Fwd: [Harp-L] Bending and Stiff Reeds (was: Norton Buffalo Question)

["Winslow Yerxa" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Jp Pagan <jpl_pagan@...> wrote:
<big snips>

> on a harmonica, what you "bend" is note, not the reed.

OK, let me ask you to do a little experiment.

Take a reedplate from a diatonic harmonica and stand or sit in front of 
a mirror with good lighting.

Hold the reedplate so that the reeds are facing away from you and are 
visible in the mirror. Hold the reed plate vertically so that the reeds 
are horizontal.

Apply your mouth to the reed in Hole 1.

Play the reed by inhaling. Watching the reed in the mirror, note the 
center of vibration and the amplitude. 

Now, bend the note down in pitch. Note what the reed does. Does it 
move - i.e. bend - or does it stay in the same place? What happens to 
the center of the vibration and also the amplitude.

Once you'ce checked that out, play the same reed as a blow bend. DO NOT 
CHANGE THE POSITION OF THE REEDPLATE.

Find the lowest possible pitch that the blow bend can produce. You 
should, with minimal effort, get it to sound less than a full semitone 
higher than when you played it as a draw note. Note the center of 
vibration, the angle of the reed to the plate, and the amplitude of the 
vibration. Now, bend the note UP as high as you can (should be between 
about one and four semitones). Note what happens to the reed angle, 
center of vibration, and amplitude.

Did the reed bend in these two experiments? If so, in which direction 
did it go relative to the reedplate as you bent the draw note down and 
the blow note up?

Winslow