Re: [Harp-L] Re: Triple reed lo D Auto Valve

[philharpn@xxxxxxx]

With a standard (fully valved) chromatic EVERY reed will blow bend or draw bend at least a half-step. So you can bend every note in every hole. 
No adjustments needed. These are single reed bends unlike the double reed bends (blow-draw interaction) on richter tuned diatonic. 


Over the years, many professional chromatic players have used this capability to add nuance and inflection to their playing. Most amateur players play the chromatic so they don't have to BEND -- not realizing that these slight bends is what separates the pros from the rest. 


Half-valving and helper reeds in the XB40 and SUB30 are two different categories.  Half-valving  allows single reed bends like those on a valved (windsaver) chromatic regardless of whether it is richter- or solo-tuned. Helper reeds allows the same kind of double-reed bends  


As far as putting helper reeds on a solo tuned chromatic; that could be a waste of time because the notes are already there either with the button or a single reed blow bend or draw bend thanks to the windsavers. The chief advantage of valved bends is that the bends follow the bend convention: they lower in pitch. They allow fall on the reed that will flatten. Want Bb, blow bend the B (hole 2). Otherwise, convert the B flat to a A sharp, play the A and push the button.  


For two reeds to work, the reeds in the same hole must be at least a half-step apart: e.g. blow C; Draw D. The bent note is C#/Db (enharmonic notes have two names but are the same note). Valves on both blow and draw reeds will prevent the double reed bends from working. Half-valving a chromatic allows double-reed bends only if the reeds are a half-step apart in the same hole.


Half-valving works in the Hohner SlideHarp with richter tuning because it doesn't interfere with standard low draw bends or high blow bends and ADDS blow bends of at least a half-step to the first six holes and draw bends to the last four.
The Koch richter chromatic (sold by Hohner) doesn't have any windsavers and leaks like a screen door. It doesn't do anything better than the SlideHarp -- except leak really bad. 


As has been pointed out, some people think a half-valved bend is less stable than a helper (enabler) reed assisted bend. 


This could be a matter of personal preference. Some people are quite good at overblows; others' overblows sound like a rusty disc-brake. It's whatever you're used to.


The AutoValve is a half-valved octave harmonica with blow and draw reeds side by side on the same plate for each octave, on my circa 1970 model ($6.25). Mine has plastic valves. It apparently won prizes in 1871. 1873, 1876 and 1881. Each hole has upper channel and lower one. Play them together yields an octave. Play them singly, an upper or lower note. Playing the upper or lower channel for each hole yields a single reed bend, just like a valved chromatic or a half-valved harp.


Playing triple reed or valved harps or  bending on the standard chromatic takes finesse-- it's a bit more difficult than standard playing but easier to execute that overblows and to my ears better sounding than overblows.


Veteran overblowers will disagree, but I remember what Howard said, that it took him 3 years to learn to play overblows and another 3 years to learn how to use them. If you're young and you've got lots of time, go for the overblows. Otherwise, life is short. Give the half-valved or a SUB30 (or XB-40) a try.


Hope this helps.




Phil  




-----Original Message-----
From: Eugene Ryan <ryan.eugene@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wed, Nov 14, 2012 9:55 am
Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Triple reed lo D Auto Valve


This whole concept is amazing - congratulations on some really innovative
reed technologies!

I can't wait to try a triple reed diatonic.  I'm also really intrigued by
the possibility of doing the same thing for a chromatic harmonica.  If we
use half-valved chromatic harmonicas we can already bend the draw notes
using dual-reed draw bends.  I'm also interested in being able to bend blow
notes by now having a third "enabler" reed in each chromatic chamber - as
is available on the diatonic SUB30.  Do you guys think this is possible?  I
guess the main concern is probably if there is enough space or not per
chamber on upper and lower reed plates (perhaps also air loss).

Of course, on a solo-tuned chromatic, you still can't bend *all* the draw
notes, but there are tuning schemes that allow this, such as
Powerchromatic, Diminished, Wholetone etc.  Changing to one of these tuning
schemes would really open up the blow bending using the 3rd enabler reed -
otherwise on a solo-tuned C chromatic you would have to make a choice
between, say, blow bending the E in hole 2 or draw bending the F (both with
slide out).  I guess for solo, you could blow bend both E and F slide in,
but the draw bend would be extremely useful too.  Then there's hole 4 but
anyway...

I play half-valved diminished (and other tuning scheme) chromatics so this
is of real interest to me - I'd really like to have those blow bends
available!
Eugene