[Harp-L] Draw bend 5

[Rick Dempster]

Hmm...."Although historically significant players used it, and because it's
there
on the harp, are not good enough reasons for me to draw bend 5.
The third semitone down from Draw 3 is there on the harp, too.
Documentation, sure, but musically relevant, no."
..............A rag in G on a C harp would frequently start with an E
chord, of which the 3 hole full bend is the third.
If I was playing in C, there are heaps of tunes I'd want that note for too;
it's the flat third of an 'F' chord, the IV of C.
RD

On 3 February 2018 at 04:04, The Iceman via Harp-L <harp-l at xxxxx>
wrote:

> wow. talk about injecting a lot of "laboratory" chat into the
> conversation.....I like to keep it simple.
>
>
> Yes, I can hear a difference in that Inhale bend 5 depending on Equal
> Temperament and that of Just or compromise tunings....now, when is one able
> to hear the difference? It depends on the situation. In a laboratory
> setting, if you played an example of each, I would clearly hear the
> difference. In playing chords on the harmonica, I can clearly hear the
> difference. In the heat of performance with back up band, it gets harder to
> hear, but I can still determine the difference.
>
>
> To a "citizen" listener, since they hear harmonica notes differently and
> are kinda used to harmonica sounding a bit out of tune, it probably has no
> impact on them.
>
>
> btw, I have found that if you use your bending technique to take that
> pitch to the floor, it actually sounds almost 1/4 tone below the actual
> pitch of that note created through bend technique - this also translates to
> the "height of that note room" on hole 5 inhale - it is actually a little
> bit taller, or that floor is a little bit lower than what folk have
> described so far....so, it's not so much about the "tone" here, but the
> actual pitch range that exists for one to play with in crafting a living,
> breathing style of blues harmonica.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Halchak <info at xxxxx>
> To: harp-l <harp-l at xxxxx>; Steve Baker <steve at xxxxx>;
> Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica at xxxxx>; The Iceman <
> IcemanLE at xxxxx>
> Sent: Fri, Feb 2, 2018 10:31 am
> Subject: Draw bend 5
>
>
>
> ​​The conversation about the 5-draw bend has me thinking about the various
> tunings available on our beloved 10-hole diatonic and how that affects
> everything.  Ask any Harp Tech, and they will tell you that the most
> commonly blown out reed is the 5-draw and many believe that it is due to
> the fact that players try to bend it down a full semitone.  As a player, it
> is enlightening to hear such prominent players and Michael Rubin and Steve
> Baker state their cases in favor of the use of the 5-draw bend.  And I like
> Iceman’s point about the ability to “humanize” or “color” a note using
> something less than a full semitone bend.  I must confess that I have
> probably allowed the Left Brain to suppress my Right Brain on this.
>
>
> But here are my thoughts about tunings.  We know that there are 100 cents
> between semitones.  On harmonicas that are tune to Equal Temperament, like
> a Golden Melody or a Lee Oskar, the 5-blow and the 5-draw are, in theory,
> tuned 100 cents apart.  But with other tunings, the two reeds are tuned
> slightly sharp or slightly flat, and in the case of 7-Limit Just
> Intonation, very flat.
>
>
> For example, with 7-Limit, the tuning chart calls for the 5-blow to be 14
> cents flat and the 5-draw to be 29 cents flat.  So, with 7-Limit, the
> interval between 5-blow and 5-draw is 115 cents.  One might think that
> would give us a little more room at the bottom when bending the 5-draw.
> And, it is worth pointing out, that an awful lot of the traditional blues
> music that is such a huge part of the harmonica heritage, was played and
> recorded on harps tuned to 7-Limit.
>
>
> Modern Compromise Temperament calls for both the 5-blow and the 5-draw to
> be 12 cents flat, it maintains the interval of 100 cents.
>
>
> 19-Limit Just Intonation calls for the 5-blow to be tuned 14 cents flat
> and the 5-draw to be tuned 3 cents sharp.  That reduces the interval to
> only 83 cents between the 5-blow and 5-draw.  In theory, should that not
> affect the ability to flatten the 5-draw?
>
>
> I have noticed from my numerous conversations with other harp players,
> that many have a much better ear than I do and hear subtle differences in
> tone, etc. that I don’t.  I’m not tone deaf, but I am probably middle of
> the road relative to the fantastic ears pro players have.  Have any of you
> noticed a difference in the 5-draw bend from one tuning to the next?
>
>
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> --
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>
>
> Tom Halchak
> Blue Moon Harmonicas LLC
> P.O. Box 14401 Clearwater, FL 33766
> www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
> Blue Moon on Facebook
> (727) 366-2608
>
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