Re: [Harp-L] Annie Raines responds fwd

[Special20 <special20harp@xxxxxxxxx>]

Annie is exactly right!  In my original reply to Walter that started this
whole Cup Kerfuffle, I wrote, "A tight cup does not mean that you strangle
the mic in a death grip."  Annie and I both learned that from Madcat Ruth!

It is interesting how these threads evolve and the logic swirls.  I didn't
think anybody could disagree that a good cup of the harp and mic is
essential for getting the Chicago tone we were discussing in my original
reply.  But I was wrong about that...

-Spec20


On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 7:24 AM, <2738540@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> This from Ms Raines by way of forward.
>
> > How are you?  I hope you're well.  We've been hanging in there, though
> work is
> > scarce at the moment.
> > A student of mine - an excellent student, in fact - Bob Vivona, alerted
> me to some
> > curiosity on harp-l about my rig, and I was happy to have the
> opportunity to respond
> > through him.  Then I remembered your earlier offer to post messages from
> me, and I
> > thought I'd take you up on it.  My interest in sharing this information
> has been
> > heightened as I'm doing a lot more teaching these days.  I'm working on
> making some
> > sort of instructional video though I have no particular plans for how to
> produce or
> > distribute it.  At this point it's all in my head, as they say.
> >
> > So I wanted to respond to Spec20's posting to the thread, which reads:
> > "In Gary Smith's videos, Joh Gindicks books, Brian Purdy's website,
>  (and about a
> > zillion other places), pro blues players stress the vital importance of
> the tight
> > cup on the bullet mic.  So which is it?  It it important or not?"
> >
> > I think there are two meanings of the word "tight" that are being
> confused here.
> > One is "airtight" and the other is "tense."  One does not necessarily
> imply the
> > other.  You can get a more airtight cup around the harp and/or mic by
> keeping your
> > hands relaxed (and therefore fleshier, covering more space), as opposed
> to being
> > tensed up (muscles contracted, compressed, covering less space).  I
> think Madcat was
> > the first person to point that out to me.
> > Also, if you base your positioning around being relaxed, it's easier to
> tense up and
> > tighten up the aperture than it is to go from being tensed up to a
> relaxed position.
> >  The only tension you really need is just enough to keep from dropping
> the mic!
> >
> > -Annie
>
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