Old Hickory
10 posts
Jul 06, 2012
8:55 AM
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I would consider myself an advanced/beginner level player at best. I'm presently working my way through Annie Raines "Truefire" course (which I highly recommend) and have a couple of Jon Gindick books too. I've only recently delved into the amplified side of the harp with a Shure 545sd equipped with a Greg Huemann "Bulletizer."
The bulletizer enables me to pretty much get an airtight seal while holding the mic and harp which from what I understand is a good thing. My problem is that I feel feel like my cup might be too airtight. When playing draw notes (especially bends) I feel like I'm straining to get the air to flow and it's harder to hit the target pitch. As soon as I loosen my cup up everything sounds better and plays easier. Am I doing something wrong?
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Frank
837 posts
Jul 06, 2012
10:07 AM
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Trust your ear, does it sound wrong?
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Littoral
548 posts
Jul 06, 2012
10:57 AM
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As a recent member of the bulletizer club (57) I can't say I have the same issue. I have played forever (mercenary TB attitude) so my guess is it's just new territory as far as technique. The mic kicks ass.
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Greg Heumann
1679 posts
Jul 06, 2012
5:59 PM
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A perfect cup means you should not be able to draw any air through the harp. That is the GOAL - many of us can't get there no matter what. If you're there it means you're blocking the unplayed holes on the front as well as getting a good seal between harp and mic. IF you're there, clearly, you must open up a bit. Be sure you are though - you might just be playing too hard. The only time you might use the fully airtight seal is for a brief moment to begin a "wah" or to mute a note.
UNTIL you can get there, you don't know if you're cupping as fully as you can. The vast majority of players have lots of leaks - which reduces "wah-ability" AND thins out amplified tone. Cupping is something tat should be done variably to produce and control the tone you want.
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/Greg
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nacoran
5932 posts
Jul 06, 2012
6:49 PM
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It's not a terribly useful trick, but it can be a fun way to show off how good your cup is- angle the harp a bit against your face to expose the 10 hole. See if you can play the 1 hole and get the ten to sound. I've got one Seydel that is so airtight that I can angle it and block the 10 and get the 9 or 8 to sound. It's not something you'll use every day, but it can actually be musically useful if you pick your spots. Basically, it's a triple octave split.
Once you get to that point, like Greg said, you can dial it to whatever level you want. I've had problems with this technique or that technique, but cupping has always been kind of easy for me, even although my hands are kind of small. I think it's because when I was a little kid one of my parents showed me how to cut my hands to get a drink of water. I don't do it the way you see most people do it. I take the right hand and make a shape like I am making half of a set of binoculars (like kids do), and then cup the left hand underneath. Once you can hold water without leaking you can make a pretty good seal on the harp, even if the shape is a little different. Like Greg said, once you've got that seal it's easy to dial it in however you want. :)
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Nate
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HarpNinja
2547 posts
Jul 06, 2012
6:59 PM
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nacoran, I was about to mention something about that. With where I hold my hands, I get the 7 and 8 to sound sometimes too.
My issue is I can cup, but a lot of times, my embouchure gets lazy and my tone suffers. A lot of this is because I play a lot one handed and practice without holding a mic.
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Mike
VHT Special 6 Mods
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas - When it needs to come from the soul...
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Old Hickory
11 posts
Jul 06, 2012
8:30 PM
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Thank you all for your input. This has bugged me all day so I locked myself in my room and was determined not to come out until the issue was resolved.
First of all I realized that I have very large hands and have no trouble at all getting a really tight seal especially with the great design of Greg's bulletizer.
Second of all I was drawing a lot harder trying to compensate for the reduced air flow and that's what was causing my pitch problems.
Third was my embouchure had changed because I couldn't get my upper lip over the top of the cover as far as I usually do when playing acoustically.
After experimenting for about 2 hours I was finally getting a much better tone by relaxing my death hold grip and not playing so hard. I still haven't completely solved the embouchure problem but I'm pleased with the progress made today.
I think I'm beginning to understand why Adam advises playing acoustically for a year before picking up a microphone. Lol
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BronzeWailer
690 posts
Jul 07, 2012
6:20 AM
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At Nate. I have gotten the higher holes to sound by accident when placing the right side of the harp against my cheek. At first I thought I was hearing things...
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eharp
1858 posts
Jul 07, 2012
6:31 AM
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some of you that went to HCH 2 years ago might remember bruce. he's the one that sticks the entire harp in his mouth backwards and plays. he's the one that wears the zydeco tie all the time.
well, he gets that tight cup, w/o mic by using his cheek and draws low and gets a high note(s) to play at the same time.
he has incorporated it into a song.
that guy doesnt do any trick or technique w/o being able to use it in some manner.
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