Re: [Harp-L] Re: The shapes of the covers

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

On Jul 10, 2008, at 7:19 PM, Ken Deifik wrote:

> Steve Baker wrote:
> > the Blues Harp (like the Old Standby) was never anything else
> > but a standard Marine Band comb & reed plates fitted with closed
> > covers, which made the sound slightly less bright due to the
> > different shape and of course the closed sides.
>
> Wow.  This opens up something like a legitimate version of the  
> materials debate.  Aside from the holes on the sides, is there  
> anything else about the shape of the covers that changes the sound  
> of a diatonic harp?
>
> As a guy who mainly plays acoustically, I'd LOVE to experiment with  
> various shapes for the covers, if that's going to give me different  
> colors of sound.
>
> Has anyone on Harp-l monkeyed around in that jungle?

Yes, as I recall the blues harp cam out in the mid 60s (maybe 67) but  
you couldn't find them here (in music stores) till around 71. Then a  
year or two later, (maybe 73) along came the spl-20. I was stupid  
enough to try the blues harp and was very disappointed. I thought I  
got a bad one, so I tried another, then another. After 3, I gave up  
on them and was elated a year or so later when the spl-20 came out.

First of all, I don't know how the reeds on the blues harp could  
possible have been thinner than the Marine Band. I found them very  
hard to bend. More importantly, when you DID get the bend, it was  
harder to control. AND, many times getting a bend already IN it's  
second or third 'bend step' spot ON and on the fly, was difficult. At  
least for me. I would have blamed myself if it weren't for the fact  
that heretofore, I hadn't been having any trouble.

Then when the spl-20 Marine Band came out, I was overjoyed BECAUSE  
all the things that the blues harp wouldn't do, and the Marine Band  
could do, the spl-20 'gleefully' did. It was tantamount from going  
from a stock harp to a custom job. Well, at least partly.

> Beyond shape, here goes an actual materials question: do different  
> metals or coatings on the covers change anything?

Absolutely. Some things will deaden sound, some will enhance it. I  
put sticky foam tape inside my Herings to cut down the pinchiness. A  
coat of sizing and then application of gold leaf will deaden the  
sound. Chrome plating seems to be brighter than cadmium or nickel.  
The REEDS are the most important sound maker. Changing the clearance 
(s) are the most significant change you can make. Then whippiness.

> I recall being knocked off my feet by the sound of a tenor sax that  
> had just been coated with an ounce of platinum.

Horns are different Ken. The sound is made differently. I have 2  
trumpets. One is plated and one is coin silver (87.5%). The solid  
horn is way sweeter.
> K
>
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