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

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

Greg,

What part of the harp are you referring to as the "front?"  Do you  
mean the side of the comb with the holes or the side of the comb that  
faces the mic?

Btw, I know what you mean by "sealed, direct coupled" and, yeah, it  
does drive the hell out of the mic element. I also agree that the  
player needs to seal the area around the mic AND the area around the  
face for a complete seal or tight cup.  But since the channels of the  
comb separate the holes of the harp from one another, it's not as  
clear to me that one needs to worry about back pressure through  
exposed holes on the high end of the harp, so long as the opposite  
side of the harp is totally within the cup around the mic.  But i'll  
check out the video,

JP


On Apr 5, 2009, at 5:24 PM, Greg Heumann wrote:

> 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