[Harp-L] Re: The Future of Blues Harmonica?

["Brendan Power" <bren@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mik Jagger states:
"Seems like an old asian practice of stealing the intellectual property
from the west, without giving credit to where the idea/ engineering came
from."

 

??... Seems like the old Western practice of shooting your mouth off in
total ignorance of the facts.

 

The intellectual property behind the Suzuki UltraBend wasn't stolen, I gave
it to the company under a Non-Disclosure Agreement in 1991 in the form of a
working prototype I made in New Zealand in 1989. We developed it together
for two years, simplifying the design and reducing the size, and were ready
to patent the design by 1994, prior to releasing a commercial 30 reed
harmonica the size of a normal 10 hole diatonic. 

 

Then we discovered a patent by Rick Epping for 30 and 40 reed harmonicas
(application 1991, granted in two forms 1993/94) that covered the concept,
and Suzuki stopped work at that point. Only after Rick's patent expired in
2008 did Suzuki restart work on our 30 reed design, and that has come out in
the SUB30 UltraBend.

 

You can read a partial history of the idea here, with photos:

http://www.brendan-power.com/History%20of%20the%20UltraBend.htm

 

I say 'partial' because, aside from the three persons mentioned there (Will
Scarlett, Rick Epping and myself), it now transpires that at least two
others thought of the extra reed idea and tried to make prototypes in the
1980s - namely Richard Sleigh and Pat Missin. Their efforts weren't fully
successful and they also let the idea drop after Rick's patent came out.

 

Though I didn't know it until the mid-1990s, it turned out that Will
Scarlett was the very first person to conceive a triple-reed harmonica, and
he showed the idea to Rick Epping in 1982 (not 1987 as I say in the article
at the link above). 

 

I know this now because Will has agreed to tell his story in the upcoming
issue of the UK "Harmonica World" magazine, due out in October. Will was
also the first person to use overblows on a consistent basis and try to play
a 10 hole harp chromatically in 12 keys, which he did in the early 1970s
(his efforts are recorded on the  first two Hot Tuna albums).

 

It's a very interesting read. Will and Rick famously fell out over the issue
and battled it out in the US patent courts in the 90s, and Will talks about
that in the article. But whatever you think of their respective positions,
both men are seminal figures in the modern history of Blues harmonica. Rick
did undeniably take the extra-reed idea further on from Will's pioneering
work, and his 1994 patent (plus another one in 2002) paved the way for the
first commercial harmonica with extra reeds, the Hohner XB-40. 

 

Rick Epping has consented to talk of his early harmonica experiments in a
later issue of "Harmonica World". In addition to being known for the XB-40,
not many of the thousands of people who tweak their harps today realise that
Rick is the inventor of the process we now call "embossing". He will
describe when and how he developed the technique and passed it on to the
names we know today (Joe Filisko and his many collaborators/followers). 

 

Richard Sleigh worked with Joe on advancing the technique, and also did much
harmonica experimenting on his own in the 70s/80s/90s. It would be great to
hear his story too!

 

The diatonic harmonica is the biggest selling instrument in the world in
terms of units sold, yet a lot of its modern history is shrouded in rumour
and secrecy. It's fascinating and important to hear from the pioneers who
paved the way for the advances that we take for granted today. 

 

Brendan Power

WEBSITE: www.brendan-power.com <http://www.brendan-power.com/> 

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/tethnik

YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/BrendanPowerMusic