[Harp-L] Bass harmonica

["Jonathan R. Ross" <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Colin Fulton wrote:
>I have been considering building my own bass harmonica for a while.

I'm wondering why you were thinking of building one.  I've thought of
making a slide-bass style instrument myself, but haven't gotten around
to it.  I assume you were going to use existing reeds and reed-plates.

>What are peoples opinions about single vs. double reed? 

The two tend to have been used differently.  For the traditional trio
sound, the double-reed is the standard.  They project a bit more and
respond a bit quicker due to the octave reed-set.  They are also a bit
easier to control for beginners, I believe.  The single-reed bass-harps
have a bit more of a discrete tone to them, and IMO are a bit "bassier"
if you see what I mean, as they only contain the true bass notes.  Thus
the fundamental is more present than when octaves or other harmonic
corroborating stops are present.

For the slider bass-harp I had in mind I was going to make it
single-reed, both for simplicity and because I prefer that sound for
what I would want.  I was going to use the octave reed-plates to make an
octave-higher version.  Again, this will probably not happen anytime
soon.




 oo    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()()   & Snuffy, too:)
`--'