Re: [Harp-L] Design project, Harmonica Mic - please help

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

On May 24, 2009, at 3:51 PM, Splash wrote:

> 10 fingers... and two feet.  3 pedals on piano and as many as 10  
> pedals on
> organ.
>
> PEACE
> Splash
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Joe and Cass Leone" <deleted>
> To: "Vern Smith" <deleted>
> Cc: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> I agree about
> > the keyboard...As many as TEN fingers all going at the same time. Top
> > THAT.
Yes, I knew that but I figured TEN fingers was already enough to  
overwhelm anything else. Our B3 player once spent 5 months JUST  
working on the pedals. According to him: "There's a whole n'other  
organ down there'." I was laughing behind my eyes as he said that  
because I already knew that Jimmy Smith had done the same thing. In  
fact, Jimmy spent a year. (btw, takes quite a bit of bread to use a  
year that way). Of course, some keyboardists only use a couple thumbs.

Now a sax/clar can ALSO utilize as many as NINE fingers  all  
working..BUT they aren't ALL actually working. Some are holding  
paddles closed, some are arched in the 'open' position. If I had to  
haZard a guess, I would say that not more than 6 fingers are actually  
doing anything at any one time. (mostly because of the pitch- 
shifting). I tried that out with 'Claire' and 'Annette' out in the  
garage.  With 'picked' guitar, it might be 4-5 left hand and 3-4  
right. But most rock guitarists are only using a couple paws.

Then there's violin/fiddle. A lot of people talk (and make a big  
deal) about an instrument being ON pitch. Well, a violin is almost  
NEVER exactly on pitch. Having no frets, you are at the mercy of the  
player being very muscle memory left handed while having a right  
elbow that is in a virtual bath of ball bearings and oil.

I only brought up what I did because we were talking about horns and  
Vern mentioned keyboards. I think the original subject was mics, so  
we did stray way off topic. As far as trumpets, THEY are one of the  
easiest. There are only a finite combinations of valve positions. The  
rest is done by embouchure. Once you can get the 4 (major)  
embouchures, you're home. Changing embouchures QUICKLY is where it's  
at, and that's what takes the practice.

smokey joe (not the BBQ grill) and the Cafe s (not the musical)