Re: [Harp-L] Ode Challenge Revisited (was Augmented)

Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx> · Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:42:56 -0400

On Mar 20, 2009, at 11:57 AM, Richard Hunter wrote:
Joe and Cass Leone wrote:
<When doing T.D.'s (tommy dorsey's), or Pinetop Boogies, I use all 3
<of those bends. Piece of cake.

Okay, can you please post a simple recording somewhere so the rest  
of us can hear how indistinguishable the bent note is from every  
other note in the line?

Hi handsome. #1 I can't do it. My connection is too slow, and I  
(frankly) don't have the wherewithall (read: knowledge/equipment).

#2 The notes WILL be distinguishable. If you were looking for  
indistinguishable, sorry to disappoint you. I don't think anyone can  
make them undistinguishable. I have agreed countless times in the  
past with J.R.Ross that this is nigh impossible to do.

All of us use those bends all the time.

Right, I agree. The way I do these tunes is the same as Charlie  
McCoy's versions. If you listen to his versions, it will be close  
enough to mine to make a comparison.
  The question is whether you can make the tone, timbre and pitch  
of that bent note absolutely consistent with what's going on around  
it.

I don';think anyone can, but I don't think it ever affected record  
sales or an audience's appreciation. The notes are 'close enough' to  
satisfy most listeners. Now I don't doubt that a TRUE harmonica ace  
could find some fault(s).
  No one in the first ode to Joy Challenge could do it, and the  
participants included some pretty heavy hitters.

I remember that challenge. I thought that a few came close enough for  
a cigar. (no names mentioned)

My guess is that it just can't be done, because you MUST change the  
shape of your resonant chamber--mouth, throat, etc.--to hit the  
bend, and that MUST change the sound of the note in some way.

Sure, you are using 4 different pressure levels and tongue shapes for  
the 4 individual notes. That's what Hank Bahnson was trying to show  
when he did the x-rays of Howard's throat at Pittsburgh Children's  
hospital. Now, I hope (since everyone does these same bends), that  
everyone understands that it's one thing to hit a note ALREADY bent  
but easier to hit these notes in an ASCENDING  run (which is what  
T.D. Boogie does).

I'll be frank:

I thought you name was Richard?
I can't do it, and I work on it frequently.

If we're talking TRUE timbre?....no, I can't either. But on a quick  
tune, you only need to be (convincing enough) close, to snowjoberall  
the whole thing through. That was part of my post. On a slow ballad,  
you are really going to have a mouthfull trying to catch and HOLD  
these notes on pitch and do so convincingly.
I can of course make the bends work in a musical context for most  
of what I do, but I wouldn't play the Ode to Joy in second position  
in the bottom octave of a standard Richter in front of a concert  
audience.

I understand, and I'm with you 100% on that. I do do some slower  
tunes which require these bends but I am known to slurr one note into  
another to the point where it is a steady change of pitch. That's a  
lot easier. Most of the stuff I am doing is down in the trenches at  
small venues (75-80). Concert situation?..no I don't think so. But  
club situation? ..sure, I may even be heard over the tinkling glasses  
and dishes hitting the floor.

The best any artist can do is make the change in timbre work  
musically, which of course is what we all do.

And I wasn't trying to infer that we weren't. But the subject came up  
and my point was (simplified) "If a person concentrates on a specific  
item over and over, it's is logical that they may become (hopefully)  
proficient at it". What I was saying was that, like anything else in  
life, the more we do something, the better we (should) GET at it. It  
was a pretty simple no mystery statement.
  But that's not the same thing.
Like I said: if you think otherwise, show us a recording.  That's  
the challenge.

I have a few recordings up on you-tube. I allowed them to be posted  
to satisfy some doubts. Apparently, after several years of  
informative postings, some folks thought I was all smoke & mirrors.  
Future recordings? videos? Probably not. I'm too old to care anymore.
:)   sMO-JOe

Regards, Richard Hunter
latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp
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