[Harp-L] Re: Low Low F? Sound Sample

[G <gigs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 12:35:57 -0800
From: "Mark Wilson" <markwilson53@xxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Low Low F?  Sound Sample
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>

>I have one of the Seydel Low Low F harps.  It's not a harmonica that 
>lends itself to typical 2nd position blues due to all the low end bends.  
>Fast songs are tough too because it can take a while to get the reed to 
>go where you want it to.  What it is good for is slow blues, especially in 
>third position with all the octaves and blue notes that don't require 
>regular bending below the 4 draw.   8< 
>Mark

For about a year I was playing with a blues guitarist who insisted that I
vamp behind him when I wasn't soloing.  His favourite keys were G and B.  I
can tell you it was not a good thing to be vamping on a regular E harp over
other people's solos and lyrics, despite his insistance.  :)  )

So, I tuned a set of Low tuned Super SBS harmonicas, Low C and Low E among
others - but found it troublesome soloing on the top end, it's a real trick
getting good intonation on hole 8 draw bend for instance.  Although it was
fun to looked at the confused faces of a few other harp players, who
couldn't get notes and bends I was getting.   

Regular Steve Baker Special tuning is where you double up the bottom
octave, and depending on the number of holes may lose some of the top notes
of the tuning.  But at the time I wanted to be able to play in first
position Jimmy Reed style, as well as 2nd.  So I took a Low tuned
harmonica, and like the SBS the bottom octave's pattern is repeated twice,
so holes 4 5 & 6 are the same as holes 1 2 & 3 but an octave above. Then I
left the top octave the same as regular Richter tuning.   This enabled me
to chug away in the background using the bottom octave, but when my solo
came up, I still had the draw bends in the register normally found on
regular keys, and also had the top octave for playing in first position.
For the style of music I was accompanying, it worked really well.

Having returned to traditional Chicago Blues harp on regular diatonics, I
now see the sense in Steve Baker's tuning.  

The main point of my email, is to share the idea that if you want a really
low tuned harmonica for vamping and slow stuff - but still want to be able
to play in the higher registers the way you do with your regular
harmonicas, it might be worth looking at altered tunings where the bottom
octave's note layout is doubled up so you can vamp at the bottom, then solo
happily as you always do further up.

I like Sonny Boy Williamson II's album, UK Blues.  I could be wrong, but it
sounds like he turned up at the gig with only a 14 hole key of C marine
band in his pocket, and uses it for the entire show.  :)

-- G.
http://tinyurl.com/suit