RE: [Harp-L] Sometimes ....

[Buck Worley <boogalloo@xxxxxxx>]

I like what you and Richard said. I have had similar results; added FX through bullet & bassman (a real '59 all stock no mods) then after my experimentation phase realized that it sounded better with no FX. However I agree that proper and tasteful FX can provide interesting addition under the right circumstances. I like a bit of delay, sometimes rotary and octave stuff. Some stomp boxes are tone suckers for sure.
I admit that I don't practice with a non active mic much. Maybe I will rethink that.
Buck

> Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 07:55:08 -0500
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Sometimes ....
> From: michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx
> To: turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> CC: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> 
> I love playing acoustically and have often (and currently) been in bands
> where that is what I do.
> 
> Every now and then I get effects happy.  I spent a year playing a weekly
> show with an array of effects through my bassman.  One night I forgot my
> effects unit.  The crowd was a regular crowd and I had loads of people
> saying "What did you DO to make it sound so great?"  At which point I
> learned that a bullet mic through a bassman was all I really needed when
> playing electrically.
> Michael Rubin
> michaelrubinharmonica.com
> 
> On Wed, Oct 29, 2014 at 5:06 AM, Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
> 
> > David McCurry wrote:
> > <I have had the same experience and recommend to all beginner to
> > <intermediate players that tone comes from just you and the harp first, and
> > <mic/amp/effect combos added with and to that. Not a big fan of the "one
> > <size fits all" tube amp / "cupped" bullet mic "effect" for EVERY song.
> > <Practice good hand, throat and articulation (and did I mention practice)
> > <without a mic, but remember to also practice WITH a mic to build good mic
> > <technique alongside what you do with just the harp.
> > <
> > <NO good and professional player I have ever heard or seen (most recently
> > <Charlie Musselwhite and James Cotton) plays every song with at tightly
> > <cupped harp and bullet mic all the time. They open their hands, fingers
> > <(and nose and throat) to create a range of tone for each song. AND... John
> > <Hammond (who played with them) plays his harp in a rack with his guitar
> > and
> > <had TONE APLENTY!
> > <
> > <All that said.. there is a very good and evolving place for pedals and FX.
> > <Be very intentional about each new sound you create, matched to the
> > emotion
> > <and color of the song, and use all 64 colors in the box.
> >
> > I agree about 100% with 100% of the above.
> >
> > What FX do, in spades, is extend the range of sounds available to the
> > instrument, opening up new roles for the harmonica in the band.
> >
> > But no FX device will make up for not knowing how to play your
> > instrument.  Jimi Hendrix was a master of FX, obviously, but Hendrix knew
> > what he was doing with a guitar long before he plugged in the wah-wah.
> > When you put the knowledge of the instrument together with the extended
> > tonal and emotional possibilities of FX... magic.
> >
> > We have to remember that when Little walter started playing through an amp
> > with his hands cupped around the mic, it was an entirely new sound--a new
> > "effect."  As Alan Wilson said once in an interview, "Who ever thought a
> > harmonica could sound like THAT?"
> >
> > Regards, Richard Hunter
> >
> >