Re: [Harp-L] Chromatic and Diatonic

[David Payne <dmatthew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In one gig, I'll play a 48 chord for rhythm on virutally every song (occasionally I play rhythm on a diatonic). Then on leads, I play diatonics, a chromatic and tremolos. That's four different types of harmonicas in the same show. Before I traded my Wheel Hoss  wheel o' octave harps, I was playing those, too. 
The downside to all this is I can't go in with a bunch of really good chromatic players and be as good as they are. I can't go hang out with the Jay Gaunt types and be as good as they are on diatonic. Sometimes, I kind of feel kind of bad about that, but luckily, I don't have an ego about anything except writing, so it's all o.k. and on the flip side of that, at someplace like Buckeye, there's no circle of players in the hallways I don't enjoy listening to. Hanging out in both camps is a wonderful thing. 
Had I chose just one type of harmonica and devoted all my time to it, I'd probably be extremely awesome at that one type, but I'd be a different person than I am today and I've got to say, it's really nice to have a show with the kind of variation in sound several harmonica types brings. In a school program, kids love hearing all these different types of harmonicas... nobody told them there's a split... and at shows, people can see and hear every type really except bass (the only reason I don't play it is because I don't have one) and I think that's good for the instrument. 



----- Original Message ----
From: Robert Bonfiglio <bon@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sun, June 6, 2010 9:11:46 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] Chromatic and Diatonic

There is a whole bunch of players that play both harmonicas very well and understand their champions.  The diatonic players have on once in a while pissed me off thinking that blues on the chromatic is a certain kind of "third position" diatonic.  My Mom, who is now gone, wanted me to play real blues, which to her was Duke Ellington.  There was another generation of chromatic blues before that and "Pops" kind of spanned both and ran into Bebop Blues.

So the diatonic dogma kind of pigeoned-holed the chromatic into one kind of blues so that when we had and at the first New York Reedsters Club meeting at Turtle Bay, and my good friend Hendrik Meurkins joined the jam on a blues, all the diatonic players went - "What?" and I went "what a breathe of fresh air."  He was playing modern jazz blues with minor 9ths and flat 13ths.  It's music people - there is good and bad - but it's music!!!!

People, it's not better, it's just different.  So let's talk about what's the same.  Reeds and their construction and gapping have been greatly improved by diatonic customizers.  Design of both harmonicas has benefited from each other.  And on and on.... We benefit from having both diatonic and chromatic harmonicas out there.

Harmonically yours,

Robert Bonfiglio
http://www.robertbonfiglio.com