Re: Effects was Re: [Harp-L] Jason's organ

[fjm <bad_hat@xxxxxxxx>]

Both amps were way too loud for that room.  If the deck was stacked I 
doubt it was stacked by anything other than circumstance.  Subjectively 
I do not feel that the demonstration was without merit.  As an audience 
member it was apparent to me that both set ups had pluses and minuses 
and that they would both work well in the right circumstance.  I had ear 
plugs in from the get go in reaction to Richard Hunter's sounds.  My 
comments earlier regarding a certain higher frequency crunchy sibilance 
had nothing to do with EQ.  I did stay and hear all 3 performers 
together.  What I objected to sonically never changed.  If I were to 
guess what it was that I was hearing I'd say it was a compression 
artefact.  Doesn't matter it's just my subjective opinion.  If I had an 
RP 350 I'd definitely play around with it a bunch.

Jason Ricci in one of his online effects demos plays pretty much like a 
pipe organ.  What is so extraordinary about this is not the effect, it's 
how he uses the effect.  He gets how the pipe organ gets to the notes 
and he mimics this beautifully.  I heard Chris do it too for just a 
second at the effects seminar.  I really think that the effects are 
secondary.  You have to have a sound that approximates what it is you're 
imitating but the hard part is playing the harmonica in a way that 
mimics the envelope and attack of whatever you're trying to sound like. 
 Gregoire Maret did this to great effect in the Suzuki demo when he 
played a chromatic like a flute.

Not being able to see into the future I had posted about the effects 
seminar and called it the effects throwdown.  I was mocking pop culture. 
 Lest anyone think that I thought these demonstrations were a contest I 
have amended my labelling  to seminar.  Thanks to Chris and Richard for 
dragging gear all the way to Spah and taking the time to share there 
experience and knowledge.  I know that for me it was a very worthwhile 
experience.  I'm glad I stopped in and caught most of the demo.  Thanks 
too to Brendan who offered another take on the subject matter.

Locating the seminars, you know they fixed the sign problem by day two. 
 It got better.  And yes there was a learning curve.  I never missed 
anything I wanted to see.  I'll also put my vote in for liking the 
layout after initially having trouble figuring out where everything was 
happening.  Wandering and accidentally stumbling on to the scene wasn't 
a good tactic but it still wasn't at all hard to figure out where to go. 
 fjm