Hello guys. I want to hear from you guys regarding a doubt my: - Which key of the harmonica that most resembles / looks like a tenor saxophone tone? The tone of the harmonica can be regular, low, high, etc., but what tone that looks more like a tenor saxophone? no effects! ! !! no amplifier! ! !! without equalization! ! !!
I'm not sure you could name any harmonica that looks like a tenor sax.
Saxophones and harmonicas operate on very different acoustic principles and produce different overtone profiles, both of which play a big role in tone.
As a purely subjective choice, I gravitate toward a Bb harp. But because there is no objective basis for this choice, your perception may be different. ---------- Winslow
For starters you might try either a Low "Eb" Low "E" -- they seem to have that throaty sax type possibility...not sure if they'll suffice for what your looking for though? What are your goals/plans? Are you familiar with Dennis Gruenling? His work is amplified, but right up the ally of what it is you seem to be after:)
Do alot of sax type stuff with low tuned diatonics and chromatic harps. Chromatics allow for sax like trills because of the abruptness possible.
Alto sax was my first instrument
Amplifying the low harps and chromatics really helps in getting that reedy woodwind or horn like tone.
The 14hole c chromatic is great for doing violin parts.
You'd be amazed at what's possible with the harp. I've played sax for 20 odd years and I can do stuff with harmonica that makes a saxophone feel obsolete. Heck annoying keys to play on sax are easy on harmonica. Heck it handles the altissimo range in a very fluid easy to play way. On most woodwinds the upper register is fairly squirrelly to play without lots of wood shedding. The harmonica has a ton of expression that is fairly easy to tap into in the upper register.
The tonal nuance aka the timbre is different due to the unique overtones of both instruments. Nothing will ever change that.
Harmonica is amazing because it can cop tones that give the feeling of a multitude of instruments. It along with amplification can sound similar to a , bugle, alto sax, tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet or trumpet.
If you dive into really super low tunings you can mimic a tuba or contrabass bugle to some degree.
With some really amazing glissando technique a trombone is probably doable.
A harmonica is not likely to ever have the projection of any other instrument due to its size without assistance.
Last Edited by Willspear on May 16, 2013 5:40 AM
Thanks for the all replies. My goal besides playing blues is cromatic the diatonic harmonica to play jazz and other correlated music. And look for a harmonica tone that most closely matches the tone of a tenor saxophone for it or is playing Jazz on diatonic harmonica. A friend of mine said that based on the perception of sound and timbre of him the harmonica that is closest in tone of a tenor sax would be the key of diatonic harmonica in key Db low! ! !! I am newbie in this matter even low harmonica but it seems that a Low Eb remember very well one tenor sax to play jazz and other stuffs.
What do you think about this? Could you help me about this question? Thanks and sorry for my poor english.
It may very well be that the tonal range of the tenor sax corresponds more to, say a low Db and lower -- but the sound of the horn, the growl, gets harder with the low and low low harps. I´d say that Ab and Bb with the proper amplification (and that´s crucial) will get you the closest.
I say most keys can get there depending on WHICH Sax. willspear said: " Harmonica is amazing because it can cop tones that give the feeling of a multitude of instruments. It along with amplification can sound similar to a , bugle, alto sax, tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet or trumpet." Absolutley, AND I'd add B3 Keys and that makes the harp UNSTOPPABLE! But you do have to know how. Just sayin...
"The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B Flat?, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding an octave and a major second lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F# key have a range from A?2 to E5 (concert) and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone."-Wikipedia
Well, that gives you the range, if you can figure out what it means! (I understood it right up until the transposing instrument part.)
"A transposing instrument is a musical instrument whose music is notated at a pitch different from the pitch that actually sounds (concert pitch). Playing a written C on a transposing instrument produces a pitch other than C (or a C at a different octave than that indicated by the written C in the case of an instrument "transposing at the octave"), and that pitch identifies the interval of transposition when describing the instrument. For example, a written C on a B? clarinet sounds a concert B?. Rather than a property of the instrument, the transposition is a convention of music notation—however, instruments whose music is typically notated in this way are called transposing instruments."-Wikipedia
Okay, so all that aside, are they saying it has a range from A2 to E5 or is that what the sheet music says they have, before transposing?
That will at least give you the pitch range. A normal harp starts on C4, so a low C harp is C3. (Just to make it more fun, the numbers roll over on C instead of A)
Lowest note on each harp (the highest note +3) LLF (F2) LLF# (F#2) LLG (G2) LAb (Ab2) LA (A2) LBb (Bb2) LB (B2) LC (C3) LDb (Db3) LD (D3) LEb (Eb3) LE (E3) LF (F3) LF# (F#3) G (G3) Ab (Ab3) A (A3) Bb (Bb3) B (B3) C (C4) Db (Db4) D (D4) Eb (Eb4) E (E4) F (F4) F# (F#4) HG (G4)
So, range wise, you are in the low to low low harps. (I've got a LLF and it sounds saxaphone or clarinetish.) Bb seems to be a common key for horn music, but I don't know if that's before or after they transpose.
Total success. What wonderful topic about particularities sound of the diatonic harmonica. Just to add I asked the mester PT Gazel about which key of the harmonica sounds like tenor saxophone tone and he replied as follows:
"Low Bb through Low Db seems to do this rather well"
