[Harp-L] the harp I hate the most plays the best, please explain.

[Eric Miller <miller.eric.t@xxxxxxxxx>]

I stopped playing regular (MB style) harps about a month after I started
playing harmonica, as soon as I had played my first special 20.  All the
harps I've purchased and played since then have been recessed reed plate
designs (spec 20s, sessions, harpmasters).  I just like the way they
feel...those who have played both know I mean, although I'm sure not
everybody prefers them.

I've been playing recessed reed harps in G and A for several months now,
practicing 1-3 hours per day, making good progress, getting faster and more
confident with improv.

Today, for the first time in three months, I picked my old  C Marine
Band.....and I was easily about 25% faster and cleaner with all my licks
and runs.  It was like magic, I was playing better and it was easier than
normal, not harder. The harp itself was also brighter and more responsive.
  I *still *am not fond of the mouth feel...its very sharp and the edges of
the holes feel like a very coarse cheese grater positioned between two
horizontal piano wires.  It's physically uncomfortable to play.  But,
damn...I sounded like a different player on this thing...I was ripping on
some of the standard fast licks, couldn't even come close to it when I
tried again on any of my other harps.

Anybody else experience this and have any ideas what might cause it?  In
the interest of keeping this email short, I've put my theories below...feel
free to ignore them if you know the answer.




---------MY THEORIES-------------
 I think it might be some combination of:

-  hole spacing (all of the other harps I listed have a very slightly wider
hole spacing than the MB)
-  the chamfering on the edges of the holes.  (the MB does NOT have this,
but I have a hunch* that the sharp edges of the holes might actually
contribute to faster/cleaner playing)
-  the fact that it was a C harp, and less air is needed than on the A and
G harps....but this can't be the whole story I don't think.


*you know how intentionally articulating a note with a percussive "t" or
"c" sound can cause a note to "pop" into playing instantly, as opposed to
simply drawing or blowing, the note sometimes stalls for a second before it
fades into playing.  When playing a sequence that involves drawing or
blowing on adjacent holes (so no change of air direction, just one
continuous draw or blow) I think the hard edged holes mimic the effect of
articulating with a "t" or "c".  The flow is more suddenly "on" like a
light switch, where with the chamfered edges, the flow is turned on more
like a faucet.  If you were to slow it down to 1/1000 speed, the chamfering
causes the air to go from 0, then 1, 2,3, 20,30,40..100% committed to the
hole.  The sharp edged hole still has a microscopic ramp up...but it looks
a lot more like 0 to 100% instantly, causing the reed to be more
responsive, and the note to pop into vibrating with less delay.