JustFuya
523 posts
Sep 16, 2014
4:05 AM
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I understand blues equipment to a point. Then I get confused and just play.
I think breaking mechanical things down into little pieces to appreciate them is essential but will that exercise make me a better musician?
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jbone
1759 posts
Sep 16, 2014
4:17 AM
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I just know this: doing live acoustic public stuff at farmers markets etc has made me a better player over all. No gear, just me and a harp.
It's great having sound gear and I use it to the fullest when appropriate. But sometimes no gear is best.
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http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000386839482
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa7La7yYYeE
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kudzurunner
4964 posts
Sep 16, 2014
4:33 AM
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At the risk of overintellectualizing an answer.....
You're talking about two different processes. Analysis--breaking stuff down into component parts--CAN be extremely helpful, especially if, as you move forward in your playing, you find yourself confronting a chronic or repeated problem. For example, early in my public performance career (1984-86), I had trouble with feedback during gigs. I was playing through a Peavey hybrid (tube/solid-state) amp and if I'd known anything about amps, I would have dumped that thing off a bridge. When I replaced it with an Ampeg Rocket, my sound got much better--although the fact that the amp, with all tubes, had a 15" replacement speaker made it less than optimal!
If I'd had a guy like Greg Heumann around to educate me, I would have made much faster progress in getting my sound together, in part because he'd probably take the time to analyze the situation--break it down and explain a few core principles that would have helped ME troubleshoot and improve my own practices. (It was those years that helped me figure out that speakers with large heavy magnets, like the Peavey, are almost never a good idea.)
Analysis is, or can be, important. But the flip side, synthesis and practical application, are also important. And one of the best way of putting those principles into practice is exactly what jbone suggests: just doing it. Getting "out there" and playing for a public. Getting unselfconscious and back into your musical mind--which is, in the final analysis (so to speak), what makes the music. Just blowing unamped harp--naked harp, you might call it--and knowing how to make that work is a key tool in every harp player's toolkit. I started that way when I first busked on the street, back in June 1984 in Paris and then Avignon. Among other things, it frees you up to move TOWARDS your public: literally walking towards and into a crowd. When you bottle (pass the hat) for a guitarist, this mobility is crucial. Learn how to work that! Get comfortable with it. It's a skill.
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The Iceman
2056 posts
Sep 16, 2014
6:15 AM
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Becoming a better musician has nothing to do with equipment.
Understanding equipment will help you with your sound.
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The Iceman
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Diggsblues
1549 posts
Sep 16, 2014
10:30 AM
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Lately I just play right through the PA and just bring my
own mic and octave pedal. When I played my band I used an
ampeg reverb rocket. You carry the music with you. The tech is to help you express it. Getting comfortable with performance is key to playing so do it a lot.
The great Classical Harmonica player Cham-ber Huang told me that he lost 50% of his talent just walking
on stage so always said a little prayer just before he
went on.
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Frank
5303 posts
Sep 17, 2014
8:41 AM
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Mastering the fundamentals of whatever it is you wish to excel at is the key to appearing professional...
The main reason most of us are easy to "see through" as being on the amature side of the fence...
Is our fundamental development is perceived by us to be fully matured, a common deception by us harp players!
When in fact if a Pro Player/Musician sat us down and tested our musical fundamental skills on the harp-
Most of us would fail - not because we can't do many of them...
We just do them half assed, childishly, and many times plain poorly.
The Pros our fundamentally sound players... they got the (i's) dotted and (t's) crossed :)
Last Edited by Frank on Sep 17, 2014 8:45 AM
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JustFuya
543 posts
Sep 17, 2014
1:16 PM
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@Frank - I agree. The 'real' pros dot the 'i's and cross the 't's and have been doing so forever.
In many cases the old timers improvised or made their own instrument. Chops are a natural gift. The music will out regardless.
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1847
2178 posts
Sep 17, 2014
2:02 PM
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Mastering the fundamentals of whatever it is you wish to excel at is the key to appearing professional...
The main reason most of us are easy to "see through" as being on the amature side of the fence...
Is our fundamental development is perceived by us to be fully matured, a common deception by us harp players!
frank i think that was a brilliant post.
sometimes you surprise me, lol
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money as debt
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