[Harp-L] XB-40 vs Overblowing



If you're asking which is easier to master for playing chromatically, a stock out-of-the-box XB-40
or a perfectly adjusted custom diatonic, I'd say the custom diatonic.   But that's based on my own
limited experience and talent.  I'm sure at SPAH 2004 someone is going to blow my mind with what
he (or she) can do with a stock XB-40.

Any discussion about the relative merits of different harmonicas has to begin by acknowledging
that there is no perfect harmonica. To me the perfect harmonica would allow you to achieve every
note in the chromatic scale via unbent draw AND unbent blow AND bent draw AND bent blow, so you'd
have 4 different enharmonic choices for every note, AND you'd be able to play each note together
with any 3 other notes you choose.  Maybe in about 1000 years someone will invent that harp.  In
the meantime we're going to have to make some compromises and sacrifices and accept deficiencies
of each different kind of harp.

For me a major deficiency associated with the stock XB-40 is the fact that it still has notes
which can only be achieved via "in-between" half bends. I wouldn't want to play in a key where
those in-between bends dominate.  

It is possible to retune the XB-40 to eliminate those in-between bends.  There are many ways to do
this, but for my purposes, I prefer the XB-Melody tuning shown here in the key of Bb:

        E
        F   Ab      Eb  Ab      Eb  Ab
A   Db  Gb  A   Db  E   A   Db  E   A
Bb  D   G   Bb  D   F   Bb  D   F   Bb
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10
C   F   A   C   E   G   A   C   E   G
B   E   Ab  B   Eb  Gb  Ab  B   Eb  Gb
    Eb  G
        Gb

Although there are still some in-between bends (for example the E at blow 6) you always have an
alternative way of playing that same note which is like a stable "home" for that note (the E at
draw 5.)  Similarly the in-between Ab at draw 3 has a fully bent "home" at blow 4.  Those "home"
positions make playing much easier for me.  (They also make sight-reading much easier if you're
into that sort of thing.)

With this tuning I don't have to wrestle with any of the notes to keep them stable so I can
concentrate more on the music and less on the mechanics. I'd be happy to demonstrate for anyone
attending SPAH this year.










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