Re: [Harp-L] Tension Headache

[Joe Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On May 10, 2011, at 11:46 AM, Elizabeth Hess wrote:

> This explanation is so lucid, even I can understand it.

Hah, this is to laugh. I'm sure that your time at MIT played a part.  lol
>> 
>> Ergo, the slot is now too tight.
> 
> EXCEPT that the problem I had when I screwed the harp back together to "normal" tightness was that I couldn't get the blow reeds to choke.

Do they HAVE to? Not being a SA here, I really don't know. 

>  (And there's no way to know whether the draw reeds would have sounded the overblow if I  *had*  been able to get the blow reeds to choke.)  Sorry I wasn't more clear on this point the first time.
> 
> Sooo.....  Maybe I need to emboss just a teensy bit more?

Well, ya got me there. I am very limited in my embossing knowledge. I only know to use a ball 12 times the width of the reed. 
> 
> Hmm.  I was putting the binder clips on the whole magilla sandwich, cover plates and all.

Making a harp canape, so to speak. 
> 
> The current state of affairs is that I have the reed plates  *very*  gently screwed together, and the cover plates  *very* gently screwed on, and I can get 4 and 6 overblow reliably and 5 with some effort.  It kind of violates my sense of ship-shape not to have those screws snug, but I understand that too much of a good thing is a bad thing, and it's the sound that counts.

As long as the screws don't loosen, you're ok? Maybe a dab of nail polish. 
> 
> Of course it's hard to diagnose a hardware problem via written correspondence.  I know that I mostly have to do this myself.  But your answer has been enormously helpful in identifying the relevant mechanics, so now I have a better idea of what's going on.  Thank you very much.

Nonja un problemo, Prego. Io sono non che buono esa Ricardo Sleigh, Ma I try. 
> 
> Elizabeth
> 
> P.S.  I used to think that practicing meant harp-in-mouth time.  That's turning out not to be the whole story.

Jerry (Murad) used to call bench time lost time. He was wrong. Bench time can pay dividends in the end. Here you are doing over blows. Gad, I feel so insecure. lol 
> 
> I refer to this as "rigging the sailboat":  If you don't enjoy rigging the sailboat as an activity in its own right, then sailing is not the hobby for you.
> 
I do too. It used to take 45 min to rig my racing 'sneak-box' from the trailer. So I made up for it by sailing at least 2 1/2 hours. lolol
>