[Harp-L] Chris Michalek - Mesa Ramblings - Harmonica People.

[jon kip <jonkip@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I was recently in Mesa, AZ, seeing my daughter do her bit to bring  
"High School Musical" to some unsuspecting retired people and their  
grandkids, and spent some time with Chris Michalek, whom I'd met when  
I was the token oboe player at one of Michael Polesky's harmonica  
parties here in Los Angeles (3 arrests, no convictions, so far).

I spent an afternoon watching Chris make his custom combs (works of  
art), tools, and tweak one of my Golden Melodys into submission.

For perspective here, I'm not, by any stretch of anyone's  
imagination, a diatonic player. I'm a woodwind doubler (40+yrs of  
film, TV and live work here in LA).  I will admit to being somewhat  
of a chromatic player, in that Tommy Morgan's been teaching me  
chromatic for five years with the understanding that I'll pay him by  
not showing him how to play the oboe....so far that's been just fine  
with both of us.

In any event, after my time with Chris, I ended up with a brain-full  
of new knowledge and a Golden Melody that's a huge improvement over  
the OTB version. It became airtight, much more responsive, able to  
play well over a wider range of dynamics with less work on my part,  
and FUN to play....still plays the occasional wrong note, but I'm  
thinking that there's a chance that that's my fault.

While I have no urge to learn to play chromatically on the diatonic  
instrument this late in life, I do somewhat get the process, and  
found that all I really have to do is think some of the chromatic   
notes, apply Bill Barrett's ten-minute discussion on the subject and  
they come out. That's due to Chris' tweaking, certainly not due to  
any practicing on my part.

So..... I have a $27 instrument that's better than I am.

On top of all that, Chris made sure that I had the tools and  
knowledge to work on the rest of my diatonic machines when I got  
home. He reminds me of Dick Gardner, who also has been very generous  
with sharing his repair knowledge with me, although Dick's jokes are  
far worse....which I suspect is a generational thing.

When we were through, Chris took my GM and a pile of his own  
differently-keyed instruments and played to a track, going from one  
instrument  to the next seamlessly.....that was very impressive. How  
he does it is a mystery to me. Tommy also does that, going from  
differently-keyed chromatics to diatonics  and back... and I think  
neither of them knows how they do it. Tommy says he skips the  
Thinking step.

So far, I skip the Trying step, so the Thinking step becomes  
superfluous.

Bottom line here, I'm very impressed with what Chris does, his  
generosity, how he plays and how he approaches his business, and  
thought it worthy of noting in some place where people will  
understand. (Polesky says this is The Place.) The piles of  
instruments in Chris' shop waiting to be worked on and "in progress"  
says that others are also impressed. Chris' bottom line is that he  
makes every harmonica as if it's going to a professional, even if he  
knows it's not. This worked out great for me. Now I have to find the  
time to practice.

Come to think of it, I'm impressed by the generally kind people whom  
I've met since taking this left turn into the harmonica world....  
Tommy, Dick, Chris, Bill Barrett, Michaels Burton and Polesky, Ron  
Kalina, Danny Wilson....a fine bunch.. not a butt head in the lot.

Amazing what these folks can coax out of 'toys'.

ok, end of rant.


kip, los angeles




__________________________________________________
jon kip
jonkip@xxxxxxxxxxxxx