[Harp-L] Loopers/ delay and harmonica

[Richard Hammersley <rhhammersley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A few months ago I bought a Digitec Timebender. Actually I bought it because
I was seeking a cost effective looper, rather than wanting delay
particularly. But it is an amazing piece of kit (there are several reviews
of it by guitarists already which I shall not repeat) and the delay
functions are so powerful that the looping function is not as important as I
thought it would be. I learned how to use it with a guitar, but I have now
had time to try it with harmonica.

A few cool things you can do that harmonica players will like:
The looper function is long enough to play the chords of an entire 12-bar,
for instance, then you can riff over the top. The looper is 'smart' in that
it automatically finds good cut points for the loop so it usually sounds
good first time - needed on the fly.
You can pitch-shift the delays, at short delays this is like a harmoniser.
You can program the timing and rhythm of the delay by "strumming" with a
foot switch held down. I wondered if this would work with harp; it does.
You can double click a foot switch and freeze whatever it playing in the
current delay, so it plays forever. This is great for putting drones and
textures behind your playing.
Some of the delay settings modulate to different notes in the specified key
automatically.

I think this has huge potential for anyone who wants to play electric
harmonica. Now I just need the time to figure out how to pick this stuff out
of the woodshed and drop it somewhere musically useful. The reviews by
guitarists claim it beats the other delay pedals available, but I haven't
used them so I wouldn't know.
Richard