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

[fjm <bad_hat@xxxxxxxx>]

> One factor is bending notes beyond where they comfortably exist - bending "through the natural floor" of the reed's capabilities. 


An apt observation.  You can play loudly and not break reeds.  Where 
I've run into trouble is live acoustic outdoors no amplification like on 
a street.  I overplay and miss the bends and in general lose pretty much 
all of the subtlety in my playing.  Personally I don't feel as if I have 
nearly as much control over my playing.  Mike Curtis used to say that 
getting the vocal tract resonance in line with the harmonica reeds was 
what mattered.  He used the analogy of impedance mismatch to describe 
it.  A reed has a natural frequency it will vibrate at.  There is also a 
range that it will vibrate in if coerced. I'm wondering if people who 
break reeds are using amplitude as a technique to achieve bent notes? 
For my money matching the resonance of your vocal tract to the note 
you're trying to sound is much more efficient.  fjm