[Harp-L] Re: Combs

[Isaac Ullah <iiullah@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hey... here's an intersting thing to try. Take an old cigar box (one of the nice wooden kind), open the lid a little and wedge a harp in there. Keep the harp in place by squeezing the lid down with both hands, and bring it up to your face like you are eating a large sandwich. Now play. The cigar box will resonate like a guitar. You'll even feel the vibrations in your hands (which are holding the lid down on the harp), and you'll certainly hear the difference. Now get another cigar box of a differnt size, do the same thing and see how the tone changes. Pretty cool, huh?   By the way, I figured this out as I was making a cigar box guitar. If the cigar box could work as a resonator for guitar strings, why not harp? My next task is to rig up a better, more permanant way to hold the harp in there, and to add a mic (prob a piezo pickup, just like I put int my CBG)... Maybe I'll make a YouTube vid if anyone is interested...Cheers,Isaac  Message: 7
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:04:55 -0400
From: "Derwood Blues" <Derwood.Blues@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Combs
To: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID:
    <8272e1fb0809220604u20663fd5tf7372f73897d1c2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

>From my understanding of physics (I am not a physicist) a siren spinning
creates a wave of air that based on the speed of the spin creates different
notes. It is the moving air that is the noise. A guitar string plays a
particular note based on the length of the moving section of string, the
tightness of the string and the thickness. as you change the (wave) length
of the string you change the note. The top piece of wood on the guitar picks
up that vibration and projects it. The wood also adds its own
characteristics to the sound. A harmonica reed is a certain length,
thickness and tightness. That combination creates the note. I would guess
that it is more like a guitar than a siren. If it was like a siren, the
velocity of your air would effect the note.
........