Re: [Harp-L] Being heard acoustically in various environments/breathing technique

["James Sterett" <jsterett@xxxxxxxxx>]

"A harmonica player with good resonance..."

I believe this is the key to this discussion.  resonance is where it's
at.  If you've got all your pipes blowing efficiently, getting the most
out of the instrument behind your instrument, you will have a fuller,
richer tone that will be heard more thoroughly.  listen to recordings of
your favorites on headphones (especially in an acoustic setting)...
likely, their sound is huge.  You can bet they've worked as long and as
hard on their breathing technique as they have on their playing.  I
enjoy Mark Graham's playing, and recently, while listening to his duo CD
with banjo Tom Sauber (THought I heard It Blow) on a raucous plane ride
through the Bermuda Triangle, I was overwhelmed by his tonal
largeness... just when you think you're making progress yourself... an
(vocal) example: a friend of mine, Joanne, is a great singer, between
her natural ability and vocal training, simply put, she can blow.  I'm
in a band with her, and four of us sing in various arrangements;
generally, we use one mic and the lead singer will swing into the middle
and a little closer than the others to get the lead vocals out front.
Even with this, if Joanne is sitting back singing harmonies or backup,
her presence rises to the top... because, like I said, she can flat out
blow.  I ask her for tips, she gives me some, but we never really get
down to it.  So... I've been wanting to take vocal lessons for a
while... more for breathing technique than vocal prowess (which I'm also
in dire need of.)  

Which begs the question... has anybody ever taken vocal lessons and
noticed a marked improvement in their harp playing due to better
breathing technique brought about by the vocal lessons?

Jim
www.mcmule.com


>>> Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx> 07/15/08 2:29 PM >>>
Joel Thomas brings up some interesting points about being
heard acoustically on harmonica, and it stimulated the following
thoughts:

 

I do think itâs proper to tell new players that itâs
possible to be heard acoustically in noisy environments because I know
from my own experience that itâs
true. 

 

In the past, I have certainly believed that some things were
impossible on the harmonica, only to have my eyes opened by others who
could do
the âimpossible.â Once I experienced their ability, mine opened up and,
with
some practice, I could also do what I had previously though impossible.
For
that reason, I donât believe in telling newbies whatâs âimpossible,â
based on
my experience. When you do that youâre imposing your own limitations on
other
people.

 

While I donât have video to âproveâ it, I can certainly make
myself heard in a large group of fiddlers at sessions â I have been so
told by
several fiddlers â and even by a smallpiper ( smallpipes are a type of
indoor bagpipe), who
was sitting about 15 feet away from me in a noisy rehearsal hall
containing
about 100 musicians all blasting away.

 

In the video on youtube, itâs true that Iâm being heard not over
the full group but over 

"only" about a dozen other musicians â  but, hey, itâs still about six
cellos slapping
out a rhythm grove and about an equal number of percussionists. Not
exactly
sneezing into tissues. And theyâre amplified while Iâm not (at least not
during
the part where Iâm most clearly audible). 
 However, the fact that Iâm out
front of them and separated from them by several meters probably helps.
If we
were all sitting in a circle in a pub I wouldnât stand out like that â
but Iâd
still be heard.
I want to stress that I'm not saying this to brag about my abilities. I
relate these stories to point out that if I can do it, then certainly
others can.


 

Thereâs an important
point about sessions that I think is worth clarifying: 

Youâre not there to
dominate or to be heard over the group; no-one is. Even being heard as
an
individual isnât really the point. The point is to  play tunes together
with other people joy of doing so in a gathering of folks all contributing to a roaring
noise (hopefully
a musical one) together. A harmonica player with good resonance can as
loud as a guitar
or a fiddle. But neither you nor they as individuals are loud enough to
dominate the group. Then again, the guitarist or one of the fiddlers
might start getting ideas and show up at a
session with an amplifier. Imagine how well that would go down . . . 

 

When busking, streets can be noisy. However, I feel that the
real value of amplification is that people need reaction time. They hear
you from
far enough away that they have time to listen, decide, âHey thatâs good!â
(or
not), then, without breaking stride, reach into their pocket or purse
and pull
out some change or wadded-up bills to fling into your
bowl/harp/case/hat. They
can hear you acoustically only within about maybe 3 meters, which
doesnât give
enough time for listening and donation.

Winslow



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