I'm writing songs with a young lady who can really sing. Therefore, the
emphasis is always on the vocals. I'm using different World beats for the
framework and besides drums, essentially the only other instruments are
electric piano and bass. I have struggled with the harmonica parts, but I've
now recorded some bembe harmonica (in 5th position no less), and some
dancehall harmonica. What seems to work for me are simple riffs, with no
effects (the effects seem to move the harmonica into the background, if that
makes sense) and set up either a brief solo, or an intro for the harp--not
playing while anyone is singing. So far I've recorded two psuedo horn
sections, doubling the harp with a sax synthesizer. I tried overdubbing the
harp part and playing the same riff one hole higher, but I'm not sure I like
it. It's too much like playing chords on the harp, and that doesn't seem to
work.