[Harp-L] Will Scarlett's place in the history of overblows

[Boris Plotnikov]

Jason Ricci got Grammy for this track. I hear some overblows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uApN0CTrjSw

Howard Levy have two Grammy's one for Sinister Minister, other for Life in
Eleven, both have overblows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in45m_kW6Og
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvINvjCoapw

вс, 13 февр. 2022 г. в 03:08, Rick Dempster <rickdempster33 at xxxxx>:

> Nothing to do with pitch Tom. A 'single reed played in reverse' (ie and
> over-whatever) sticks out like dogs balls from the rest of the harp.
> If all the reeds sounded like that you'd bin it.
> I've heard Levy live, I've listened to heaps of players using the
> technique. discovered the technique for myself and used it for decades.
> I embossed harps and had them done for me. There are indeed some wonderful
> players using the technique, to whom I don't come near (see? I can swallow
> my sour grapes)
> If there is any  'sour grapes' it is over the failure of the Sub30 to be
> taken up. I bought a few of your over-valve plates some years back.
> I suppose what I should do is put out some clips demonstrating what I am
> talking about.
> It is not possible to build a harp without huge capital expenditure, unlike
> string instruments.
> Brass and woodwinds have a firmly established place, and have remained
> pretty much the same for a very long time.
> Diatonic harmonica needs to be popular, needs to establish itself in a
> perfected form.
> The day I hear OB/ODs used on a massively popular 'hit' record is the day
> I'll eat my words.
> Regards,
> Rick Dempster
>
> On Sun, 13 Feb 2022 at 02:33, Tom Halchak <info at xxxxx>
> wrote:
>
> > I am a little surprised at some of the comments that have been made in
> this
> > thread.  Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion – even me –
> and I
> > mean no disrespect toward anyone but me thinks there is a bit of Sour
> > Grapes going on here.  Readers may recall that Aesop’s Fable is about the
> > fox who, after finding himself unable to reach some grapes he wanted to
> eat
> > disparaged them as being sour.  Here is specifically what I am referring
> > to.
> >
> > “I think they sound awful, and ultimately will do nothing for diatonic
> > harmonica.
> > Just my opinion.
> > RD”
> >
> > I find that comment to be absurd. There are countless harmonica players
> > that seamlessly and effectively incorporate Overblows and Overdraws into
> > their music.  To say that these highly skilled musicians sound awful is
> > pure nonsense.  OK RD, that is just your opinion.  I get it.  But….
> > Really!?!?!  Spend even a few minutes on YouTube and it will put that
> > argument to rest.
> >
> > On the subject of tone.  When a guitar player stretches his strings and
> > bends a note, do we say he has bad tone because it is producing a note
> that
> > is technically a quarter step flat or a quarter step sharp?  Or how
> about a
> > saxophone player to produces the same effect with a slight change in his
> > embouchure.  If Overblows and Overdraws “sound awful” because they are
> > slightly off pitch, what about just about every draw bend and blow bend?
> > How many harmonica players hit those tones spot on every time?   I guess
> > that also means that we should get rid of glissandos because they are way
> > out of tune and sound awful.  Are we saying that only people who play
> every
> > note pitch perfect have good tone?  Are we also saying that chromatic
> > harmonicas, because they are pretty much designed to inhibit bending,
> > automatically have better tone that a diatonic harmonica?  I always
> thought
> > that tone came mostly from the player and not the instrument itself.  The
> > ability to manipulate pitch on an instrument or in one’s voice is called
> > artistic expression.
> >
> > Lastly, I have had the opportunity to sit and chat with Will Scarlett,
> the
> > initial subject of this thread, specifically about his exclusive use of
> a G
> > harp in his Hot Tuna days.  Without putting words in his mouth, even
> though
> > the music he created is/was historic, he has told me that it was
> probably a
> > mistake to go off the deep end and only use a G harp.  We all go off the
> > deep end at times.  If Will believed that using a G harp exclusively was
> > the best way to go, he would still being doing it today and he is not.
> >
> > --
> > *Tom Halchak*
> > *Blue Moon Harmonicas LLC*
> > *P.O. Box 14401 Clearwater, FL 33766*
> >
> > *www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com <http://www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com>**(727)
> > 366-2608*
> >
>


-- 
Thanks, Boris Plotnikov
http://borisplotnikov.ru