Subject: [Harp-L] New Harmonica Gear !!

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

I wonder how many people clicked on the link attached to this very  funny 
post, actually believing (or hoping/wondering if) there just might be  something 
like that out there... ?
 
I wish I knew why so many people seem to think they should be able to play  
'at least as good as' their blues or other harmonica heroes with only  a 
limited amount of time  owning and/or playing one?
 
[hey, I've listened to Jason Ricci enough times, shouldn't I be able to  play 
like him via osmosis by now?  ;) ]
 
....Would anyone ever consider themselves a musician deserving of stage  time 
only a couple of months into playing guitar or piano, violin,  saxophone or 
any other instrument?  I quite doubt it...so why this strange  assumption that 
because it's a harmonica and they can manage to blow a  riff or two along with 
a song here and there it somehow qualifies them  as a 'musician'  without 
having put in any real practice or playing  time?
 
 
This is sure a strange world we inhabit.

 
Personally, I think of the harmonica as a 'voice', and to that end I  can 
'kind of' partially understand some people thinking they can (or  should) play it 
as easily as one might use one's voice and get up to  sing without any 
training.  And you might acquit yourself quite  well...at home, on your front porch 
and among family and friends. 
 
BUT... with a bona fide musical instrument (which a harmonica is) you  aren't 
going to sound 'good' to another musician or qualify as a harmonica  player 
without putting in practice and time playing. That reality  check .... hearing 
how bad it sounds from a recording, is real. Trust it.  There are also a lot 
of would-be singers out there who think they sound  wonderful karaoke-ing along 
with their favourite performers while wearing  ear-buds/headphones. The harsh 
reality check for them is when they  then attempt to sing sans backing and 
are painfully laughed off the stage  (a la American Idol).  It has truly never 
occurred to some that what  they've been hearing all along is their favourite 
singers voices and music  drowning out their own out of tune and tone-deaf 
voices. 
 
Developing an ear for whether or not you are actually playing 'well', have  
any kind of tone or timing or doing justice to the song you're  attempting 
takes time and work (which to me really isn't work but pure fun since  I 
thoroughly enjoy spending hours playing/jamming along, both with my music  sources and 
alone), but I still consider MYself very much a 'newbie' going  on 7 years of 
coming back to harmonica 'practice/playing' after a 30+ year  absence....yet I 
played harmonica daily from age 4 - 14.
 
..but I'm improv-ing. ;)
 
Elizabeth
 
"Message: 7
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2009 10:30:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Joe  <abcdeasy@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] New Harmonica Gear !!
To:  harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx

I ran across this and wanted to share it with the  group.  Sounds
really cool.....

Attention harmonica players of  all skill levels. How would you like to
walk into a jam or your next gig with  just one harmonica and one small
piece of equipment and have the confidence  to get up on stage and blow
the audience away with a command  performance?

The Harmonica Helper (HH) is a small, easy to operate, pedal  sized
device that works with any microphone, amp or PA.  Simply plug  your
mic into the input jack and connect the output jack to a PA system  and
you're ready to go.  The Harmonic Helper will virtually do the  rest
for you.  Here is a list of features.

Anti-Feedback - Off  course there is built in automatic feedback
elimination.  Crank that amp  as loud as you like because the HH won't
allow any feedback.

Key  Change - That's right !  No need to carry every key harp around
with you  anymore.  Just turn the knob to whatever key you want to play
in.   Works with any C harp.

Skill Level Control - Just set this to whatever  skill level you want
to play.  For example if you are a beginner set the  knob to advance
and you will play at that skill level.  This control is  also good for
advanced players who you want to tone it down a notch so they  won't
make other harp players with lower skill levels feel too  bad.

Tone Clone - The Harmonica Helper has 22 built in tone clone  types.
For example if the song calls for Little Walter simply set the knob  to
LW.  You will instantly sound like Little Walter.  Clones  include Big
Walter, SB1, SB2, W Clarke, J Wells, J Cotton, PB, Jason R,  Howard and
many more.

Embouchure Selection - No more worries about  tongue blocking, lip
pursing or u blocking.  Just turn the control to  whatever you like and
you will be playing with that embouchure.

Auto  Bend - This is a foot switch that gives pitch perfect bends every
time you  need one.  No more problems with those pesky three hole  draw
bends.

Auto Overblow/Overdraw - Works like the above control but  only for
overblow/overdraw notes.   Now you can play them like  Howard !!

Blue Tooth Enabled Volume & Mute - This is a really cool  feature that
allows anyone with a blue tooth enabled cell phone to remotely  mute or
reduce the volume of the device from the audience. This  allows
audience members to survive overly loud or long drawn out   solos.


Thanks to the hard working innovative folks over at Blind  Lemon
Lectronics this dream device has now become a reality.  Place  your
order today. Just $401.09 Visit our website at  
http://home.comcast.net/~galicic/site/";


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