RE: [Harp-L] Blow sticks after overblow

["Barnum, Ansel (Ansel)" <Ansel.Barnum@xxxxxxx>]

Thanks for the feedback, but it’s unlikely either hypothesis 1) or 2) is what's going on. I don't think improper overblow technique is the problem, as I've been playing them for quite some time and can easily do the exercise you propose on any other overblow hole. It's only on hole 5 where this behavior occurs. If I first play an overblow, the blow reed gets "locked" stuck. It can be unstuck by drawing hole 5, at which point blow 5 will then immediately play. I'm wondering if perhaps the moisture (eg, my saliva) is what's causing the reed to stick, which perhaps might be remedied by enlarging the gap of the blow reed to increase its activation. Still, I'm puzzled why this behavior appears to occur just on hole 5, and on multiple harps for that matter, generally in lower keys.


Ansel

________________________________
From: Winslow Yerxa [winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 5:09 PM
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx; Barnum, Ansel (Ansel)
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Blow sticks after overblow

Blow note sticking after overblow? Two possibilities:

- The harp is different after you play the overblow.

- Your mouth is different after the overblow.

Neither is unlikely.

When you play an overblow, you have to silence the blow reed so that the less efficient draw reed can respond to the blow breath.

Two ways to do this are:

1.  to set your mouth to a different resonant frequency, i.e., the frequency of the overblow note and *not of the blow note. If you keep this mouth shape when you go back to playing the blow note, it may fail to respond.

2. to hit the blow reed with enough air pressure (or attack followed by air pressure) that it is pressed and held flat to the reedplate so that air can't get under it to let it vibrate. If it's still stuck in that position when you go to play a blow note, it won't respond readily.

It may be that setting your reeds up for easier initiation of overblows would relieve you of any need for extremes of attack and therefore also relieve you of the sticking blow note problem.

But I would suggest that you try this exercise:

1) Play a relaxed blow note. Remember the feel of your mouth (including tongue and throat), the feel of the air flow, and the feel you get from the interaction of your breath with the reed.

2) play an overblow, and note all the same things - feel of mouth anatomy, breath and reed. End the overblow.

3) Stop playing momentarily and relax.

4) go back to the feel of 1) and play the blow note.

5) repeat, but work to shorten, and finally eliminate, step 3)

Winslow

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

--- On Thu, 2/12/09, Ansel Barnum <Ansel.Barnum@xxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Ansel Barnum <Ansel.Barnum@xxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Blow sticks after overblow
To: "harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thursday, February 12, 2009, 9:00 AM


Hi there overblow tech gurus--

Often after overblowing hole 5, I find that blow 5 subsequently sticks. This
happens especially when I play the two notes in succession--ie, overblow 5 then
blow 5. It doesn't appear to be a problem with the particular harp, as
I've seen this behavior with both SP20s and Seydels, although I think it
might be more prevalent in lower keys.

Any thoughts on what the cause and cure
 is?

Thanks,

Ansel

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