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

Greg Heumann <greg@xxxxxxxxxxx> · Tue, 7 Apr 2009 08:41:20 -0700

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