Re: [Harp-L] re advice on a first chromatic

["Jamie Dolan" <chromatics@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>snip<
>I believe Bonfiglio
> plays one, yes?--and probably returns to this particular instrument
because it
> does things for him that others cannot.

Chamber Huang (who I believe taught Robert Bonfiglio) designed this for
Hohner and it was also produced in a three octave version. It quite
different from any other stock instrument in a number of ways... the
mouthpiece and covers (as well as internal components like the slide) are
made of a teflon coated material (PTFE?) which some really like whereas
other, like myself, find it rather gritty and rough. The instrument is cross
tuned but by placing the slide button at the back of the instrument and
using a small lever it requires a shorter push to achieve the same amount of
movement. The covers divide the area above each reed slot and cover the
bottom notes whilst only partially covering the upper notes.

The slide sounds great but unfortunately it's fairly noisy and when in the
half-slide position allows air to run down the whole of the front of the
instrument. Also, the cells in the covers means it can be difficult to
control the tone of individual notes with the hands (as with normal covers
you can actually affect top notes even whilst your hands are cupped around
the bass end of the instrument). Though the instrument was discontinued,
Hohner still sells the reedplates.

All the best

Jamie