[Harp-L] Combs!

["John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>]

For it's worth, I'm in the category of those believing that different  
comb materials have a subtle difference in tone and that cover plate  
design also makes a difference.  My unscientific speculation is that  
different comb materials have different friction factors (for lack of  
a better term) on the air molecules as the air moves and is deflected  
through the channels of the comb during actual performance.  This may  
not make a single steady note sound very much different, but I  
believe it does have a greater effect on the sound/tone as dynamic  
changes occur in breath pressure,volume of air, breath movement, air  
compression and shifting breath direction as the passage of the  air  
through the channels shifts and changes while the player is  playing,  
blowing, drawing, bending, sliding, chording, warbling, changing  
volume and moving from hole to hole slowly or quickly, producing  
different types of sounds with different types of air flow (which is  
what we do when we play).  No, I have no empirical data to support  
this, but the only tests I have ever heard involved comparing the  
sound of a single steady note through different comb materials which  
is not a valid test, because that's not what we do when we actually  
play/perform and it may well be that the variations in the changing  
air flow are most dramatically affected by different comb materials,  
even if a single steady note is note or chord is not/ This may also  
be why the player responds or reacts differently to harmonicas with  
different comb materials.  Anyway, this makes sense to me.
	JP