Re: Learning to Overblow

["Chris Michalek" <chris@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Do I know anybody who can play irish jigs on the harp with Overblows?

Howard Levy and yours truly.  Though I am not really a player of
irish tunes, I have copied some of Brendan Power's traditional tunes
and had to use overblows to do it.

If your harps are choking up then your don't have them gapped
properly for your playing. And if you can overblow with the gaps
tuned to your style then you have issues with your overblow
technique.  We all know that playing an instrument it 95% the player
and not the equipment.




>
>
>
>---- Original Message ----
>From: moorcot@xxxxxxx
>To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: Learning to Overblow
>Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 18:53:03 +0000
>
>>
>>>From: "Chris Michalek" <chris@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>Overblowing is clearly useful to
>>>those that play any style of music and should not nessitate a
>change
>>>in approach. Afterall, each one of the overblow/draw notes are
>>>available somewhere else on the harp.
>>>
>>>I think the real issue is a modulation from our personal comfort
>>>zones.
>>
>>I don't think I would find overblowing much use to me in traditional
>Irish 
>>tunes, particularly the fast dance tunes with fast note runs with a
>lot of 
>>rapid changes of air direction.  When I set up a harp with gaps
>smaller than 
>>I've been accustomed to I found reeds choking all over the place. 
>If you 
>>know of anyone that plays my kind of stuff with anything more than 
>>occasional overblows in occasional tunes I should like to hear from
>them.  I 
>>know that James Conway overblows but I'd risk betting that he
>doesn't do it 
>>much in the fast music - and a lot of the slower stuff, such as many
>of 
>>Carolan's tunes,is pretty diatonic anyway.  I don't mind modulating
>from my 
>>personal comfort zone but I don't want that to mean that I have to
>go back 
>>to square one!
>>
>>Steve
>>
>>Want more than the blues?  Try Irish!
>>http://mysite.freeserve.com/trad_irish_harmonica
>>
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