[Harp-L] Loud?

[Daniel Bernard <danielbernard13@xxxxxxxxx>]

I got a few
off line comments from a guy who has the same problems with chromatic that I
do.  Another off line said that I should
play scales 10-15 minutes a day to get accustomed to the notes.  He questioned whether or not I practiced
with the chromatic very much.  Iʼll get
back to that answer.  Youʼve seen
Winslow and Fernandoʼs comments. 
Fernando thinks I should link up with a Chromatic player live.  Kinda hard to do in Mexico City.  Both Fernando and Winslow think that I
shouldnʼt try to make the Chromatic into a big chromatic diatonic.  I wish I could.  That is really what Iʼm looking for.  


 


This one is easy to figure out, he has excellent hand
effects.  Heʼs doing this on a Chrometta
guys!


http://youtube.com/watch?v=S1_Iv8bviiw


 


This guy is definitely getting some good sound out of his
harp with and without hand effects. 
Maybe he has some bathroom sonics going for him.  But he is sitting on a couch.  He also seems to be muting his chromatic
with his hands quite a bit.  Letʼs call
that static hand effects?


http://youtube.com/watch?v=8o0aBU2iE9A


 


This guy doesnʼt seem to have any trouble with the monotone
nature of a chromatic.  He seems to be
pretty heavy into muting himself.  But
some of this is coming from his mouth. 
He appears to have it all, and uses the button in place of hand effects
at times.  He also seems to be able to
get that bathroom effect to come and go at will.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=FVYLMAGKXnQ


 


This guy has some good technique borrowed from
diatonic.  He doesnʼt rely heavily on
hand effects and he doesnʼt mute very much at all, but appears to be using the
button in place of hand effects.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=It4d1M7YItk


 


Same thing with this guy. 
This guy is using his mouth.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=2WGJI69OY5I


 


On a good day, this is what my harps sound like, maybe.  Add some sticky valves and this could be
me.  I think it is appropriate that he
is playing Super Mario Brothers!  This
is something that we are all accustomed to hearing a computer play.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bm6SEFpLBBI


 


Do I practice?  When
I was with Dave Gage [harmonicalessons.com I highly recommend him and should
probably go back to him.] Dave came the conclusion that I was too obsessed with
positions [modes] and alternate tunings to improve.  That is to say, stick with one thing.  He suggested chromatic to feed my obsessions and put them to good
use.  He also said that there is a real
lack of instructional material world-wide for the chromatic.  Daveʼs correct on both points!  Problem is I like to tinker with harmonicas,
and chromatics are rather expensive to experiment on without guidance.  He also teaches that new players concentrate
on ten tunes and memorize them.  No way
am I going to memorize anything, but I probably should practice some few select
tunes with a metronome.  


 


Well, Iʼm off to scratch and think about how Iʼm going to
tune a chromatic.



Dan







       
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