Re: [Harp-L] Reprise of the Battle of the Bands Live Feed from the R&R Hall of Fame

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Venky Ramakrishna wrote:
<A clever use of electronics while allowing the song to breathe is always appreciated. Just curious to know if there was a female <vocalist what would you do different?

Depends on the vocalist.  The first rule of any music with a vocalist is: don't step on the vocalist. 

With this band, I play more than most harmonica players do, but I'm also playing parts that are designed to reinforce the support for the vocalist, as opposed to playing over the vocalist.  Using a pitch shifter to drop the harmonica into a lower register is one way to stay out of the vocalist's way.  Playing chorded parts that don't distract from the melody is another way.  I'd need to be sure that the chorded parts I played in this show didn't smother the vocalist, maybe by using lower-pitched harps (a low D versus a normal D, for example).  

A female vocalist's range is in the same general register as an unmodified harmonica, so a certain amount of care is necessary.  But in a rock setting, I'm usually not playing an unmodified harmonica.  If I was, the short answer to the question is: I'd play less.

Regards, Richard Hunter