Re: [Harp-L] Classical Sub-30

[Slim Heilpern <slim@xxxxxxxxxx>]

My 2 cents...

First of all, why make an exception for a particular player? Do you think Howard's classical stuff sounded great on his first try? Everyone's got to start somewhere. Second of all, I'm not sure why the "classical world" (as if it spoke with a single voice) should accept any kind of harmonica playing Bach -- it's not an instrument Bach wrote for. But that doesn't mean it's not a cool thing to do -- just that some folks are not very open-minded.

If a particular attempt sounds bad, it deserves criticism. But to tell folks they shouldn't attempt to play something because it's the wrong instrument for it (or because they're not Howard) seems over the top to me. It's just music. Bad intonation, to my ears, sounds bad regardless of genre. Playing chromatic music well on a diatonic instrument is not easy. It's also not easy on a theremin. But when someone does it really well, it can be all the more remarkable, knowing how difficult it is.

- Slim.

www.SlideManSlim.com

On Nov 16, 2012, at 4:24 AM, Emile Damico wrote:

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> ----- Forwarded Message -----
> From: Emile Damico <oatss_oatflakes@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: Rick Dempster <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx> 
> Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 7:22 AM
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Classical Sub-30
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> This version won't make it in the classical world. Good classical playing on the diatonic with the exception of maybe Howard Levy  has too many notes that have a bad tone quality.
> I say leave it to the chromatic players. Bye the way G is not the best key. I think for harmonica it works better in 3flats to get the ornamentation.
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