Re: overblows, was Same Old Thing

["Alec Drachman" <alec@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't claim to be one who can use them seamlessly, but I do use them in
performance.

In 2nd position, I use the 6 OB regularly to get the minor third and also
sometimes use the 5 OB to play a major third against the V chord.  I
occasionally use the 7 OD to get the flatted 5th - but only when I've taken
the time to set up the harp properly, which I don't always do.

In first position, I use OBs on holes 4, 5, and 6 - for blues this really
fattens up that sparse middle octave.

To hear guys who can do them really well, listen to Carlos Del Junco, Howard
Levy, and Rosco (Maybe August). I would throw the Iceman and Chris Michalek
in there, but as far as I know, they haven't recorded - check them out in
person, though.

When I first stated listening to these guys I thought that a lot of their
overblows stood out. In many cases, the music was so complex, that I never
bothered to try to figure out what they were playing. Once I finally got
around to figuring some of it out, though, I discovered that, in most cases,
it was actually the regular bends that were sticking out more than the
overblows. This takes us back to the "Ode to Joy" challenge, which I thought
demonstrated pretty well how hard it is (impossible?) to bend a note to the
proper pitch and maintain consistent tone and timber.

Anyone else agree? Put in a CD of your favorite overblow player, figure out
what harp they are using and then pick out a handful of the notes that stick
out. My guess is that you'll find that more often than not, those notes are
"regular bends" and not overblows.

One final comment, for Howard Levy, make sure you listen to some of his
newer stuff. His OBs did stick out quite a bit on some of his early efforts
like "Harmonica Jazz."

Alec Drachman
http://www.bluecats.org

- ----- Original Message -----
From: <Gatorharp@xxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 3:15 AM
Subject: Re: overblows, was Same Old Thing


>
>
> AV1901@xxxxxxx writes...
> <<Are there lots of Harp-L posters who regularly use overblows in
> performance? >>