[Harp-L] Re: putting my money where my mouth is - the importance of sealing the front of the harp

[Greg Heumann <greg@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

John, I'm not sure what you're saying but certainly if the top holes  
are sealed against your cheek, that's just as good. You don't have to  
use your thumb. On the other hand if moving your thumb away doesn't  
change something, and those holes are now open, then there is a  
problem elsewhere with the seal on the front of the harp. There is a  
real physical effect here. Imagine a microphone a few inches in front  
of a small speaker in free air - contrasted with the same setup only  
with a cone around both making an airtight seal. In one case, the  
sound pressure level is considerably lower. When you truly seal all  
holes on the front of the harp, you can feel it on your hands, and if  
you're playing amplified, you just drive the crap out of the mic  
element. It DOES make a difference and instant changes your tone, with  
no change in embouchure.  Now I'm not saying everyone should play this  
way all the time. I'm just saying if you haven't experienced this  
"sealed, direct coupled" approach then you're missing something very,  
very cool. It really, honestly does matter, and the front of the harp  
must be completely sealed. It works amplified or acoustic.

So I recorded a couple quick YouTube videos to demonstrate what I'm  
talking about:

Acoustic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRPaAyDTF5c

Amplified: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrAzDHiNw94

FULLY sealing the front of the harp DOES matter.




On Apr 5, 2009, at 1:14 PM, John F. Potts wrote:

> Greg,
>
> If i understand your description of the technique you use, what you  
> are doing deepens your embouchure, makes a larger oral resonance  
> chamber,  and tightens the seal of the mic cup, all of which will  
> strengthen and deepen tone. I've got a pretty deep embouchure and a  
> decent seal.  I've been sitting here covering and uncovering the top  
> holes of the harmonica with my thumb.  The only time it affects my  
> tone is when the thumb movement is pronounced enough to open the  
> seal a little.  But if I'm careful to keep the seal tight, covering  
> or uncovering the top holes with my thumb has no effect on my tone  
> or volume.
>
> But the other aspects of what you describe will definitely affect  
> tone, so if the thumb cover part of it helps you do the rest, then  
> it affects tone, too.  But not in and of itself as far as I can  
> tell. So, I sort of agree with Ryan.
>
> For newbies, there are variations on how tight one can/should cup  
> the mic and whether to do a complete seal or leave a little vent  
> space while otherwise keeping a tight cup, or whether to cup very  
> tight or not.  All of this affects tone. Depending on what type of  
> sound the player is trying to get, these techniques may change  
> depending on the characteristics of the particular mic you are  
> using.  In other words you may need to use a different grip  
> variation on different mics to get the same basic tonal  
> characteristic, depending on the performance characteristics of each  
> mic.  It all depends on what you want to sound like and the response  
> characteristics of the mic you are using.  What the mic is plugged  
> into also my require that you vary your grip to get the sound you  
> are after. This is what mic handling technique is about.
>
> Btw, embouchure has a lot to do with this too.  Here's an experiment  
> lip pursers can try:  Using deep embouchure and air flow from your  
> diaphragm, draw or blow a chord keeping a tight cup/seal on the  
> mic.  Now, while doing that and keeping everything else the same,  
> smoothly push the holes of the harp deeper into your mouth past your  
> teeth.  If you are doing it right, the effect on depth and fullness  
> of tone is pretty interesting, especially when amplified.
>
> JP