Re: [Harp-L] Overblowing Hoopla

["Tim Moyer" <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Vince Curcuru wrote:
> Yeah it may be possible to get all the notes in the chromatic 
> scale from a diatonic harp using this technique, but do we need 
> this?  Isn't this why there are chromatic harps??  Is it worth all 
> the harp customizing and work involved in perfecting this 
> technique??

Overblowing isn't just about playing "all the notes in the chromatic 
scale on a diatonic harp".  There are, in fact, chromatic harps that 
do this.  There are pianos and saxaphones and violins too.  They are 
all different instruments from the diatonic harmonica.  

Some folks -- a lot of people on this list -- like to play the 
diatonic harmonica because of it's expressive nature and it simple 
beauty.  Because of the limited number of natural notes available on 
the instrument, other techniques are required to produce the other 
desired notes.  "Bending" is one of those techniques, and the notes 
produced in this fashion have a particular character that is unique 
to the instrument.  Overbending is another technique, and again, 
these notes have a particular unique character.  In and of itself, 
this character is neither good nor bad, but simply unique.  Any 
artistic consideration of whether to use these notes needs to take 
this character into account.  And, of course, the character of these 
notes, whether bends or overbends, will vary with the technique of 
the player.  

> I am not criticizing people that do this and I am sure Howard Levy 
> and company are geniuses and  like Benjamin Franklin's of the harp 
> but IMO the beauty of the diatonic is the diversification obtained 
> by switching harps and getting the tonal changes and playing 
> nuances associated with the different keys.  Of course I am 
> primarily a blues player not a jazz player so that is where I am 
> coming from.

I don't think all the people who use overblows are by definition 
musical geniuses.  I know Howard Levy is.  I know I'm not.  Yes, 
part of the beauty of the diatonic harmonica is as you describe.  
But part of the beauty is also hitting the 6OB (flat 3rd) and then 
sliding it up a half step to the major 3rd.  Try that on a chromatic 
harmonica.  

The bottom line is that the technique isn't good or bad.  It's the 
player's use of the technique that is good or bad.  And that is a 
matter of taste.  And as Marcel Duchamp said, "Good taste is the 
greatest enemy of art."  

-tim

Tim Moyer
Working Man's Harps
http://www.workingmansharps.com/