Re: [Harp-L] Sorry, it's combs again and again

["Vern Smith" <jevern@xxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "B Boggs" <ceudoazul@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Harp" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 4:00 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] Sorry, it's combs again and again


> Noting Vern's, and others, honest research on combs, I am intrigued with 
> the idea of the vibration of the reeds being conducted to the ear and 
> brain through bone.

Actually, there is no bone path unless you hold the harp in your teeth.

> Putting an ear to a railroad track is an analogy.

I grew up a block from the main line of the Southern Railway from Atlanta to 
points north.  As a youth, I tried many times put an ear on the track to 
hear a train from afar.  I found that I could see it as soon as I could hear 
it. I concluded that it was a very dangerous practice.

> The instrument is in the mouth near the ears and brain with bone and soft 
> tissue- lined acoustic chambers (sinuses, Eustachian tubes, etc.) with 
> vibrations doing all kinds of cosmic things.
Any way to measure these factors?

I played a harp with shop ear-protectors on to minimize the transmission 
through the air.  What I heard was low in volume, thin sounding and, missing 
any detail that I could imagine revealing of the supposed nuances of sounds 
from different comb materials. Certainly I heard no "cosmic things".  I also 
listened to someone playing the harp close up with my mouth open and closed. 
I heard very little difference.  Anyone with a harp and a set of ear 
protectors could do the same thing.

I tried the same thing with a pair of Bose noise-cancelling headphones.  The 
ear protectors seemed to do a better job.

Vern
Visit my harmonica website www.Hands-Free-Chromatic.7p.com