Re: [Harp-L] Harmonica mic

[jbrown03@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Many years ago, I reached out to the great Annie Raines, asking her how I could improve my "tone". Her response to me was to listen to Sonny Boy 2 and try to emulate him. In an attempt to assist me technically, she told me to try to work on my embouchure and keep my mouth as open as possible: a wide cavity is key. I took this to heart and it improved my playing tremendously. 

I agree with all the respondents here who say that a clean acoustic technique is key. Once you become proficient at playing in an acoustic setting, you are ready to move forward with amplified techniques.

What Mr. Cohen wrote below is gospel... Take it to heart!
 
 Randy Redington 
wrote:
Latley I've been working on my embroucher, trying to keep a 
steady full tone. It's amazing on how much just that alone affects how I 
sound.


Randy, embouchure is far more important to your tone than any other single
thing you can do—and its’ free, sort of. All it costs is time 
and practice.
I’ve seen guys top pros get killer sound out of crappy-assed house mics and sketchy PAs. And I’ve seen guys at jam sessions with thousands of dollars of custom and boutique gear whose sound is thinner than their hair. IMHO, people shouldn’t invest in high end amps and expensive mics until they can get fat sound acoustically. You’ll hear it even when you don’t cup and when you blow through low-end equipment. Playing amplified definitely has its own techniques. Like smoke is to BBQ, different amps and mics flavor your sound they don’t put the meat on the bones. That’s embouchure. 
:-)
Bob Cohen
Writer, Internet Consultant, Teacher