Re:[Harp-L] Distorted harmonica versus Clean harmonica sound question

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 Randy Singer wrote:
<I wonder if if some of the greatest amped blues soloists like little walter, jason ricci, william clarke, etc, <would have played their signature songs as well if they played them without distortion?
...
<Do YOU feel you can play hard core blues all night armed with only a mike? Isn't that the true test of a <legitimate blues harp player? Not to use effects or distortion as "crutch".

The answer to the first question is no. It's like asking if they would have played their signature songs "as well" (meaning, of course, "the same way") on an oboe or a tuba. Amped harp is a different instrument with a different emotional effect from un-amped harp.  It's not just louder--it's a different sound that creates different capabilities and different emotional outcomes.

The second question is really two questions.  Should a "legitimate" blues harp player be able to play convincingly without an amp?  Yes.  Should the same player play all night without the amp?  Only if they're satisfied that they can express the ideas they want to express without it.  

The idea that an amp is a "crutch" is ridiculous.  The implication is that anything the includes electricity is inferior or illegitimate. Stevie Ray Vaughn could certainly play brilliantly without an amp.  But he played almost all of his gigs with one.  Why?  Because the amp made it possible to make a different kind of statement than he could make with an acoustic guitar.  Does anyone here think Vaughn's electric guitar work is inferior?

The amp is itself an instrument on a par with any other. FX are part of the instrument.  You play them. You could play the same thing on an unamplified instrument, or a completely different instrument, and the results would be--different. An organist could certainly play a harpsichord on a gig--after all, both instrument have keyboards.  But the organist would have to change his approach significantly to make a harpsichord work on the pieces that formerly used organ--because the instruments are different. 

FYI, two weeks ago, my mic cable failed when I was playing a gig, and I had to switch from my RP355 setup to the house PA system.  I finished out the night, but the songs definitely did not sound the same.  Why should they?  I was playing a different instrument, and the carefully crafted things I play on the RP355 setup were unavailable to me.

Regards, Richard Hunter

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