Re: [Harp-L] FLAT!! But Maybe Not??

[icemanle@xxxxxxx]

Recheck your harmonicas w/tuner or a keyboard that you KNOW is tuned to A-440.


Sounds like the band had used an improper reference point to tune themselves. When this happens, there is no way you can compensate on harmonica. When this happens and you realize it, DO NOT JOIN IN ON HARMONICA. (unless you have a full set of harmonicas and can recognize what is described in the next sentence and adjust)


I've been in situations where the band will tune everything down 1/2 step a la Jimi Hendrix/Stevie Ray, so that when you look at the bass player playing an open lowest string, it is Eb rather than E, and not mention this to the harmonica player they have sit in with them. 





-----Original Message-----
From: Elizabeth Hess <TrackHarpL@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Harp-L <Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wed, Mar 31, 2010 5:39 pm
Subject: [Harp-L] FLAT!!  But Maybe Not??


A band leader recently invited me up on stage to play harp on one song.  I'm a known quantity to him, and nothing stellar was expected of me -- just some tasteful 2-draw along with their blues groove.  (They said the name of the song, but the adrenaline rush prevents me from recalling it.) 
 
They had already started as I was climbing the steps to the stage.  The bass player told me they were in the key of E.  I pulled out my A harp, stepped up to the vocal mic (that's what there was), started on 2-draw, and MY GOD, it sounded at least a quarter tone flat!  I was mortified.  3-blow seemed flat, too.  I tried my B-flat harp, off mic, with a finger in one ear to hear it better, and darned if it didn't sound sharp.  It could not have been the case that the band -- which included a keyboard -- was collectively out of tune.  Nor did it seem likely that the bass player would have lied to me about the key they were playing in.  It didn't seem likely that two of my harps were out of tune, or that three reeds had decided to go in the space of one evening.  After some moments of distress, I decided that discretion was the better part of musicality, gave the band leader an apologetic look, folded up my harp case, and slunk off the stage. 
 
Amateur that I am, I didn't check these harps' tuning the minute I got home. 
 
Last night at my local jam, I got up to play, key of E, and the same thing happened.  The A harp sounded so flat I couldn't bring myself to try playing it.  I stood to the side and moved to the beat, sang one vocal without harp during the set (cf my New Year's resolutions, woo-hoo!), and steadfastly shook my head when they asked if I was going to play harp.  Pro that I am now, I stayed up until the end of the set, "listened rhythmically", and just served as "stage candy".  The set was fine without me, but I was completely flummoxed.  (P.S. no-one said my vocal was horribly off-key, so I don't think my ears are at fault.) 
 
I am not a gear-head, but at the gig, I was playing into a vocal mic on a stand.  At the jam, I was playing through my green bullet and my HG2 amp, with line out to the PA. 
 
At home, I tried my A-harp and Bb-harp against my own keyboard, with and without the amp, and they were just fine. 
 
So:  What might be the cause of this phenomenon, how might I prevent it (or what might I try), and if it happens again, should I just trust that my A harp is tuned correctly even if it sounds completely wrong to me through the sound system, and play, anyway? 
 
The common element is sound going through the PA (vocal mic, line out), so obviously the first thing to try is to see if I can manage with just the amp, next time, and see how it goes.  But has this happened to anyone else?  Known phenomenon?  Known remedy? 
 
Thanks in advance. 
Elizabeth