Re: [Harp-L] OB Tone and Intonation

["Chris Michalek" <chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Let me explain a little more.  I was speaking with Mr Anderson about playing How Insensitive. He plays it on a Bb harp and starts the song in the middle octave where he needs to use OBs and the 7OD to play the melody. I told him in a song like that it would be better to not use OBs unless you have to because they are weak notes compared to other available notes. Although most if not all Jobim tunes use all 12 tones in the course of a tune there are better positions that can be played to make the melody smoother especially if one does not have full facility over the OBs.  I use a C harp in 3rd for this tune.

In general I think the uberblows are not very substantial notes. I have no fear of leaning on them or using them in any fashion but the timbre of them creates an uneveness through slower or more melodic passages that I don't like.  As my playing is evolving I am concentrating what I think sounds best and I have come to the conclusions that OB are rarely a part of that equation. They work well in fast passages and as passing tones but I don't like to use them unless I'm playing Armenian music or something. I rarely use the ODs though George Brooks is making my rethink that after hearing him play.

The 6 OB is one that everybody should know and be able to use in blues. It sounds great in that context.  If you are a blues player there is really no need to employ the other uberblows except for maybe the 7OD.

I heard a lot of guys using obs at SPAH and from what I heard 78.921% of them employed them because they can not because it sounds good.  There was one player there that claimed to play in all twelve keys on one harp. He couldn't. Nobody at SPAH could with the exception of George Brooks and that's a maybe... I certainly won't claim full fluency in all the positions. No offense to anyone but to playing in all twelve keys on one harp is an exercise in arrogance. The bottomline is nobody cares about how great your technique is or how many uberblahs you can force into a song in the melodic pythagrias position. All the audience cares about is whether or not your music moves them and in truth they don't even care about that because they will never ask you to move them. Like falling in love it just happens. Good players know how to make an audience swoon for them everytime. Most technical players don't.

I forgot where I'm going with all this... but these days I play what I want to not because I can. I think the OB/ODs are 7 of the least expressive notes on the harmonica so why try to express anything though them?  I'm not saying don't use them or avoid them because that would be a dis-service to the instrument and good music but understand it's akin to using your parking brake to stop your car then your regular brakes - one is more effective than the other even though they will both work if called upon. There are many other ways to make good music. The point is choose wisely. I did my best to demonstrate this at SPAH. I'd alos like to point out that comments points towards me comment on my sound or music NOT my technique like they have in years past. That says alot and it tells me that my approach is working.

Peace.

Chris Michalek







>-----Original Message-----
>From: Tim Moyer [mailto:wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
>Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 05:30 AM
>To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Re:  [Harp-L] OB Tone and Intonation
>
>Dick wrote (from his notes):
>> Choose the position/key to play carefully using the song's chord 
>> structure and don't expose the OB if you don't have to.  
>
>Winslow Yerxa wrote:
>> The one part of this I disagree with is the part about not 
>> exposing the overblow.
>
>I'm actually more than a little surprised that this advice came from 
>Chris or George.  I remember talking at great length with Rosco in St. 
>Louis about having overblows in key points in the melody of a tune, 
>and his advice was to "lean on it".  I have always felt that Chris and 
>George in particular were two guys who did just that, with great 
>results.  
>
>By the way, I noticed this year, after having not heard my friend 
>George Brooks play for a couple of years now, that his tone has become 
>quite trumpet-like, something to which I aspire.  I don't know if this 
>is a change for George or just a new awareness in me, but I took more 
>than one opportunity to plant my ear squarely in front of George's 
>playing and soak it in.  I clearly have more work to do, but find 
>myself newly inspired that it can be accomplished.  Thanks, George, 
>and thanks especially for sharing.  
>
>-tim
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