Re: [Harp-L] bends and reed fatigue

["Bob Maglinte" <bbqbob917@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jp Pagan" <jpl_pagan@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "harp-l harp-l" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2004 10:03 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] bends and reed fatigue


> hi all,
>
>   i'm pretty sure i know the answer to this problem,
> but i thought i'd throw it out there, hoping to learn
> something:
>   lately, i've been trying to get into 1st position
> and i'm noticing that my blow bends are all knocking
> my harps out of tune. i even bought a new G harp
> recently, and after just playing it once, i got
> beating in my 6/9 octave - after blow bending the 9.
>   my feeling is this is a matter of bad technique.
> perhaps, without knowing it, i'm forcing the bend and
> it's knocking the reed out of tune. i'm trying not to
> play hard but...
>    i've also encountered this with the 4 draw. not as
> often, in fact, only twice in a couple of years, (once
> on a A, and recently on a D) but still. it's annoying.
> any tips?
>
>          thanks,
>                   --Jp

Hi JP,
Blow bends are common problems with a lot of harp players because it's 
usually played EXCESSIVELY hard. The draw bends always seems louder because 
it's actually the BLOW reed that does the bending when you do draw bends, 
and the blow reeds being the top reed plate, your ears pickup the sound much 
sooner, fooling your ears to think that they're louder, and with the blow 
bends, the exact opposite occurs, making your ears believe it's a lot 
quieter than the draw bends, being it's the draw reed doing the bending, and 
your ears are picking up the sound much later than when it's the other way 
around. If you play it thru a PA with a good monitor, no such difference 
should be perceptible. Now, because your ears doesn't pickup the sound of 
the blow bends as quickly as the draw, most players will tend to play much 
harder on the blow bends because of this very reason.. In fact, in the Lee 
Oskar instructional manual that comes with his tool kit, he explains this in 
detail, and to prove this, take the cover plates off, and then do a blow 
bend, and then place your finger on the draw reed in the corresponding hole, 
and you'll notice very quickly that the note stops sounding. Now do the same 
thing for the draw bend, and when then bent note starts, place a finger on 
the corresponding blow note and then the bend will stop. Blow reeds in the 
top register tends to be more sensitive to air pressure, and the likely 
culprit is that you hit your blow bends far too hard and you're actually 
unaware that this is what you may be doing.

Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
MP3's: http://music.mp3lizard.com/barbequebob/