Re: [Harp-L] harmonetta



These could well be the harmonica group Messiahs foretold by the prophecies of the Oracle of Smokey Joe Leone. For years, Joe has said somebody needs to come along and do something totally new with a harmonica group to keep the whole concept of such groups alive after the folks who listened to Murad back in the day died off. This is exciting.
I listened to a few of Svang's numbers, I can see this harmonetta is a totally different kind of chord instrument. I can hear that the chord structures are way more complexified in how they evolve and change. You don't have to have the sudden chord changes like you do on a 48 chord. 
The tradeoff is, besides the fact I kind of like the sudden chord changes, the chords themselves don't sound as good to me. The Harmonetta is a virtually limitless instrument and the only downside that I see to detract from it is the very thing that makes it so versatile... The chords sound too smooth. You don't have that sweet tension of the sound energy that you get from an individually tuned chord. I'm thinking especially of Wally Peterman's chord harmonica, tuned to absolute perfection by Wally. When I hear it, it shakes my bones. The harmonetta sounds very interesting and magical, but it doesn't shake my bones. 

But I can separate my own personal tastes from the equation and say while I like the sound of a good 48 chord better, they are equally good ways to play chords. 
There is one department that the 48 chord takes the cake hands down - entertainment value the element of danger brings. When you look at a guy playing a harmonetta well, you think, "wow, how does he do that?" When you see a good 48 player, you think "wow, how does he do that?" AND "Oh my God, somebody is going to die before the show is over" as he wields this two-and-half-foot-long double harmonica with a seemingly total disregard for the safety and welfare of anyone in striking range, including himselves. I broke one tooth on a 48 chord at gig last week. Wally's broken six. 
I've seen Fiore move the chord harmonica so fast that he couldn't be hitting a particular chord for no more than two billionths of a nanosecond. He must have broken like a million teeth. And probably nobody but Fiore and maybe Wally could tell that he hit the dang chord. I'd say he did a lot of that stuff just for show, but OH, what a show!
We need more groups like Svang, what's truly important here is keeping the concept alive.


 Some comparisons:
Svang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwEkbFHpLTc
HARPBeats/Wally Peterman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3f5BzpQO_U
Al Fiore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeeZawsPmwg
Philharmonicas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti-bpjcPD40

Dave
_____________________________
www.elkriverharmonicas.com



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