Re: Learning to Overblow

["Winslow Yerxa" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

I believe Mick Kinsella uses overblows ot play Irish music. Mike 
Stevens uses them in American fiddle tunes.

I first learned about overblowing from Will Scarlett, who had at the 
time given up using it much. I played around with it but didn't think 
that it could be brought into action readily enough to use on high-
velocity lines. Then, several years later, I heard Howard Levy. He 
was using them at great speed in complex lines - completely 
shattering my preconception.

If it can be done in jazz lines, there's not reason it can't be done 
with fiddle tunes. It's a matter of committing to doing it and 
believing you can make it work. The latter is a point that Howard 
often makes about doing this.

As to overblows sounding like they stick out, there are two things to 
consider.  

First, the better you get at overblowing and at integrating it into 
your total style, the less it will stick out - it becomes part of the 
tonal texture of your playing. 

Second, even regular bends stick out. But you can find ways to make 
that work for you in a musical way, as a phrasing device. Changes in 
articulation, rhythmic emphasis, and tone color all work for that 
purpose.

Whether you want to go down that road or seek other solutions - XB-
40, Discrete Comb, half-valving, special tunings, slide harp (or some 
combination of any of these) - or simply deal with the standard blow-
draw harmonica as it is given to you - is a matter of preference. All 
offer possibilities, and disadvantages as well as advantages.

I think Chris' point is simply that some of the common perceptions 
about the disadvantages of overblowing are either false or based on 
an outdated or incomplete understanding (like mine before I heard 
Howard Levy).

Winslow

- --- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Stephen Shaw" <moorcot@xxxx> 
wrote:

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

Er... my quote for your reference:

<<<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>>>>>>

Not QUITE the Aunt Sally you set up there, with respect!  A bit more 
measured than:  "Do I know anybody who can play Irish jigs on the 
harp with 
overblows,"  I hope you'll agree. There's a lot more to it than ~ 
ahem ~ 
"jigs" ~ methinks.  It's a prejudice I try to overcome.


>I have copied some of Brendan Power's traditional tunes and had to 
use 
>overblows to do it.


Which of Brendan's tunes did you use overblows in?  On "New Irish 
Harmonica" 
he plays diatonic on just two tracks and I don't recall overblows 
being 
needed.  He used half-valved diatonics, if my memory serves me.  On 
all the 
other tracks he uses chromatics.  See sleeve notes.


>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 am!!

>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.

My quote clearly referred to my experiment setting up a harp for 
overblows 
(I do know how to do that, and I can but don't overblow, for the 
reasons set 
out above).  My harps, as set up correctly for my style of playing in 
Irish 
(which they are, I assure you),  do not "choke up."   There is simply 
no 
overall law that says that harp-playing in any given style of music 
is 
inferior because you don't use overblows.  If you're overblowing I 
can hear 
it, no matter how good at it you are.

< We all know that playing an instrument it 95% the player and not 
the 
equipment.

I wouldn't like to be so precise!

I endeavour only to sound off about the genre I know about.  #;-)

Peace, as always!

Steve.


Want more than the blues?  Try Irish!
http://mysite.freeserve.com/trad_irish_harmonica

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