Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Breaking In / Adjusting to a new harp (Richard's list)

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

WHICH is why I've been suggesting you (and everyone else I know) sign up  
for Richard's emails which are unobtrusive, don't come out all that often and 
 are always written in the same 'tone', full of quiet but very interesting 
and  informative information--always in his inimitable style. Just wonderful 
stuff.  I've been signed up for a good while now--a few years, and always 
find some gem  in his writing/mailings.
 
Try it, you'll most assuredly like it. :)
 
Elizabeth
 
"Message: 9
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 10:24:54 -0400
From: Joseph Leone  <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Breaking In / Adjusting to a  new harp
To: rrsleigh <rrsleigh@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Harp L Harp L  <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>

I don't know how you did this Richard, but it's  as if you walked into my 
brain and stole everything that was in there on this  particular subject.
I read this over about 7 times and couldn't find a single  solitary word 
that I didn't totally agree with. It was actually scary, and I  wasn't able to 
leave my home for several days out of fear.

If this  isn't absolutely THE gem about how people and harps work together, 
I give up.  Wow. 

smo-joe
>> 
>> On Sep 21, 2014, at 9:27 AM,  Richard Sleigh wrote:
>> 
>>> The way I experience new  harmonicas is a combination of discovering 
what
>>> this new harp  can do. tweaking it, and then getting used to the feel 
of the
>>>  new harp.
>>> 
>>> Every harp is different and has some  sort of "personality". I think 
what
>>> happens is that I know what  I want to play, and end up making all 
sorts of
>>> tiny adjustments  in how I play to get the sound and response out of a 
harp.
>>> These  adjustments in my playing happen subconsciously. I'm just 
focusing  on
>>> the sound I want, and my body does God knows what to move  toward 
getting
>>> that sound out of the harp.
>>>  
>>> It's like walking - I am making all sorts of really complicated  
adjustments
>>> that I am not aware of cause I am focused on where I  am going.
>>> 
>>> I think a lot of what we call  "breaking in a harp" is really this
>>> subconscious adjustments to  the unique combination of reed responses 
in the
>>> new harp. Your  mind / body go into some kind of discovery mode for the 
harp
>>> and  come up with all sorts of subtle adjustments "push a little harder 
 on
>>> draw 3 as it goes from whole step bend to step and half just  to get it
>>> past that minor sticking point" , play draw 4 a bit  lighter to even out
>>> volume", - this sort of thing, happening at  warp speed for thousands of
>>> variables per  second.
>>> 
>>> It would be exhausting to try to write  down everything that the brain 
is
>>> processing in even a couple of  seconds of playing a harp.
>>> 
>>> But that is my guess  about what is actually happening as a big part of 
the
>>> "breaking  in" process - the brain training itself to get used to the
>>>  pattern of reed response in a new harp. Once it gets the formula for  
this
>>> new harp dialed in, the harp seems to be playing  better.
>>> 
>>> Of course, if you tweak your own harps,  there is that level of 
"breaking
>>> in" as well - adjusting a harp  evens out the response and removes a 
lot of
>>> the stress on your  brain / body to compensate for the uneven response.
>>>  
>>> I believe that we tend to play all the reeds in a harp at the  general 
level
>>> that gets the most stubborn reeds to respond. That  is why people tend 
to
>>> play hard. It takes real finesse to play  most of a harp softly and 
then hit
>>> the one or two stubborn reeds  just hard enough to make them sound like 
the
>>> other  reeds.
>>> 
>>> It is easier to just hit them all  hard...
>>> 
>>> If you can do basic reed adjustment,  then the process of breaking in a 
harp
>>> includes physically  adjusting the reeds and testing till you get the 
reeds
>>> to  respond in a more balanced and consistent way. Then you give  your
>>> subconscious mind a lot less to deal with as it comes up  with its way 
to
>>> work with this particular combination of  reeds....
>>> 
>>> So you are "breaking in" your own  mind as well as the harp...
>>> 
>>> Richard  Sleigh
>>> http://www.rsleigh.com
>>>  http://www.hotrodharmonicas.com
>> 
> 
> Richard  Sleigh
> 
> P.O. Box 23
> Boalsburg PA 16827
> 
>  Join my list & get entertaining emails and special offers- go to  
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> 
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>