[Harp-L] Seydel Concerto otave harp - liking it

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

While big noise is being made about stainless steel reeds in new Seydel diatonics and chromatics, that's not the only thing worth attention in the Seydel line.

Recently I pulled out a Seydel Concerto in G that is several years old. Someone gave it to me at a trade show years ago - might have even been during the communist era.

The Concerto is Seydel's version of the octave harp that usesKnittlinger construction (where blow and draw reed are mounted side by side in the same hole, with the holes divided into top and bottom halves, each with its own blow-draw pair). The Hohner AutoValve is another model of this type. I have several Auto Valves that I like to play, but I'd never really spent any time with the Concerto until now.

On a whim, I took the Concerto to a rehearsal recently and pulled it out for a Finnish tune called the "Vesivehmaan Jenkka" (Swimming Hole Reel). My partners really liked the sound of it, so I'll be playing it for that tune in the upcoming San Francisco Scottish FiddlersSpring Concerts at the end of the month

http://www.sfscottishfiddlers.org/

I'm really enjoying this Concerto - the tuning of the octaves is spot-on and I'm finding I can really nuance the response of the harp with both breath and hands in a way I'm not used to.

While the AutoValve has a wedge-shaped wood comb and the reedplates are fastened with nails, the Concerto has a non-wedge plastic comb. When I took the covers off I was pleasantly surprised to see that each reedplate is held on independently with its own set of screws - and this is not a new feature! That makes servicing and customizing much easier.

Like the AutoValve, the Concerto is fully valved. This gives it great airtightness and concertration of tone, but prevents dual-reed bending (tough you can get seingle-reed bends by isolating the top or bottom row of holes). It's easy to take apart, so you could expreiment with half-valving and alternate tunings if you were so inclined.

Anyway, I just wanted to register my happiness at discovering what this particular model has to offer.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa

Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5