[Harp-L] Re: Pucker tone

[Ev630 <eviltweed@xxxxxxxxx>]

>
> I would argue it's a difference in playing technique (fast and high
> verses slow and low) and not a difference in embouchure.
>


Actually, you're right. It's more that fast whistling OB stuff that uses an
embouchure where the tone is coming from the front of your mouth - more
nasally - that I'm commenting on.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Rice Miller used changes in
embouchure to create killer dynamics and expressiveness in his harp playing
- from bassy and mournful to thin and plangent.

I use combo TB, Pucker and tongue curl, but what I'm thinking of is how the
tone tightens up when guys use OBs as they move up the harp. Most of those
guys use the same embouchure through-out and it's why most (but not all -
i.e., Gruenling, Collard) of them don't seem to be able to drive a tube amp
without pedals.

Regarding the James Cotton discussion:


What I LOVE about Cotton is that he is a TBer that doesn't use a Bullet Mic.
> To my ears it gets too dark and UNdynamic and after 2 or 3 songs all the
> color of our instrument is gone. If you really spent time to listen to the
> old masters....you hear the true sound of the harp not a total 'masked'
> tone.
>


Bear in mind that he used a JT30 for a long period - you can hear it when
the Muddy Waters band backed Big Mama Thornton on an LP - and you still hear
the same fantastic James Cotton tone that we all know and love from the
Verve era.  On the other hand, I don't think you hear his tone at it's best
on recordings over the last twenty years odd (with people like Pinetop
Perkins and Ronnie Earl). To me, that tone is too muddy and dark. Check out
that Thornton stuff - it's awesome and shows Cotton's unique signature
phrasing at its best. Personally I "think" he moved to the stick mics to get
over as amps and PAs got louder in the rock era, not necessarily for the
tone. Having said that, my all-time favourite Cotton album is "Best of the
Verve Years" and he was using a stick mic for the three albums that make up
that killer compilation.

Drew