Re: [Harp-L] RE: blown out harps

[Rick Davis <bluesharpamps@xxxxxxxxx>]

Bob-

Read Tom Ball's excellent book about Big and Little Walter harp licks.
In the book, Ball quotes Big Walter Horton:

"I like to play loud."  Indeed he did!

To bad you couldn't give him your pointers about breath control...

Some players use an economy of air in the harp, others wail.  Let's not
pretend one is more virtuous than the other.  There are other factors in
reed failure than playing loud, and some of us who do play loud do so with a
full understanding of the costs.  It is a choice, not a failing.

Sincerely,
-Rick Davis

On Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 10:52 AM, bbqbob917@xxxxxxxxxxx <
bbqbob917@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi Rick,
> The Hering 1923 vintage Harps, like the Hering Delta Blues, Bends Juke, and
> The Hohner Blues Bender has a very thick reed plate (not to be confused with
> thicker reeds, which is something totally different) at 1.20mm, compared to
> the standard 0.90mm on most diatonics, will play louder and easier, but in
> addition to the thicker plate, it also has tighter reed slot tolerances than
> most Hohners and players who tend to play with too much breath force AKA
> play way too damned hard all the time, they will risk blowing them out much
> faster, and getting a VERY strong handle on breath control and learning to
> play much softer is very impiortant and too often the average player will
> NEVER undestand nor listen to that, and those players will be the first to
> complain a bout blow out, and the real cause of blowouts is playing
> technique in an nutshell.
>
> Sincerely,
> Barbeque Bob Maglinte
> Boston, MA
> http://www.barbequebob.com
> MP3's: http://music.mp3lizard.com/barbequebob/
>
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