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

[Rick Dempster <rickdempster33@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dare I suggest some reasons? I like 'popping' the top three holes, from
fully bent to 'open', like my old hero Gwen Foster.
It's not really possible to do that on the lower draw bends, though the
higher the harp, the closer you get.
The lower the two reeds in ANY kind of bend - conventional or overbend -
the harder it is to do.
I can get that fast flutter between bent and unbent on the hole 6 overbend,
and I'd say the optimum
distance between the corresponding reeds is one full tone - as at hole 6.
Hole 5 is the worst, at one semitone.
(Hmm...I see David Fairweather thinks hole 5 is easier than 4. Not for me
it ain't .I like hole 4 OB a lot better -
now  we probably have to consult some kind of oral linguistic specialist.
Guess my heads a different shape to your's, David!)
So it's a question of closeness of interval, and perhaps closeness of
frequency, as with the higher reeds.
That's my theory.
RD

On 4 January 2015 at 17:18, Gary Lehmann <gnarlyheman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Does nobody include Jason Ricci? Or Joe Spiers? Or that other Joe . . .
>
> On Sat, Jan 3, 2015 at 7:44 PM, David Fairweather <dmf273@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
> > ---------- 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?
> > >
> >
>