[Harp-L] Nail polish and bubbles

[bren@xxxxx]

Thanks Vern. I assume you mean G3/A3 in terms of their pitches under  
the international note naming system? If you mean hole 3 on a C harp,  
the draw would be a B, not an A.

You seem to have missed my earlier point that nail polish would only  
be used in conjunction with standard embossing, on both the blow AND  
the draw reed, plus optimal gapping. Thus your bubble demonstration  
using stock reeds and slots is not especially relevant to the  
discussion.

I'd be interested to see what happens if you test a harp that's had  
the lower 2/3 of both the blow and draw reeds nicely embossed, and the  
gaps optimised. I'm sure that the relative bubble factor will be  
rather different. There will still be more air loss from the draw reed  
than the base of the blow reed of course, but relatively less.

We all know you like to stand on the basis of scientific empiricism  
rather than subjectivity, and dismiss all experiential player reports  
such as those from Tom, Steve, Laurent, me etc as being essentially  
invalid because they are unsubstantiated by your beloved blindfold  
tests.

The scientific method is widely agreed to be the best way humans have  
yet devised of ascertaining the truth, and I believe in it too!

But I still think the first-hand reports of experts (in this case  
long-term and professional players of the diatonic harmonica, an  
instrument you have agreed you know little about) are worth taking  
seriously. I've always held that what a player hears and feels is  
quite different to what a listener may hear, and that's how buyers  
make their choices of comb and customising level: from what their  
combined senses tell them as they play.

It's a very subtle thing and, like other animals, humans can develop  
highly refined levels of discernment after doing something repeatedly  
(like playing a single type of harmonica) over many years. Look at  
tea, coffee and wine tasters, or perfume experts: their skills take  
many years to develop.

If you were a true empiricist, rather than just an academic iconoclast  
(and that's not an ad hominem argument :), instead of dismissing the  
reports of experienced diatonic players you might decide it was  
actually worth spending a bit of time with a bunch of really well  
customised diatonics to experience for yourself and see what the fuss  
is about.

After that your pronouncements might gain a bit more traction.

Brendan





Quoting Vern <jevern at xxxxx>:

> Harp-L doesn’t allow pictures so I have copied everyone who has  
> posted on the subject.
>
> I glued shut the G3 blow reed of a diatonic for 2/3 of its length  
> near the tip.  This left open only the gap to which  the nail polish  
> is applied. The A3 draw reed was undisturbed.  Then I glued a straw  
> to the front of the chamber.  The draw reed would sound when I drew  
> on the straw.
>
> I submerged the harp in a glass bread-pan full of water and took  
> flash photographs while blowing into the straw.  Notice the tiny  
> bubble emerging from the unfilled gap of the closing  blow reed and  
> the huge flow of air from the opening draw reed.   Other snapshots  
> revealed that the blow-reed bubble gets about twice the size seen  
> here before it lets go and rises.
>
> I cropped the picture and adjusted its brightness and contrast.
>
> This discrepancy caused me to question the effectiveness of the nail polish.