Re: [Harp-L] Re: Harp-L Digest, Vol 26, Issue 7

[Fernando Bresslau <bresslau@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi, LJ.

The idea of the different mouth cavities is right. But you should have 
gone a step further. Instead of trying to get the mouth cavity as small 
as possible, you get better results doing jsut the opposite, making the 
mouth cavity bigger. This way, you reach a ressonance frequency which is 
actually one or two octaves *lower* than the corresponding pitch of the 
reed, and the reed works out. The bends are quite difficult, but this is 
due to pure physics, and can be overcome with the propper technique. 
Just take your time.
All the best,
Fernando

JOHN AUST wrote:
> Hi Don,
>  My guess is that you've an XB40 in C.  Holes 9 and 10 are very 
> difficult. The reed cavities are too big for the smaller top reeds to 
> resonate properly. The inventor, Rick Epping, suggests using the 
> second harmonic to get then to sound! If you play around with mouth 
> and throat cavity, (try tensing up your mouth and throat to make the 
> cavity smaller) there's a point where they sound but I found I 
> couldn't do it at any sensible speed.  I sold my C XB40 on ebay but 
> get a lot of use from my G, A and low D ones, (they don't make the 
> usual  D - guess why). The reason they have a C is probably that any 
> harmonica range without a C just wouldn't sell.
>                              Regards, Lurcherjohn.