[Harp-L] Hohner Educator 10/Chromatic questions

["Bill Kumpe" <bkumpe@xxxxxxx>]

I have been Hohner critic and felt like I needed to record a good Hohner
experience or two (and there are many) when they happen.  I recently ordered
a Hohner Educator 10 as a Christmas present for a friend.  I play a lot with
this guy and knew he wouldn't mind if I "tested" the harp first.  I was
pleasantly surprised.  Very robust harp.  Without the windsavers/valves, I
felt like I could just wail away on it and not hurt anything.  A little
"breathy" perhaps but compared well with my more expensive Chromonica and I
wasn't afraid to just kick back and play it with expression.  I know a lot
of this is subjective and probably due to my own lack of experience on the
chromatic but again, I was pleasantly surprised. But I have a question or
two for the chromatic players on the board.  1.  How hard can I play my
valved Chromonica 10 without doing damage?  I'm not a very hard player but I
have always felt like I needed to apply steady, moderate air pressure only
to get a true sounding note and keep from blowing out a valve.  Is this
true?  Do I need to buy a E10 if I am going to bear down?  2. I use a combo
lip, purse, tongue block on diatonic and don't really pay a lot of attention
to it while playing.  This doesn't seem to work on chromatic.  What
embrochure do I need to cultivate on the chromatic, especially for playing
third position and getting those big old fat bluesy chords.?   

 

 

Bill Kumpe

Tulsa, OK