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

[Rick Davis <bluesharpamps@xxxxxxxxx>]

So, you want to save the harmonica by making it sound like a clarinet?  Or
a trumpet?  Or a Hammond B3?  I'm not sure that is a good plan, or even a
necessary one.

When you use processors or effects to make a harp sound like a trumpet, for
example, it doesn't work.  It does not sound like a trumpet; its sounds
like what it is:  A processed harmonica.  It is usually not a sound I like.
 it sounds flanged and phased and EQ'd and compressed and octaved and
filtered.  If it is well played I will admire the musicianship in spite of
the sound, but I can't help but ask myself "Why?"

The harmonica makes a lovely tone, with a breadth of variations and nuances
created through skill and technique. I don't have any fear that it is in
danger of dying out.  The young guns are coming along, and they are
excellent.

-Rick Davis



On Wed, Oct 29, 2014 at 3:49 PM, Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> Michael Rubin wrote:
> >No clarinet in modern music?  You must live up North.
>
> I live up North on Planet Earth, which is the place where clarinet hasn't
> been featured in any band I've heard in the last 30 years.
> I suppose it's possible that there's a teeny little pocket on the planet
> where every band features a clarinet.  It might be the same teeny little
> pocket where every band features a harmonica, too.  I sincerely wish that
> the second teeny little pocket was as big as the planet, but it's not, and
> that's the point.
>
> Doesn't it scare anyone besides me that none of the top ten bands in
> Nashville, which used to be a pretty good town for harmonica, has a
> fulltime harmonica player?  That's a change from the previous 25 years, and
> it's not the right kind of change from my point of view.
>
> It's time to change the game.  Acting as if the game hasn't changed
> doesn't help when everybody else's game has changed.
>
> There are other ways to change the game besides altering the sound of the
> instrument, of course.  At this point I don't think anything should be
> ruled out.
>
> Thanks, RH
>
>