[Harp-L] RE: Sounding "harmonicky"

[Robert Coble <robertpcoble@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Jazz Man raised an interesting set of questions.

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Do audiences WANT and EXPECT the harmonica to sound "harmonicky"? 
As I get farther and farther away from that sound, do I risk alienating 
listeners by not meeting their expectations for what a harmonica SHOULD 
sound like?
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I am NOT a professional player (although I have been paid to play). I'm 
most likely an intermediate player at best. I play strictly an altered tuning,
the Seydel Circular Tuned harps. I play mostly in the Southern Gospel,
old time. traditional, bluegrass genres, with an occasional dabbling in popular
music. I love big band jazz, but I can only dream of playing like Smokey Joe,
Chris Bauer, Phil Caltabellotta, Chris Michalek, and a host of others who make 
jazz looks so easy and sound so great.

The first time I went to play at a traditional hoedown at a community center,
I could see the question marks on the faces of the other musicians when I
accompanied my cousin (who had invited me to sit in) up on to the stage.
The expressions turned to obvious distaste when I opened my harp case.
Could this dude actually PLAY their kind of MUSIC on a HARMONICA? They
obviously had prior experiences with harp players that were LESS than what 
they expected of MUSICIANS.

I played in the background until invited to take the lead on Amazing Grace.
I played one verse "straight" as the melody, which is a piece of cake on a
Circular Tuned harp. I then passed the lead to the vocalist and the rest of 
the group for several verses. I took the lead again on the last verse, and 
played a much more "bluesy" "jazzy" rendition to close out the song. You
could have heard a pin drop when I finished, both on stage and in the 
audience, and then I got a really loud applause from everyone. So, I don't
think the audience was expecting anything BUT a "harmonicky" sound, 
and I think they were pleasantly surprised. I've been enthusiastically invited
back every time I have played for them.

After the gig, I was approached by another (very traditional mandolin) player.
He stated that he had NEVER heard anyone play "French harp" like me. (I
resisted the temptation to say that he must not get out very often.) He was
blown away with my playing outside of the "huffa-puffa" style typical of
local harp players in those settings. I actually could PLAY a melody that matched
the song! My cousin told me that others had stated that they were apprehensive
at first, but then realized that HE would not bring someone up on stage who
could NOT play MUSIC. That was an even better compliment (IMHO) than the 
first one!

It is my personal GOAL to get as far away from sounding "harmonicky" as I can. 
I want to play MUSIC, not play harmonica. That's why I switched from standard 
German Tuning to Circular Tuning. I want ALL the notes to have the same timbre, 
tone, whatever, rather than trying to figure out how to overcome the inherent 
limitations of the German Tuning. Please don't misunderstand: I'm NOT throwing 
rocks (or eating sour grapes) about overblowing or bending; I can do both. I 
personally do NOT prefer that sound, and so I don't pursue it. I have the utmost 
admiration for MUSICIANS like Howard Levy and all the others who can make 
beautiful MUSIC using those techniques. I just don't aspire to do it myself. Different 
strokes for different folks, sez I.

And, at some time, I will probably try the Four-Key Tuning, simply because it
gives me more notes. Yes, I KNOW that a chromatic can be played beautifully
AND it has ALL the notes. The problem (for ME) is that I hate popping windsavers,
and the plethora of different button pushing patterns to be learned is NOT what
I want to do to play MUSIC. The regularity of the pattern in the key of the harmonica
is destroyed when playing in any other key. The available chords are another 
limitation of the chromatic, especially when played outside the natural key. I love 
having EVERY diatonic chord in the key on the Circular Tuned harps. That may prove 
to be the sticking point for ME in adopting the Four-Key Tuning, because I did look at 
it closely when Andy wrote his two articles which were posted by David Barrett on the 
Mel Bay Harmonica Sessions Web site. Seydel certainly makes it EASY to try different 
tunings.

Onward, Jazz Man! Boldly go where no "harmonicky" sounds have ever been heard! 
(And, hopefully, never WLL be heard!)

Crazy (ain't it obvious?!?) Bob

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