Re: Next Step (TV)

[Thomas Hinkle <hinkl_th@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 28 Mar 1995, Mike Curtis wrote:

> > 
> > Bobbie,
> > 
> > If it was, as you say a moulded black body, and (you imply) chromatic, it will
> > have been the Hohner CX12 - hardly an innovation, though, I've had mine for at
> > least three years - they sound kinda like the old CBH chromatics, and come apart
> > very easily - sadly the slide mechanism appears to be very noisy - no problem
> > amplified, but playing classical stuff, it can be a real drag.
> > 
> > If it was a blues harp, then yes, it was a Cross Harp. They are not, however,
> > made of steel. The covers are made of some sort of "mickey mouse" alloy, and
> > painted black (the paint doesn't last long), and the combs are plastic with a
> > gold-looking coating or plating on them. The reed-plates are thicker than on a
> > regular harp, which means a greater amplitude for the vibrating reed, and
> > therefore more volume, but it also means that a different alloy has to be used
> > to make the reeds, 'cos otherwise they'd break too quick.
> 
> Grievin' Steven at the Harmonica Store was showing me a stacked harmonica
> a year or two back.  It was small, like a diatonic, but had C and Db harps
> in it.  It had a double row of holes, and you "slide"  it by playing the
> lower set.  I forget what it's called, and am not sure as to the 
> manufacturer.  I'll ask Steven next time I see him.
> 
> 
>  -- mike
> 

This sounds like the following, described in some big catalogue I've got
here...
The Hohner Slide Harp
...has the exact tuning of the traditional diatonic harmonica, with its
haunting chords and wailing bent notes...then, similar to a chromatic
harmonica, it has a slide with a button on it.  When this button is
pressed in the pitch of the instrument is raised a musical half step.  The
slide harp is basically two instruments in one, one being tuned in the key
of c, the other being one half-step higher in the key of c sharp.