Re: [Harp-L] 4 Blow Reed Failures - Is it just me?

["bbqbob917@xxxxxxxxxxx" <bbqbob917@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

-- Glenn and Debbie Woodhouse <gwoodhouse40@xxxxxxx> wrote:

I am experiencing what seems like an inordinate rate of 4 blow reed failures on my diatonics (Bushman primarily, and Lee Oskar).  I am finally noting this due to what I think are two main factors:
 
1)  More hours - Although I have been playing for over 25 years, I have joined a band and been playing semi-professionally for the last year, so my harps are seeing more play time overall.  This is not a huge number but in the order of 5-10 hours per week spread over 8+ keys.
 
2)  Bushman Harps - I really like the sound, comfort, and price of the Bushman Delta Frosts but out of 6 that I have bought over the last 8 months or so I have had 3 4B reeds fail within a few weeks to three months of play time.  Has anyone else been experiencing this problem with Bushman.  My Lee Oskar failures have taken much longer.
 
I don't feel like the 4B gets nearly the "work-out" that many of the draw reeds do playing blues.  Is there something about the harmonic frequency at some keys of 4B that fails faster with brass and phosphor bronze (my most recent failures are 2 on a Bushman C harp, 1 Bushman F, 1 Lee Oskar Am).  Is the 4 draw and 4D bending the culprit?  These certainly see more of a work-out.
 
I have been slowly migrating my harps to the Seydel 1847's and have yet to have any tuning or reed failure issues with the stainless steel reeds over the last 6-8 months of use.  Although the 1847's sound a little "mellow" to my ears for my blues playing preference, this reed failure experience may seal the deal for me continuing on exclusively with Seydel even with the price being 3X.  I really love the fit and feel of the 1847's.
 
Any insights and experiences from the community would be appreciated.
 
Hi,
There's something here that I see that you clearly don't. It really comes down to your playing technique, specifically when you're bending notes. Why? Many diatonic players have a tendency to use far too much breath force, and this is stepped up significantly in the note bending process. Why? The two reeds in the hole are interacting in order to do the bending as well as overblows and if you were to take off the coverplates and then proceed to bend the note, place your finger over the 4 blow and quickly you'll see the bend stops, and it's the BLOW reed doing the bending. In the upper register, it's the DRAW reed doing this. The most likely culprit is that you are using FAR TOO MUCH breath force in your playing, and it gets further magnified when you do your bends, and the force is getting EASILY qaudrupled and so as a result, you've been blowing out 4 draws in harps very quickly, especially in harps from the key of D and higher. What you need to do is learn better breath control, especially on the bends or risk blowing them quick, regardless of reed materials, manufacturer, or anything else.

Something else here, especially regrding the Seydel 1847's. These and the new Suzuki Fabulous have a far tighter reed slot tolerance (the distance between the edges of the reed and the edges of the wall of the slot that the reed vibrates in) and the tighter the tolernce, the LESS air you need to play them and if you continue playing with excessive breath force with harps that have tight tolerances (and that also includes customs, which are even tighter than that by a mile), you'll blow these out pretty fast too.

Too many players tend to blame the harps, gear, or anything else FIRST before considering what more often than not is the REAL problem usually is, and that's playing with EXCESSIVE breath force AKA blowing them WAY too damned hard ALL THE TIME, which is the single biggest cardinal sin of harp players and a problem few players are gonna want to admit to. It not only hurst harp longevity, it also hurts your tone control, control of bends/overblows, kills your dynamics, and kills your agility  on the instrument.

Obviously, this may not be what you want to hear, but you need to seriously consider it, and hat I'm telling you is the cold, hard, brutal truth.

Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA 
http://www.barbequebob.com
MP3's: http://music.mp3;izard.com/barbequebob/



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