[Harp-L] Introducing the Tony Eyers Harmonica Trio

[Tony Eyers <tony@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

As the title says - my harmonica trio, in Australia, featuring diatonic, 
tremolo and chord. The latter being the retuned Huang Chordet described 
in a recent post.

You can see us at http://youtu.be/GoDCYFkEsdA

and at http://youtu.be/nPPBplt_A8M

Google "Tony Eyers Trio" for more.

There are better trios, for sure. However our take on the genre is 
different, I think.

I wrote a Harmonica World article on the group a while back. I've 
included it below (apologies for the length).

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A key feature of the Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival is the seemingly 
endless procession of high quality ensembles, trios and quartets in 
particular. Inspired by these players, I've long considered forming my 
own trio, over the last 12 months it has come to pass.

This is how it went.

The Asian trios generally comprise bass, chord and chromatic harmonica, 
the traditional western trios likewise. I neither possess nor play these 
instruments. The Asian players generally opt for virtuoso pieces, again 
ruling me out.

A new approach was required. First, the traditional trio instruments 
needed replacing with ones familiar to me. Then I had to find players 
able to manage them (I'm in Sydney, Australia). Then, a new trio repertoire.

I'm mostly a 10 hole player, my focus is traditional music (bluegrass, 
Irish), played on retuned diatonics. So, I could take a lead role with 
these instruments and tunes. I've been playing button accordion the last 
year of so, the repertoire adapts easily to harmonica. Some accordion 
tunes could join the mix.

The rhythm section, chord and bass harmonica, drives traditional 
harmonica trios. My trio needed rhythm instruments as well. Some years 
ago I bought a Chinese Huang Chordet harmonica, combining bass notes and 
chords. I retuned it to my needs (see Harmonica World June/July 2012 for 
details). I figured this instrument could drive the trio.

With rhythm managed (more or less) by one instrument, the Huang Chordet, 
I could add another lead instrument. I opted for tremolo harmonica, to 
contrast with the diatonic. Two lead instruments also allow harmonies, 
as long as the players/arrangers (us) were up to it...

So. The lineup was to be diatonic, tremolo and combined chord/bass. 
Maybe other lead combinations down the track.

Now the players. A trio is three, I needed two more. After some thought 
I settled on two local players. We decided to skip live performances, as 
audiences would be thin. Instead we opted for YouTube.

This added video production to the mix. Inspired by videos on the Apple 
site, we settled on an all white background. My shed was cleared, a 
camera and white backdrop installed, an (awful) lot of fiddling with 
lights, and we had a studio. Of sorts. Excellent sound recording gear is 
cheaply had these days, so all was in place.

What could go wrong? Actually, a lot. I live under a flight path, and 
never realised how many aircraft pass by. Every few minutes, it turns 
out, from 6 am to 11 pm, each one ruining any take that might be 
underway. We kept the tunes short, persisted, and finally got some videos.

It then became clear that the rhythm and tremolo players were not quite 
up to it. To be fair, they were new to these instruments, and needed 
more practice. A few months passed, they stuck at it, they got better. 
We started again.

Some of the Asian groups dress sharp, so we gave our outfits some 
thought. We settled on a casual theme, keeping the same look for each 
player throughout the videos. Likewise, the video titles were a design 
choice, we chose red lettering on a white background, with an old style 
font. Modern video editing software is cheap and very powerful, so 
amateurs like us can look better than we actually are.

Having settled on clothes, gotten the studio working, the players up to 
speed, we then set to the arrangements. Video is demanding, a note out 
of place shows, unlike live performance. To increase our chances of 
getting it right we opted for simple arrangements - unison and basic 
harmonies between the lead instruments, minimal solos.

Given our combined lack of musical nous, we figured out harmonies by 
trial and error, recording a lead part, then trying a few harmony notes, 
recording them when they were right, then moving on. Slow going, but it 
works.

None of us are flashy players, so we use other means to get our tunes 
across. In particular, variations in articulation. Long notes, shorts 
notes, placed strategically. Getting everyone to remember at the same 
time has been a challenge, but we're getting there. Dynamics will enter 
the mix down the track, but for now we're just trying to get the notes 
right.

Anyway, the music is as good at it will get, for now at least. I formed 
the group, so it's the Tony Eyers Trio. Google us.

Tony Eyers
Australia
www.HarmonicaAcademy.com
...everyone plays