[Harp-L] XB-40

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I got a surprise gift yesterday from a well-known New Age pianist who's
also a very good harmonica player: a Hohner XB-40 in G.  

My first impression out of the box is that this is a big instrument. 
It's remarkably lightweight for such a big axe, though.  It took very
little time to adjust to the size of the mouthpiece, and I haven't had
any discomfort or awkwardness. 

I found the low end of the instrument to be a bit breathier and less
focused than a standard G harp.  However, with repeated playing the
sound of my low notes is getting closer to what I'm used to.  The key
seems to be using a little less breath pressure than I typically apply
to a standard harp.  

The purpose of this instrument is bending, of course, and it's really
quite exciting to be able to get nearly full-step bends on almost every
note on the instrument.  The expressive possibilities are immediately
apparent.  

As with any really new tool, there's an upside and a downside.  The
upside is that you can get a whole lot of new notes and expressive
effects without overblowing.  The downside is that overblowing doesn't
work at all, so if you've incorporated that technique into your
thinking, your thinking needs to change.  As an example, the note you
used to get by overblowing the blow 6 hole is now available only via a
draw bend on the draw 7 hole.  That's great, but it completely changes
the way you'd play a run that uses the note.  

I expect to have more to report on this instrument before long.  In any
case, it's certainly a new kind of axe, and I'm sure experienced players
of all sorts will find a lot to like in it.  This is one of the most
interesting developments in diatonic harp since Lee Oskar began selling
non-standard tunings.

Regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com