Re: [Harp-L] Tom Ball's Little Walter Big Walter Sourcebook

[Tom Ball <havaball@xxxxxxx>]

Tony Eyers wrote:
> <snip> Nonetheless, I wouldn't mind a few paragraphs on Harp-l from 
> Tom on how he gets his acoustic tone and vibrato....
> <snip> Also, I notice that (almost) all of the licks are played on a 
> Bb diatonic. Dave Barrett seems to do the same thing with his 
> examples. Is the Bb chosen as a sitting midway between the A,C and D 
> instruments most likely used on the original recordings? Or, is the 
> Bb used to avoid potential copyright issues? I would assume that 
> Little Walter/Big Walter rarely played in F.
> -----

Hi Tony,

Sorry to take a few days to respond -- just blew in last night from 
playing Strawberry Music Festival in Yosemite.

Hmmm.... as to acoustic tone and vibrato I don't really have any 
secrets per se -- just the tried-and-true methods of cupping the harp 
completely, working with the hands, trusting one's throat vibrato, 
and "thinking big" with regard to airstream.

For one thing I've found that the method in which one holds the beast 
can have a profound effect. In my case I have large, beefy hands, so 
I can surround the thing with a cup that's shaped more-or-less like 
the cup one would use to drink water from a stream. When held in that 
fashion, the exposed face of the harp is small enough to be filled by 
cheeks and jowls so that the harp is entirely encircled -- then one 
can control tone to a large extent by opening (or not opening) 
portions of the cup.

Of course another issue is the airstream generated by the body 
itself.  A fatter tone can often result from simply pulling from the 
chest (rather than from the mouth and nose,) and by adjusting one's 
posture away from a slouch.

As to throat vibrato, I tend to start the ball rolling by actively 
varying the pressure of the (usually inhaled) note. After a split 
second, the natural wobble begins in the throat, and the necessity 
for variation of the pressure in eliminated by the throat's automatic 
response. (Like everything else harp-oriented, this will take a bit 
of practice.)

As an acoustic player, naturally one plays off-mic -- that is to say, 
6 or 8 inches away. Therefore, anything one does to effect the 
airstream between harp and mic will be picked up by the mic and made 
much more pronounced.  In other words, subtle hand movements that may 
be inaudible without a mic (or even inaudible to the player's ears) 
are made more audible by the mic and PA.  Therefore I've found it can 
be a valuable exercise to record oneself trying different subtle hand 
movements (even small variations that you don't think will effect 
anything,) and then re-listening... chances are you will find 
movements you didn't think would matter are, in fact, quite audible 
and useful when used with a mic/PA.

As to the decision to use a Bb harp, LW and BW often used them in F 
but the decision to use one for my book was simply a personal choice. 
It's my own favorite key to play, both sonically and for ease of 
playability. No copyright issues -- the use of a key can't be 
"protected" as such...

Finally, I appreciate your input and support, Tony, and I dig your 
playing -- and as to Rick in Davis' words on the book, I thank you 
kindly as well, sir.   :)

cheers to all and good harpin',

Tom Ball
http://www.tomball.us