. 

	As you now know, GENTLY does it with reed work. Get the Steve Baker
how to book for the harp, and read it through before any more tweeking.

	You probably were just busy playing around in a general way at
first. As suck you would not be looking for what the tones of different
reeds sounded like in relation to each other.

I need some tips on finetuning of harps...
> urgently!!! please reply to by email rather than to the group (I
> am subscribed to the digest, so it might take some time).
> 
> a side note here...i managed to bent the second draw (despite the
> weak sound) and also the third draw...  :)  (  a :( for the weird
> second draw reed).
>

	Well it *is* the hardest note to bend, and harder on some keys
of harp then others. I STILL cannot bend that one one some harps, but then,
I don't need it in my style of music very much.

	By the way, I am less qualifieed to talk about this aspect of the
harp than many others here. Feel free to correct or enlarge on what I said.

Good luck
Gordon