Re: [Harp-L] Valving vs. Overblowing/Overdrawing

[Jacob Fund <jeikuman@xxxxxxxxx>]

I probably don't get to speak much since I only started to overbend and i
have never played a valved instrument...

I can't be no means get overbends while improvising since i really can't
improvise very well to begin with, but  when practicing the higher octave
blues scale  in second position, whenever I hit an overbend there is some
sort of awesome feeling I get hearing it, its like this awesome popping
noise that totally has this bluesy sound to it, or at least it feels so.

I don't know, pretty new to the instrument, but maybe its just a difference
in expression. I would still like to try a valved instrument and see how
that sounds and plays. .

So anyways, no answers to your questions, just a newbie's opinion.

On Mon, Apr 18, 2011 at 10:32 PM, Elizabeth Hess <TrackHarpL@xxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> So, when I was making my Smo' Joe tuned harps, I learned how to valve
> draw-5 so that you can blow-bend 5 to get Eb (on a C harp).  It's pretty
> easy.  And I got a PowerBender, and valved draw 2, 7, 9,and 10 to get the
> "in-between" notes on that harp.
>
> Does it work to valve the blow reeds at the top end of a Richter-tuned harp
> to get Db and Ab (on a C harp)?
>
> Blow bending with valves seems easier to execute than overblowing and
> overdrawing.  Why does overblowing/overdrawing seem so much more prevalent?
>  Are there cons to valving that I don't know about?  Is it "cheating" to use
> the easier technique for getting those notes?  Supposing I wanted to use
> valves *until* I got good enough to overblow/overdraw as if it were "just
> another bend", can you overblow a chamber that has a valve on it?  Is there
> any reason not to just valve everything relevant on all my harps?
>
> I found a hammer.  Everything looks like a nail at the moment.   Except I
> have this nagging feeling that I  *ought*  to know better.  What am I
> missing?
>
> Elizabeth
>
>