[Harp-L] Comb Material a Third Way

[Derwood <derwood.blues@xxxxxxxxx>]

I must admit this debate about comb material gets a bit tiring. Those on the
no effect side tend to be declarative and unwilling to consider alternate
angles on the subject. Those who believe that the comb does effect the sound
tend to stay silent or attempt to call for tolerance. It seems more like a
political issue than anything else. I wonder if we could determine your view
on the subject based on your political view. Every new experiment brings
some hope you can believe in.

How about someone creating some experiments for the independent party. Maybe
we could test the effects of the material on the vibrations of the harmonica
and connect those results with the experience of the player. Or we could
test all the same comb material with differing weights or mouth pieces. In
other words focus on the players experience and discover the variable that
effects the player.

For me I do not like plastic combs but like wood and really like metal. I am
not sure why. But I guess that it might relate to the heft or solidness of
the harmonica. Plastic "sounds" duller to me. Maybe it "feels" duller to me.
It could be weight or stiffness or even how my air hits it in the hole and
bounces back. Maybe experts in how we hear ourselves talking might have
helpful insight to the factors of body vibration and hearing.

I bet that if sold right, someone could get funds from harmonica makers who
could benefit from a study of what players like. It could be a real
scientific endeavor.

One more thought on the recent experiment. Let us assume for the moment that
comb material has an effect on sound. If it does then other parts may also
have effects. The added weight to the test model may have had an effect that
may have outweighed (forgive the pun) the effect of the comb. If the comb
has effect then we must assume that there are multiple variable and so they
need to be considered, standardized and made minimal.

tolerantly,

Derwood