[Harp-L] gear vs. tone etc.

[Steve Merola <srmerola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Iceman
I think he meant both your mind and your body. When he said, "in your head" he was pointing to his temple, then he made a motion from there down to his mouth and out towards me. I've been going back and forth with this for 30 years. At the time I met him I was a pro drummer who doubled on harp. (As the joke says, I hung around with musicians). After speaking with Mr. Butterfield I hardly played any harmonica because I didn't think I had a great acoustic sound and thought I couldn't achieve one due to my skull etc. I started playing again 2 years ago when someone who remembered me from the 60's and 70's asked me to play on a blues CD they were producing. Thanks to ProTools and muscle memory I did a decent job. I also caught the bug again. I've been practicing 3 hours a day (average)since then, and I'm once again getting some calls for sessions as a harmonica player. My tone is alot different now. All I had to do was play softer, and use my "head". The information I've gathered in Harp-L Digest has been an enormous help in my re-development. I really could have used you guys in the 70's.
Peace
Steve Merola

Message: 5
Date: Sun, 03 Jul 2005 11:56:23 -0400
From: icemanle@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] gear vs tone etc.
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
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This was a great experience, to talk with Paul B and get this kind of insight. You're very fortunate, to be sure.

Could not his comment "the sound is in your head", instead of referring to the physical properties of your skull, meant the "preconceived notion you have in your head about how you WANT to sound or your musical ideas"?

You should pre-conceive a solid picture in your "mind's inner ear" about your sound before putting harmonica to lips. Next, work hard at making the physical world get closer and closer to your mental concept.

The Iceman 

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Merola <srmerola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sat, 02 Jul 2005 09:00:43 -0400
Subject: [Harp-L] gear vs tone etc.


Hello Harp-L Digest 
In the mid 70's I had the good fortune to speak with Mr. Paul Butterfield about his gear. We were the only two people sitting at a bar in Woodstock, NY. Everyone else in the place was having breakfast. Having at least one bad habit in common, I got up the nerve to talk to him. I foolishly asked the question, "How can I get to sound like you?". He shook his head and almost cracked a grin and simply said "You can't". I persisted and asked why not. He eventually said I could use his mic, amp, and even his harp, but I'd never sound like him, and he could never sound like me. He said that the sound is "in your head". By that he meant tonal resonance in your skull, and the other parts of the body used to play. If your "head", as Mr. Butterfield put it, doesn't "sound" good, neither will you. Pretty simple. 
Peace 
Steve Merola