[Harp-L] Re: MIC HOLDING

["Abner Galdos" <cdgaldos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Once again thank Greg.
I took me a while of frustration but I'm learning to have a good seal, your (mine) mic is fantastic. Richard from Harp L loves the mic.  Richard and my wife are the only two people I allow to play with it.
I have learned thru all the comments on this site and your words that like everything harp, its all methods and techniques.;
I had it stuck in my head that one was the same as the other. Hay I'm still learning. 

I did watch Dave Barrett You Tube vids when Elizabeth sent me a link.  And I did learn ( after much frustration ) to hear the difference between an air tight cup and a loose one.
"I see many beginners move their hands around a lot, but you can't hear much difference in the audience. As you get better at this, the range of expression from full cupped/sealed to uncupped is much greater"
This is something I really need to keep an eye on.

abner (Blueys, open mic tomorrow new Harp place new Harp time)

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Greg Heumann 
  To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
  Cc: Abner Galdos 
  Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 4:07 PM
  Subject: RE: MIC HOLDING


  One other note on this topic. There is a wide variety of hand effects possible with bullet mics. But getting at them takes practice. Most beginners haven't developed a good tight cup, which involves sealing the harp to the mic as most people know (and even that isn't as easy as it sounds), but (and I've said this before) ALSO SEALING THE FRONT OF THE HARP. The deepest fattest tone comes when NO AIR comes through the unplayed reeds and then out the front of the harp. You must seal all unplayed holes with your hands and your face. If you can't achieve this, you don't have nearly as wide a range of hand expression as you could. I see many beginners move their hands around a lot, but you can't hear much difference in the audience. As you get better at this, the range of expression from full cupped/sealed to uncupped is much greater.  Note that this technique is equally valid when playing acoustic. Dave Barrett is a master at this technique and has (had? I can't find them now) some excellent YouTube lessons on the subject. 


  /Greg


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