amp question

[Winslow Yerxa <76450.3230@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

TO: internet:harp-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thomas Hinkle asks about getting a phantom note an octave lower
when he plays above Hole 7. A couple of points.

This is the sound that Little Walter used in Juke to get lower
octaves in Holes 6 blow and draw. Some players think he was
playing octaves, but you can't get a low octave duplicate of Draw
6 without sophisticated tongue-blocked bending techniques beyond
what we know of Walter's abilities (check out the verse that
starts with the riff that goes

 ^^^^ v v v v  ^^^^v v v v  ^^^^ ^ ^^ ^v ^
 6666 5 4 3 2  66665 4 3 2  6666 6 66 66 6

You can hear the octaves on blow 6, but also on the brief Draw 6
at the end of the section.

You might try working with your amp and seeing what it can do for
you in this regard.

The other possibility is that it's not your amp doing it, but the
harp. Normally, when you blow or draw, the air is either drawn
from the air around the harp. With a tight cup. that air may have
nowqhere to go except through the harp. The air thus recirculated
will be more likely to start vibrations in reeds whose pitch
stands in a simple arithmetical relation to the note vibration
carried on the recirculating air - like the note an octave lower.
With a tight cup you can also sound the high holes while playing
the low ones. On A Marine Band, you also have to block off the
cutouots in the sides of the coverplates.

Winslow Yerxa
Harmonica Information Press
Z
Z