Re: [Harp-L] The Great Search for Amplified Tone

[G <gigs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 16:35 7/09/06 -0700, lil Buddha wrote:
>>G wrote:
>>http://www.angelfire.com/music/harmonica/ampdmics.html#micplaying
>
>Hmm, I do hear a difference.
>
>On the other hand, Pat Missin has a different experience. (While not
>everyone agrees with everything Pat says, he seems to make an effort to be
>as objective as possible.) 
>http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q7.html
>
>Seems this may vary from person to person. Leading to the conclusion that
>it may not be the embouchure, but the person using it. Be that from
>preference, practice or physiology. 

Hi,
  There's a big difference here:  Pat's recordings are him playing
acoustically, mine are demonstrating three different techniques with a
bullet microphone:
pucker cupping the back of the harp to the mic, tongue block cupping the
back of the harp to the mic, and tongue blocking cupping the back of the
harp, and blocking all the holes by pressing against my face.
 Another point I know from talking to Pat, I generally put harmonicas
deeper in my mouth than he usually does.  Although he's welcome to clarify
or correct me here.

 In terms of playing acoustic it definitely varies from person to person,
and it's possible for someone to play proficiently with pucker and tongue
block and not to hear any difference in their tone, which Pat demonstrates
- although there can be tell tail signs in bends (, overblows) and
articulation that may give it away.  I can only talk from my own
experience, which admittedly isn't anywhere near Pat's.

  I started playing pucker on diatonic and tongue block on chromatic.  Much
further down the track I made an effort to learn to tongue block on
diatonic, and especially working on learning to bend notes using TB,
meaning I learnt how to use the back of my throat to bend notes. So I
invested more time into doing the same with pucker bends, instead of using
the front of my tongue.
  The result was my pucker bends gained a similar quality to tongue block,
most know playing towards the front of your mouth increases treble, playing
towards (or in) the back of your throat gives more bass - like your own
built in EQ.  
  Learning to play this way with pucker enabled me to both bend and carry
out techniques using the front of the tongue, rather than one or the other
- very liberating.  In addition learning how to use the back of my tongue
to articulate further added to my pucker arsenal of techniques.

I think the aspect of learning to bend notes in the back of the throat
plays a part in the argument that some players find tongue block produces a
different.

However when cupping a diatonic to a bullet mic, there are other aspects
that involve blocking (or not blocking) the front of the harp and how good
a seal you have around the back of the harp and grill of the bullet mic.
The only time I've had this technique explained to me was at a seminar
Filisko gave (covering for a very worn out Dennis Gruenling) at the
infamous Harmonica Summit 2000.  I noticed during the Summit, a few of the
blues guys who got on stage used this method.

Cheers,
-- G.
http://www.angelfire.com/music/harmonica
http://www.angelfire.com/music/HarpOn
http://www.harpon.org