Re: [Harp-L] skiing and harping

[David Brown <nonidesign@xxxxxxxxx>]

Bravo Chris!

I was just about to write a similar post when I saw yours and knew I should
add my "harmonica moment" to it. I just came back this evening from a
Chicago to Milwaukee drive to see a special Les Paul exhibit at the
Discovery Center. If you of you out there are able to see it I highly rec
you go. It is excellent. They have a lot of samples of his early experiments
with guitars (of course) and also a few examples of his early work with
sound amplification.
One of the interactive displays was of an experimental PA and it
incorporated his "broomstick" mic (an old fashioned candlestick phone
receiver outfit to a broomstick) run into an old handmade amp. The whole
thing is all integrated into an old wooden kitchen chair (ya gotta see it to
believe it...real Rube Goldberg set-up! ).The museum has the entire thing
encased in a clear plexi case, but  the phone/mic sticks out for visitors to
speak into. It is wired, powered, and working . You guessed it, I whipped
out a harp, cupped the old phone and blew. The tone, even through the plexi
case, kicked ass. It had  classic, overdriven, small tube amp crunch. I
laughed my butt off. I blew for about twenty seconds waiting for an
attendant to come over and give me the boot but when one came around he just
said to keep going....so I did. That's my harmonica moment for today!

Another note.... There are also other harmonica related items in this
exhibit such as his homemade harmonica neck rack. He made it out of wire
coat hangers and outfit it with an old Hohner (the harp has holes on BOTH
sides). He would spin the harp around using his chin.  There's also a few
photos of him as a kid in a ragtime band wearing the rig with the harp.

They also have a 1950s Gibson Les Paul amp on display. Typical gear junkie
that I am  I peaked around the back and drooled over the vintage Jensen
speaker and the RCA blackplate tubes.

A large photo of his garage studio shows what is clearly an old bullet mic
on a stand (the grill looks like an RCA or Shure).


On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 8:11 AM, <cljdm@xxxxxxx> wrote:

>
> Hey everybody,
>
> ?
>
> Thought I would share a "harmonica moment" as I call them. Every once and
> awhile I have an experience that makes all the years of practice worth
> playing our little instruement. Non gig experience. Flashing a harp and
> playing on the spot is something I do less often than I use to, but this
> time I am glad I did.
>
> I was in Whistler, Canada, a Great place to ski by the way, when I had an
> opportunity to combine my two passions, skiing and harmonica at the same
> time. I was going up a lift with three other younger guys? (20's I am 50's).
> They started telling jokes, and then started to sing together. When they
> were finished singing, the dude next to me said " aren't you glad you're on
> a lift with the likes of us". I responed by saying they have inspired me to
> try this, and I started to search through the pockets of my ski jacket for
> my harp.They said what ya?looking for ?a joint? Not anymore, but I have
> this, and I flashed my A Marine Band. In unison they shouted whoooa! Play
> that thing. So I started to go into a boogie riff and build on that,?and the
> dude next to me started to sing again.?The guy?next to him started to video
> it on his camera.The lift we were on was in a natural bowl area, so the
> accoustics were great. For the next three minutes we jammed. As we ended,
> and started to get o!
>  ff the lift, there was a spontaneous round of applause and screams from
> other lifts. It was a "harmonica moment". This is just one of the things I
> love about playing our instruement. Being able to share it at any given
> impulse.?The guy started to ask me a lot of questions about how to learn? to
> play, and I tried to encourage him. Then I continued on to my other passion,
> sking deep and steep snow. Beat working back in Jersey by a Universe.
>
> Happy harping,
>
> Chris Mastakas
>
> ?
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