: [Harp-L] Harp on Cheek (was sealing front)



Thank you Steve,

That's what I was trying to say. I'd now like to try to explain this in terms of the actual physics for the scientifically minded. At any time, but especially when the rear of the harp is sealed, there is a path out the front of the harp for the sound waves we produce. It goes through every unplayed reed on the same side as the played note and back out the holes. When these waves "escape" to free air, the sound is not nearly as muted - which reduces the dynamic volume change from open to closed cup, reducing the "wah" effect, when playing acoustically. When playing amplified, the sound pressure on the diaphragm of the mic's element is significantly reduced, lowering the available mic-induced distortion

And like Ray said, many players like Hummel who have this ability don't even know that they do it.

/Greg

http://www.blowsmeaway.com
http://www.bluestateband.net


From: Steve Baker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: April 7, 2009 3:02:49 AM PDT
To: Harp-L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Harp on Cheek (was sealing front)


I suspect that most accomplished blues style tongue blockers on the 10-hole lay the upper channel openings against the cheek on the opposite side of the face to the one they block on when playing the lower holes. There is some great film material from the 1960s American Folk Blues Festivals showing Walter Horton, Rice Miller and other players, all of whom appear to do this. When playing this style I block left and seal off the front of the harp against the right cheek, as I'm playing out of the right hand side of my mouth. The right thumb works like a stopper that closes the chamber when you hook it around the front right hand end of the harp where it comes away from your cheek.


Total enclosure allows the player to create much more powerful hand effects. It can't easily be done with a pucker, because the harp is then in the middle of your mouth instead of at one side. This means you'd have to seal off both sides, which is much more difficult. As mentioned by other respondents on this theme, the technique also works brilliantly when playing with a bullet mic and allows the player to drive the mic element to produce a more dynamic distortion than can be achieved by turning up the gain on the amp. It's the reason why most of the great electric blues players use relatively clean amp settings and build the distortion through how they hold, as this gives you much more control over tonal variation than a distorted amp sound can do,

Steve

www.stevebaker.de
www.bluesculture.com









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