[Harp-L] Re: Rockers in the Rockies

["Jonathan Metts" <jonathan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"But is Ricci working on his 3 reeds to enable overblows, or just to
improve the tolerances for conventional bending etc.?
An overblow on three would give you, at most, exactly the same notes as
the draw bends,a feature that we could do more with on the harmonica
anyhow: think 2 draw/3 blow repeated in a few different places (which is
something the XB40 offers in quite a few places)
RD"

Chris works on the hole 3 reeds (embossing, arcing, and gapping) to improve 
the quality and ease of the draw bends, not for the sake of the hole 3 
overblow, although he may use that one sometimes, I don't know.  Even though 
it produces a "redundant" note, there is something to be said for having 
such notes on the harmonica.  They have a slightly different tone, can be 
bent differently, can be approached differently from elsewhere on the harp, 
and may fit into different chords.

Robert Randolph's 13-string guitar has two adjacent strings tuned to the 
same note.  He has said it's because he may want to bend one and not the 
other, playing them at the same time or coming to them from different 
places.  I think these repeated notes on the harmonica can be used in a 
similar way if you're creative enough.

Jonathan Metts