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

[Zombor Kovacs <zrkovacs@xxxxxxxxx>]

Winslow is right, I was wrong. There is no average
frequency and my explanation was not correct (I have
just checked it).
Both the blow and the draw reeds are vibrating in the
same frequency, however I think the amplitude should
be an average. Shouldn't it? As one of the reeds start
sounding louder, the otherone fades away and vica
versa while the loudness (amplitude) seems to remain
the same. Winslow correct me if its wrong.
I don't remember if I said that anything is a function
of time in either cases. 
First I thought that the bent note frequency is
superposed of two frequencies but meanwhile i started
to read something and also tried it in practice and my
explanation was wrong in this respect because both
reeds alter their frequencies simultanously during
bending. 

But I have made a - for me - incredible discovery I
did not know before. It is possible to bend a note up!
(It might only be new for me)






--- Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> 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 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l
> 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com