Re: [Harp-L] overblow terminology

[Eric Nielsen <ericbarnak@xxxxxxxxx>]

Overbending refers to both overblows and overdraws.

Eric

On Fri, May 29, 2015 at 11:10 AM, <philharpn@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> Overbending is another term for what was once called "overblows" which
> amounts to single reed blow bends on unvalved reeds.
> This contracts with the double reed draw bends (holes 1,2,3,4,6) and blow
> bends (holes 8,9,10). Most chromatics are valved/windsavers which means
> they can be blow and draw bent on every valved hole at least a half step.
> Double-reed bends allow the note between the draw and blow reeds to be
> bent. If C is blow note, and D a draw note; the bent note id Db/C#.
>
>
> At some point the "overblow" terminology was replaced with "overbend" for
> the sake of clarity. But instead it only to obscure. This may have been
> inspired by the confusion of the Jimmy Reed blow bends on the top end of
> the standard harp. this is because some people thought top end blow bends
> were "overblows" when they were simply blow bends.
>
>
> Overblow notes typically appear on holes 1, 4,5,6 on a diatonic.
>
>
> On the standard richter diatonic in C, the F and A are missing in the
> first octave and the B is missing in the third octave. (These notes can be
> created by standard bending.) The use of overblows adds the Eb in the first
> octave, Eb, F# and Bb in the middle octave and the C# and Ab in the third.
> Some people like overblows because they add the "missing" notes to make the
> diatonic chromatic (adding all the 12 notes to fill out the scale).
>
>
> To my ear, the timbre of the standard bent notes more closely matches that
> of the "given" notes than the overblow notes.I've never seen an explanation
> for this but I suspect it has to do with the physics of sound. If a
> standard note consists of a fundamental and an overtone, the overblow has
> only the overtone but not the fundamental. Or the other way round. This
> accounts for the thin sounding note created with overblows.
>
>
> Which is not to say that the overblows do not fill out the missing notes
> that are otherwise not available. They just sound thin because they ARE.
> I'm still waiting for the scientific explanation.
>
>
>
>
> Howard Levy once said that it took him several years to discover overblows
> and about the same amount of time to learn how to apply them. Howard was
> not the first to record overblows, several other people used them before he
> did. But they didn't call them overblows (from the sax and trumpet overtone
> series), they just played them.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Phil
>
>
>
>
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>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Hale <robert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: Shubham Harnal <shubham.harnal@xxxxxxxx>
> Cc: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Fri, May 29, 2015 10:00 am
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] How to benefit most from in-person lessons/tutoring ?
>
>
> On Fri, May 29, 2015 at 12:08 AM, Shubham Harnal
> <shubham.harnal@xxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
> > overbending
>
>
> âWhat is overbending,
> please?â
>
> Robert Hale
> Serious Honkage in
> Arizona
> youtube.com/DUKEofWAIL
> DUKEofWAIL.com
>
>
>