Re: [Harp-L] Re: Bass Harmonica - advice

[michael rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have been playing bass harp for around 4 years.  It is conceptually
easy, difficult to play well.  I ran a harp band and learned a lot.
For the last three months I have joined a band that plays East
European music with banjo, flute, accordion, trombone, flute and
vocals.  Some of the music is fast and furious.  I joined them during
SOuth by Southwest in Austin and therefore had to learn 30 songs in
less than a week for around 8 gigs right away.  We have been playing
around two shows a week since then.  I can say for sure that trial by
fire has been the best method for learning and my playing has improved
more in three months than in all four years prior to that.

For amplification I use Richard Smith's Harmonix pickup which took
lots of tweaking to work well.  Since Richard lives in England, it was
hard to find machinists in Austin to take on the job of really making
it work, plus the original item was expensive and you have to live
without your harp for months while he implants the picks into your
harp.  If I had two thousand dollars lying around I would buy a Suzuki
Bass and pickup, both semen great.

I teach bass harp by Skype.  Although I am not one of the world's best
bass players, I am an experienced teacher who understands what the of
a bass player.

Contact me off list if you are interested.
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com

On Friday, July 1, 2011, Maka McMahon <makamcmahon@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
&gt; Blunt,
&gt;
&gt; There's not much around for the Bass harp.  The Smith's book is
the easiest to get hold of - one of the specialist music stores still
sells it (Google should find which one - my memory is not helping
today).
&gt;
&gt; I went cheap to start with as I wasn't sure how useful the Bass
would be. I've got a Swan  - two rows, two octaves in C.  It is of
course all blow and takes a lot of air to shift those long reeds at
the low end.  Not much cutting power, so you need to be amplified in
anything but the smallest, quietest of rooms, and you have to use a
mic on a stand.  The layout is pretty easy to get the hang of - like a
piano keyboard with the white keys on the bottom row and the black
(plus fillers) on the top row.
&gt;
&gt; The Swan is not the sturdiest of Basses (its OK), but it is
significantly less expensive than the Hohners or Suzukis and does a
reasonable job (or a very good job on a 'bangs for the buck' basis).
&gt;
&gt; But there is another option......
&gt;
&gt; The Digitech RP series of effects pedals have a great two octave
step down and that lets you play bass lines with a normal diatonic.  A
new RP355 and Richard Hunter's patch set for harmonica will cost less
than a Hohner Bass and open a whole new world of harp effects.  I've
got a slightly older RP350, but it makes some great bass noises.  I
use 4 x 8&quot; bass quad boxes as the speaker(s) for my PAs, so
either the mono (35w) or stereo (200w/side) PAs make bass (and harp)
via the RP sound good.
&gt;
&gt; Not sure if the Harmonicats would freak at the thought of 'bass
by effects' (George Miklas may be reading this!) and it certainly
lacks the visual impact of a Bass harp, but the RP355 would be my
recommendation, if only because making a diatonic into a bass is one
of the myriad of clever things it can do.
&gt;
&gt; Richard Hunter knows much more about this than me and I'd
recommend seeking him out if you're interested in the RP option
&gt;
&gt; Cheers
&gt; Maka
&gt;
&gt;
&gt;