[Harp-L] A New Way to Scream and Cry on the Harmonica

[Richard Sleigh <rharp@xxxxxxxxxx>]

If you were to put into words what blues harmonica really is for you on the deepest levels, what would you say?

For me, it is the way you can bend notes that have an uncanny resemblance to a human voice. When you get really physically welded to the instrument, it becomes an otherworldly voice that is connected to your breath and the core of your being. There is something about this connection to the breath that is unlike any other instrument. I am not saying that you can't weld yourself to other instruments so they become an extension of your body. Watch any video of Jimi Hendrix and you will see a man and a guitar that are one inseparable being, screaming and crying, totally absorbed…

What would Jimi Hendrix sound like if he could only bend half the notes on his guitar? If he had to walk from one part of the guitar with piano type steps to get to the next part of the guitar neck where he could bend notes?

I have no idea what Jimi would sound like with an instrument that only let him bend half the notes, but I have a real good idea of what a blues harmonica player sounds like who is dealing with notes that don't bend, and how to get to the ones that do. 

The way I think of the diatonic harmonica, the first octave is damn close to perfect. You can work it chromatically like a slide trombone, you have chords that bend, you have deeper bends in the middle that give you different effects in different positions.  It is what you have to work with in the top two octaves that has always frustrated me.

Along came the SUB 30 from Suzuki, and the ability to bend notes in the top octave. I wanted to see what happened if you took this idea and dropped down to a low key. I took an Auto-valve harmonica in Lo D and modified it so the first octave is standard Blues harmonica - two reeds per chamber. The top octaves are the triple reed format, allowing you to bend notes blow and draw….

Here is a video of the results:  http://youtu.be/rzNHv2qMfg8

I have played some gigs and soloed swapping back and forth between standard diatonic harmonicas and my hybrid versions of the triple reed harmonica. It it gives me a whole new way to structure solos - when you can milk the draw bends in the top octave and still have blow bends available, AND work the tone like the standard short harp, you have a lot new ways to scream and cry through your harmonicas. 

This is why I get so excited about where the harmonica is going, regardless of the problems along the way…..


Richard Sleigh

P.O. Box 23
Boalsburg PA 16827

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