Re: [Harp-L] The Ashby Method of Aggravation

[Kathy Sherman <shermfam@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This fellow seems to be "discovering" all these techniques on his own and wants to show off to the world what he's done. But the idea of copyrighting or patenting techniques like this is just absurd.

Kathy

> On Nov 3, 2014, at 16:44, "Brendan Power" <bren@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> Iâve been reading the posts on the so-called âAshby Method of
> Overbendingâ with wry amusement and a sense of DÃjà vu.
> 
> This guy has form. Here he is claiming to copyright a technique for doing
> something that has been well established by the original pioneer of
> conscious overbending for chromatic playing on the diatonic, Will Scarlett
> (back in the late sixties/early seventies), and subsequently taken to
> extreme levels of finesse by Howard Levy, Jason Ricci, Carlo del Junco, Todd
> Parrot, and a host of others around the world. 
> 
> Michelle, Bob and Doug are dead on the money to ask for a practical example
> of Neil Ashby demonstrating his copyrighted so-called âtechniqueâ.  But he
> canât offer a sound clip or video of him using it, or even any online clip
> of him playing the harmonica at all! Without such a demonstration his claims
> are worthless.
> 
> The DÃjà vu? That comes from February this year, when Mr. Ashby decided to
> take it upon himself to rename my Paddy Richter tuning to Richter+; not just
> for himself, but demanding my endorsement to make it public and
> âofficialâ. I demurred. Though others may possibly have experimented with
> it before, I was the first person to record with that tuning (on âNew Irish
> Harmonicaâ 1994). The album subsequently made it well known in the
> harmonica scene, to the extent that Seydel offer Paddy Richter as a standard
> option in their Configurator. I named it thus with affectionate humour for a
> music and people I love, know well and am descended from. The name seems to
> have stuck and no one aside from Mr. Ashby has ever objected to it, let
> alone tried to change it.
> 
> Now Neil Ashby trying to own (with a Copyright no less!) another even more
> significant part of harmonica culture which he had no part in inventing or
> developing, and apparently canât even demonstrate! 
> 
> If heâs intentionally trying to aggravate genuine harmonica players then
> heâs doing a great job. Aside from that I really canât see the point of
> his strange behaviour.
> 
> Brendan Power
> WEBSITES: www.brendan-power.com â www.x-reed.com
> FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/BrendanPowerMusic
> YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/BrendanPowerMusic
> 
> 
> 
>