RE: [Harp-L] Violin and Harmonica

[Steve Shaw <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

> On Aug 27, 2013, at 7:43 AM, Gary Mulholland wrote:
> 
> > I play in an Irish band and we have recently added a fiddle player to our
> > line up, she`s classically trained and is picking up the reels and jigs
> > very quickly and they sound great. But more and more in the slower songs
> > like " ride on " by Christy Moore I`m just finding out how magical the
> > violin and the harmonica can sound together. Weve been working on the
> > solo`s together with the violin taking the lead solo and the harmonica
> > harmonising over the top of it, then switching letting harmonica doing the
> > lead solo. Ive been using one of Richards patches, delay and reverb. We had
> > our first gig last weekend with this new line up and the audience loved the
> > violin, harmonica solo`s. Have any of you played with violinists before ?
> > I`d love to hear from any that have as I`m finding the 2 instruments blend
> > beautifully and I`d never really thought of violin and harp soloing in
> > tandem being such a force in a band.
> > I`m kicking myself for not getting any recordings done but we have our next
> > gig in a couple of weeks and I`ll post some video then
> > 
> > Gary

Fiddle and harmonica is my bread 'n' butter! They blend superbly, but my personal preference is for a really clean harmonica sound at the same pitch as the fiddle. In Irish tunes, that means a standard-pitch G harp and A harp, but a *low* D harp. Paddy is well-nigh essential.  The standard D is too high for me.The important thing for me is the blend of the two instruments, too much individualism being anathema.
 I play mostly in pub sessions, with the occasional wedding/party gig thrown in.