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

[The Iceman <icemanle@xxxxxxx>]

No other instrument plays on the inhale as well as the exhale. Also, the resemblance to human voice was the impetus for blues playing on harmonica by African Americans in the early days.


There is something about this connection to the breath that is unlike any 
other instrument.





-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Sleigh <rharp@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wed, Nov 7, 2012 7:07 pm
Subject: [Harp-L] A New Way to Scream and Cry on the Harmonica



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 absorbedâ

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 drawâ.

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 wayâ..


Richard Sleigh

P.O. Box 23
Boalsburg PA 16827

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