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Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 09:47:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mike Will
Subject: Re: cheap harmonicas (longish)

Bob Meehan writes:

"I was just wondering what the attraction is for cheap
harmonicas. Are we so poor that a $5 harmonica is
preferable over a $25 harmonica? or an $85
harmonica? Do you drive a $100 car? Do you wear $5
shoes?

I have always believed that you get what you pay for!
I would expect to get a piece of s&%* for $5 and a
really fine professional instrument for $85.
Any thoughts?"

It seems to me that the quality of diatonic harp
customization has reached the point where we're
essentially talking about different instruments.

In other words, a top quality off the shelf harp is
essentially a different instrument than a top quality
customized harp. Why a different instrument? Well
for one thing, the top customized harps (by
definition) let you play every note available on the
instrument, whereas top quality off-the-shelf harps
can be expected to be missing at least some
cross-bends (okay, overblows) if not some standard
bends, depending on the quality of the off-the-shelf
harp. But that's not all. Top custom harps also play
more evenly and allow greater speed because of their
enhanced compression and responsiveness.

Another smaller less important thing you get from top
customized harps is the ability to smoothly bend down
all the blow bends. For example, you can blow bend
the 10 smoothly and continuously all the way down
through the 2nd-Pos 3rd and flat-3rd. Off the shelf
harps almost always (in my experience) want to "jump"
the bend down, skiping some pitches, making it
difficult if not impossible to get that smooth
continuous bend.

(Aside: I have found a strong correlation between
being able to get smooth continuous blow bends and
being able to do overdraws in that hole. In other
words, when you can blow bend the note smoothly and
continuously all the way down you can almost
invariably get an overdraw, but if you can't make the
bend smooth--it wants to jump over some pitches--the
overdraw will be difficult at best. So, if you set up
your own reeds (which I highly recommend for
off-the-shelf harps) that's just a little tip that
might help you get the high reeds gapped "properly".)

I guess what I'm saying is that to "master" an
instrument means to be able to play all the notes on
the instrument (as well as being able to do a lot of
other stuff). An off-the-shelf harp essentially
offers fewer notes than a top customized harp. The
top quality customized harp demands more techniques
than the best off-the-shelf diatonic.

It's almost like we need a different name. Diatonic
is okay for typical off-the-shelf harps. But perhaps
harps that enable you to play the diatonic
chromatically should be called something else, like
"Richter" harps or something. (Oh no! Not another
name-the-thing debate!) But really now, isn't there a
distinct difference between the style of
standard-diatonic players and chromatic-Richter
players? Is anyone likely to confuse the styles of
Howard Levy, Ironman Mike Curtis, Chris Michalek, Alan
Holmes, Carlos delJunco, Mike Stevens, etc. with those
of Kim Wilson, Jerry Portnoy, Billy Branch, Rick
Estrin, etc.? (Sorry about all the folks I left out..
it's dangerous to make lists..).

I think if you really want to master the short harp
you should play top quality custom harps. If you
don't like sound of the some of the notes (be they
bends or overbends), don't use 'em in your
performances/recordings until they're improved. But
that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep working at the
troublesome sounds.

I guess this gets into the issue of "playing music" as
contrasted with "playing the harp". If you only want
to play a particular type of music which has no need
for complete chromaticism that's fine. But if you
want to play the whole harp, that requires more work
(and enables more music).

What a top custom harp gives you is basically

A harp that completely works.

An in-tune, air-tight, comfortable, fast,
consistent-response harp that provides all the draws,
blows, bends, Xbends, smooth bends, etc. over a wide
range of breath pressures, from very very soft to as
loud as possible, with a wide range of available
harmonic overtones. That's all! Just let me do on
one harp everything I can do on any harp (within
reason).

Easier said than done (and more expensive), and
certain compromises are necessary--but the best harps
make the fewest and smallest compromises, and thus
require the maximum technique to utilize their
capabilities completely, at the same time providing
the easiest bends and Xbends. Of course such a harp
will require more work to build and thus cost more.
But a good working harp can pull more music out of you
than you knew you had in you. That alone makes it
worth the price to me.

Well Bob, you asked!

Thanks for listening..
Mike Will

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