Re: valved diatonics

[Mike Curtis <wd6ehr@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> okay another boring, somewhat unadvanced question for all of you:  what 
> exactly do you do to a regular ole Golden Melody or lee oskar to make in 
> a *valved* diatonic?  Or do you have to buy one already valved?  In other 
> words, what is the difference between valved and nonvalved diatonics?  

"Valves", or "windsavers", are litle plastic flaps that cover the reed 
slot, sealing it when you play the other reed, i.e. the blow reed seals 
when you play the draw reed.  Valves are used on all chromatics I've ever 
seen.  The term "windsaver" describes their main function on a chromatic; 
they help "tighten up" the not so airtight chromatic so you don't blow 
your entire lungful of air out trying to get a decent sustained note.  
Also, it allows you to bend every note.

On diatonics, only the highest reed in each hole is valved.  We're not 
too worried about air leakage on a diatonic.  what we want is to be able 
to bend the "unbendable" notes - the LOW notes in each hole.  Most of us 
love the nice bends on 2 draw and 3 draw, but with valves, you can get 
just as sweet bends on the blow 2 and blow 3!

Suzuki sells their ProMaster in a valved version.  Unfortunately, some 
pinhead paperclip counter changed the spec to include only the 6 low 
notes, leaving off the just as important (in my opinion) upper 4 notes.  
I've complained quite vocally and voceriferously to them, with no 
results.  In fact, their CA service department doesn't even STOCK 
windsavers!  (They'd LIKE to, but the geniuses running things don't send 
them any.)

Thank goodness Hohner supplies windsavers.  The last I checked, they'll 
send you enough for a harp or two if you ask nicely.  I buy them by the 
gross ($12 per 144), and stick them on my Oskars, etc., with Superglue.  
USE THIS SPARINGLY!!!  I put a SDMALL droplet on a piece of cellophane, 
and GENTLY touch the end of the windsaver to the glue, then use tweezers 
to position it.  They get mounted on the "rivet" sticking out of the side 
the reeds are NOT on.  Valve only the higher reed in each hole - you'll 
see 6 valves inside holes 1 thru 6 on the bottom, and if you remove the 
covers, you can see 'em on the outside of the harp covering the reeds 
in 7 thru 10.

> Also what is the main sound difference between overdrawing and bending?  
> Steve Baker's "Harp Handbook" did explain it but i cant tell whether i 
> have it or not.  Any albums with examples up for recommendation??


Overblows and overdraws cannot be done on valved harps.

Overblows and overdraws RAISE the pitch of the reed.  Bends LOWER the
pitch.  Overblows/overdraws are done to the lowest reed in a hole.  Bends 
(on non valved harps) are done to the high reed in a hole.  they're much 
harder to do than bends, and you might want to adjust the reed offset of 
the "opposite" reed.  Apparently, a smaller offset makes overblowing 
easier. 

> Thanks for the lesson (feel free to respond directly to me if you dont 
> want to clog the list), but meanwhile "i got to find my baby".

My first impulse was to reply privately, but I've received a lot of mail 
regarding valves, and though a little bandwidth was warranted for this 
IMHO important topic.  But perhaps we should move it to a private discussion 
(unless we get a bunch of requests to keep it here.)

 -- mike
wd6ehr@xxxxxxxxxx