[Harp-L] Dynamics related variable intonation.

[Erik Anderson <12bars@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello harp-l,

I have lurked this list on and off for the past 8 years or so, and
while I have communicated with some of you off list in the past, I'm
in need of some advice, and communicating with the entire list seems
to be the most likely way to gain the advice I need.

First, some general background that may or may not be pertinent to the
issue I believe I'm experiencing.  Some time ago, I decided to focus
my limited practice time to a study of the chromatic, so eight years
ago, I got a Farrell combed hard bopper with a spare set of reed
plates, which I've been playing, alternating the reed plates as they
needed tuning and repairs.  In general I believe I play with a fairly
light touch.  I'm also suspicious that a fair number of the reeds on
each set of reed plates are nearing the end of their useful life,
which may explain part of the problem I'm hearing (but I somewhat
doubt it, the phenomenon seems to equally impact reeds that I rarely
play).  Recently I picked up a copy of Douglas T.'s 'Play the
Harmonica Well' (wish I'd had that book 8 years ago!), and as a
result, have been both modifying my technique, and seriously listening
to and assessing my playing.  Now I'm hearing something that is
driving me buggy!

This is what I'm noticing.  The intonation of the harmonica changes
with the dynamics, i.e. the more air pressure I play with, the flatter
my notes sound.  So the question is, how should I control the dynamics
of my playing without impacting my pitch?  For what it's worth, hand
resonance, which I'm far from mastering, really seems to highlight the
problem (tests with a tuner indicate the problem exists with or
without resonance, but I find it a lot more noticeable when I'm
applying hand resonance).  So far hand resonance is an on or off thing
for me, will I be able to develop fine dynamics control with it, or
are the dynamics still going to be a function of air pressure?

Thanks for the help,

Erik