Re: [Harp-L] Blowing wayyyyy too hard

[IcemanLE@xxxxxxx]

It's hard for a harmonica player to understand this, especially when  he (or 
she) is so hungry to play...
 
At Augusta Heritage, where it is mostly acoustic, sometimes a harmonica  
player would be up against a circle full of acoustic guitar players, each one  
also interested in playing loud. The usual result would be for the harmonicist  
to play too loud to be heard, even in this acoustic setting. In other words, 
the  harmonica player would let the situation dictate to him how he would play.
 
The solution is to understand that a small piece of brass vibrating in the  
air does not push a lot of sound waves out, so try to temper the accompaniment  
by having them come down - usually through a visual cue, such as a hand 
signal,  before starting to play, thereby dictating to the accompaniment how they 
should  play to back the harmonica up - at this point the harmonica being the 
LEAD  instrument. Same could be said for those electric jam situations.
 
Unless the player is schooled in this aspect and has a bit of self  
confidence, he ends up being dictated to in a musical sense. 
 
Sometimes the accompaniment ignores the hand signals or requests to back  
down. In these cases, it is best to shrug the shoulders and walk away, as there  
is not mutual respect being shown for the harmonica.
 
 
In a message dated 12/21/2008 7:36:09 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
Blueharp1@xxxxxxx writes:

You're  banging your head against reality and sound physics, if you're that   
lost in the mix, blowing harder won't do you a lick of good. And  a  
blown-out 
harp contributes nothing to the tune. 

**************One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail, 
Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now. 
(http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025)