Fwd: [Harp-L] Why are some overblows easier than others?

[David Fairweather <dmf273@xxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Fairweather <dmf273@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, Jan 3, 2015 at 7:43 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Why are some overblows easier than others?
To: Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>


Well if Winslow doesn't know then I guess nobody knows! :>   Another
possibility is that it simply has something to do with the reeds position
along the reedplate so that no matter what key you're in the central reeds
on the reedplate will overblow better and the further away you get from the
center, the harder overblowing will be.   But that doesn't really explain
why.

On Sat, Jan 3, 2015 at 7:11 PM, Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> Some speculative possibilities:
>
>
> 1. Tuning the vocal cavity precisely enough to overcome both the blow
> reed's tendency to respond and the draw reed's tendency to just lie there
> may be more difficult for some pitches than for others. But then why is OB6
> the most likely to respond through a range of several keys? And why is the
> dual reed bend in the same hole, which is only two semitones away, so much
> more reliable and easy to access? (This is partially - but only partially
> for this purpose - answered by the fact that it is in fact a dual reed
> bend.)
>
> 2. The pitch difference between the two reeds might play a part. But then
> why is OB1 so much more difficult that OB4 and OB4 more difficult than OB6,
> when they all involve a two-semitone difference?
>
> 3. For any given hole and breath, the reeds involved are the same length
> and width a(though differ in thickness and weight distribution) through a
> range of keys. Could this be the deciding factor?
> Winslow
> zzzz
>
> ________________________________
> From: David Fairweather <dmf273@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: "Harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, January 3, 2015 3:19 PM
> Subject: [Harp-L] Why are some overblows easier than others?
>
>
> I think most people would agree that the #6 overblow is easier (at least
> for beginners) than the #5, which is easier than the #4.   Is there a
> physical explanation for this?   I just got a new Hohner Blues Harp in the
> key of Ab and spent 1/2 hour trying to gap the #4 overblow.   Never really
> did get a good compromise that didn't make the #4 unbent blow reed choke up
> too easily.    I figured the unbent blow note was too important to risk it
> choking up onstage and that I'd rarely use the #4 overblow, so I finally
> gave up.   But I'm wondering why?    And does it matter what key harp
> you're gapping?   Was the Ab harps #4 reed just too low?
>