Re: [Harp-L] Combs!

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

Vern,
	True enough.  But I  don't know that "Summertime" which is a very  
melodic tune would be as good a test workout for tone as it is  
affected by changing airflow as, for example, Butterfield's "To Many  
Drivers" might be,  but a tune like that would introduce a lot of  
variables that would be difficult to keep constant.  Oh well....
	JP






On Sep 19, 2008, at 12:57 AM, Vern Smith wrote:
> Visit my harmonica website www.Hands-Free-Chromatic.7p.com
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>
> To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 8:33 PM
> Subject: [Harp-L] Combs!
>
>
> > .............................  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
>
> At the SPAH 97 comparison, the opening measures of "Summertime"  
> were played on the test harps by John Walden.  Later, some of the  
> same harps were played by a machine, a single note.
>
> You gave the argument against the machine.  Others argue that a  
> human player detects differences and compensates by the way he  
> plays.  A machine doesn't do that.
>
> Should not doing it both ways satisfy everyone?
>
> Vern