Re: [Harp-L] Covers

[David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

While I took most of Elk down after I started this awesome journey with
Harrison, I left that side vent page up.

http://www.elkriverharmonicas.com/sideventtest.html


There were something like 25 or 30 responses before I announced results. I
think all but three or four got it right.  I was blocking with fingers that
came up from behind the harmonica, so there wasn't anything in front to
block sound. The difference was more noticeable on the old Bandmaster with
the megaphone side vent.
Who got it wrong? I was shocked by who did. One of them was one of the
master ears I had picked out the time I offered to bet a shoe shine instead
of $1,000 on a comb test.  It goes to show that no test is perfect.
My belief is that numerous things go into a harmonica to make it's tone.
probably 70 percent of that is the player, the other 30 percent are all
these cumulative things in the harmonica itself. There are so many
variables. Play a note, then pinch your nose. See what happens when sound
doesn't come out your nose anymore. All these things that happen when you
play harmonica are crazy.

The one uncontrolled variable in the side vent test was coverplate
vibration. If you bite the coverplate while you play, you can feel that
vibration in your teeth. When I put my finger on the side vent, it deadens
that vibration obviously. I don't think that vibration is important, but
it's important in the history of side vents. There were two approaches to
the side vent among 1890s harmonica designers. Jacob Hohner designed the
Marine Band with vents, not to make vents that sound came out of, but reduce
the area of coverplate to make it vibrate. THAT was the reason he designed
the Marine Band that way - he explains in his MB patent. On the other hand,
Richard Seydel Sr. made megaphone vents in an effort to collect sound and
throw it out the side. I'm more inclined to think Richard Sr. was right, but
the old award-winning journalist in me likes to be objective. I always
wanted to come up with a test to demonstrate which had the right idea.
Coverplates are not really resonant at the pitch of the harmonica, but they
are resonant to overtones.


Dave
www.harrisonharmonicas.com





>
> *
> On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at 10:27 AM, John F. Potts <hvyj@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Frank,
> >
> > As i recall, Dave didn't tell us which was which until after those who
> > responded expressed opinions.  I think a couple of people obstinately
> > asserted they heard no difference, but all of the others who participated
> > did.  Dave can probably direct you to this topic in the archives. I don't
> > know if he still has the sound samples posted somewhere.
> >
> > FWIW, I suspect that  part of what appeals to some players who like MBs
> so
> > much is the sound of the vented covers.  I do think vented covers have a
> > somewhat more diffuse timbre than unvented covers.  The effect of other
> > differences in cover design may be debatable or non-existent, but, IMHO,
> >  the difference between vented and unvented covers is definitely audible.
>  I
> > can't remember everyone who participated in Dave's survey, but I i did
> and i
> > think Elizabeth (EGS1217) was another one of us that did. There were
> several
> > others, but I don't recall who else.
> >
> > JP
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Jul 17, 2010, at 11:08 AM, Frank Mangiapane wrote:
> >
> > Did you  listen to a recording of a blocked vent knowing  what it was
>  and
> >> then to a recording of an unblocked vent knowing what it was and then
> decide
> >> if there was a difference or did you listen to both not knowing which
> was
> >> which and then decide which one was blocked and which one was not
> blocked?
> >>
> >> On Fri, Jul 16, 2010 at 5:13 PM, John F. Potts <hvyj@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> >> As I recall, a couple of years ago Dave Payne of Elk River Harmonicas
> >> posted recordings of MBs played with the cover vents blocked and the
> cover
> >> vents unblocked. The conclusion of most of us was that there was a very
> >> audible difference.
> >>
> >> Moral of the story: Vented covers do sound different than unvented
> covers.
> >>
> >> JP
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Franko
> >>
> >
> >
>