tricks & stuff

[Tim Wong <Tim_Wong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Just to digress from the John Popper saga, I thought I would try to start 
another object for discussion... What is your favorite or signature trick or 
technique?  How do you do it?

What I like  the most is the Sonny Boy Williamson II style of making the 
harmonica moan and cry (Like on his "Trust My Baby").  I usually do this in 
first position (Like SBW) so i can use all the high bends.  My method is to mix 
a slow bend, some hand motions, and volume change to create the talking 
harmonica.

 What i do is start on, say hole 2 draw or hole 8 blow, then slowly bend the 
note down while opening my hand cup.  This is pretty easy to do, but the trick 
is to vary the time you take to bend the note, how many times you open the hand 
cup during the bend, and where you start the bend (you can start a little 
"pre-bent" to get a different feel), and the overall volume. The volume level 
is a lot more important than i thought until i listened to SBWII for it - he 
varies volume masterfully.  It seems like harmonica players are always trying 
to be heard, so the just blast away, but when you hear someone use a big volume 
shift, it sounds so good to me... I also like to do the process backwards, 
where you start bent then slowly release at different rates while using the 
hand motions to color the sound.  

I guess everyone knows about these techniques, but when you are able to mix the 
time, hand motions, volume, and where you start (bent or unbent) to control the 
voicing, you can sit on one hole forever!  

Sonny Terry was also a master of this technique.  So was Noah Lewis (i think 
lewis), the harmonica player for Cannons Jug stompers.  For some reason the old 
time players seem to do this a lot more - maybe they did this since they didn't 
have the amplification so they had to use what they had to get their sounds.....