Fwd: Re: [Harp-L] Bending reeds on Chromatic Harmonica, a done thing?

["Winslow Yerxa" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

I must disagree with - or at least question - what Zombor states 
about bending on both diatonics and chromatics.

A dual-reed bend is not the "average" of the frequencies of the blow 
and the draw reeds. It is a range of frequencies, the highest being 
the unbent pitch of the higher pitch reed, and the lowest being the 
opening pitch of the lower pitched reed. The opening pitch of a reed 
is a little less than a semitone higher than the closing (standard) 
pitch. The player can move freely through an infinite series of 
pitches within this range. 

For instance, in Hole 3 of a C diatonic you have Draw B and Blow G.  
Blow G will open at a slightly flat Ab. Thus the range of bending for 
the draw B is from the unbent B down to the slightly-flat Ab. With a 
little skill the player can produce any gradation of pitch between 
those boundaries. I don't understand in what sense this is 
an "average."

Except at the lowest and highest extremes, any pitch produced will 
involve both reeds sounding the same pitch at the same time. The 
vibration of the bent note does not transfer over time from one reed 
to the other. Time has nothing to do with it (or very little). The 
lower the pitch of the bent note descends, the more the opening reed 
takes over the note and the less the closing reed participates. So 
it's a function of pitch and not of time. For instance, in the above 
example, the unbent B would be sounded entirely by the Draw B reed, 
while the Ab would be sounded *almost* entirely by the G blow reed in 
opeining mode.

Likewise, a bent note on a chromatic does not choke out as a function 
of time. Time has nothing to do with it. A bent note on a chromatic 
harmonica can be sustained as long as the player can supply breath. 
And it can be bent much farther than on a diatonic because it is not 
limited by the opening pitch of the opposite reed.

To demonstrate, I have placed an mp3 demonstrating a chromatic bend 
on my harmonica sample website:

http://www.angelfire.com/music5/winslowyerxa/chrobend.mp3

I'm bending Draw D in Hole 5 of a chromatic down 3 semitones and back 
up on a single breath with a duration of nearly 17 seconds. The note 
doesn't choke out; the duration is a function of my breath capacity. 
The same not on a C diatonic would be lmited to slightly more than 1 
semitone in bending range.

Winslow

--- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Zombor Kovacs <zrkovacs@...> 
wrote:

Hi

Bending reeds on a Chromatic or a diatonic can be done in the same 
way. Remove the covers, take a pointed object - eg. toothpick or 
needle - pick the reed and bend it to the required shape. After this 
modification your harmonica will be completely useless, but unique.

However if you want to bend notes, it makes more sense and is 
different on a chromatic than on a diatonic. On a diatonic, both the 
draw and blow reeds are participating in the bend. The momentary 
frequency of the bend on the diatonic is the average of the natural 
frequencies of the draw and the blow reed.  This means that any 
frequency between the natural frequency of the draw reed and the blow 
reed can be produced. The bend is initiated by changing the shape of 
your oral cavities to create a different resonating chamber which 
would make the other reed start resonating more and more so that in 
the end only this other reed is vibrating. So at the beginning of a 
drawbend the draw reed vibrates only and as you go on, the blow reed 
takes over, finally completely.

On the chromatic it is different, because only one single reed is 
participating in a bend since the reeds are isolated from each other. 
Always only one reed is vibrating if you blow one hole. The frequency 
of the vibration is altered again by the shape of your oral cavities, 
but during the process there is no other reed which resonates better 
in the resonating chamber with new geometry so finally the bend 
chokes.  It is less stable and more difficult to sustain. 

Z

 --- Nate in the Blues Room <thebluesroom@...> wrote:

> Please excuse me if this question has been asked > many times 
before but > I've been wondering for the longest time if bending > 
reeds on a Diatonic > harmonica > is done in the same way on a 
Chromatic harmonica? Or > is this like a doh! > kinda > question....? 
>  > Nate >  > Blues is the roots, everything else is the fruits ~ > 
Willie Dixon