[Harp-L] Cherry Pink

["jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx" <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I had more time to think about this and was rereading the following:

"And one more thing.... I believe that Jerry played Cherry Pink only on one chromatic.... the one that had the 4 blow wind saver removed. Why you ask? Answer: So that the draw C would bend easier and further. Leaving the wind saver on, it stops the bend and causes the reed to choke."


Two things.  First is that on the recordings and YouTube videos I've listened to of Murad playing Cherry Pink, the bend sounds very much like a single feed valves bend.  Indeed, it is idiomatic--thins out as it gets farther bent and when he bends it down to the minor third the timbre has changed significantly as has the volume.  

Second, if you remove the windsaver on the 4 blow of a solo tuned harp, it won't draw bend at all.  You could overdraw it I suppose, but not bend.  The 4draw being the lower pitched reed, you won't get a double-reed bend.  Someone else pointed this out as well, and suggested that perhaps the special harp just for that tune had the reeds aligned to better enable valved bending--that would make sense.  Or, it could be that it was an alternate tuning, where the 4blow was retuned to G#, thus allowing for a minor third bend down from C (but again, it doesn't sound like a double-reed bend).

JR Ross