HawkeyeKane
2679 posts
Jan 15, 2015
1:23 PM
|
Okay...so here's a poser for you. My bandleader is wanting us to learn and perform Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh. Fine by me. Kickass song after all.
But he's got this idea in his head that I should try and figure out how to do the talk box part on harp.
Well....can't blame him for his creativity I suppose. But obviously you can't sing and play harp at the same time so an actual talk box is out unless I had someone else sing into the tube and time it perfectly every time we played it. But he does have a Boss PW-10 V-Wah pedal that has the capability of reproducing talk box vowel sounds by moving the pedal back and forth to certain positions in different ranges of the wah. Here...taken from page 16 of the owner's manual...
So I suppose it's doable to a point. Won't know for sure until I try it out. Has anyone else here ever dinked around with a wah? Detrimental? Successful? Any advice is welcome.
----------
Hawkeye Kane - Hipbone Sam
|
barbequebob
2818 posts
Jan 15, 2015
1:34 PM
|
Wah wah pedals (sometimes called gig pedals back when I started in the 70's) didn't produce the wah wah effect for harp at all (your hands will always still do a much better job at it for harp than that pedal ever will) and they were often times used by harp players going into pre-CBS black faced Fender amps used as a preamp for greater gain. I was never a fan of that at all but some players liked it back then.
----------
Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
|
20REEDS
16 posts
Jan 15, 2015
4:46 PM
|
Whenever I tried using way with harp the feedback was just too much to deal with. Auto wah or envelope filter works better but gets really tired if not used in moderation. Are you playing amped or mic'd acoustic? If acoustic of coarse you can use a cup- that increases a wah sound
|
Komuso
468 posts
Jan 15, 2015
6:03 PM
|
Agree with 20reeds on the auto wah, and moderation bit.
I have an auto wah patch I use sometimes, but only as a drop in effect never for a whole tune. I like it using it with a heavy delay.
There's a short bit starting at 8:52 where I use it on this:
----------
Paul Cohen aka Komuso Tokugawa
HarpNinja - Your harmonica Mojo Dojo
Bringing the Boogie to the Bitstream
|
HawkeyeKane
2681 posts
Jan 16, 2015
8:48 AM
|
Well here's the thing...I'm not really after a wah effect per se. I'm needing a talk box effect. And as I said, playing harp negates your ability to talk into a talk box tube simultaneously.
This particular wah pedal I'm talking about is not strictly a wah. It's actually a multiple effect expression type of pedal. It has auto wah, talk box, Uni-Vibe, even bass guitar oriented functions. The talk box function seems like the best bet so far, but I'll only know after trying it out. I'll report back after I have the chance.
----------
Hawkeye Kane - Hipbone Sam
|
barbequebob
2820 posts
Jan 17, 2015
8:37 AM
|
The big reason why most harp players abandoned the use of wahwah pedals as a preamp for harp was because they were notorious for heavily boosting the treble, which far harp, is something you DON'T want happening unless you want to continuously deal with feedback hell.
----------
Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
|
Meaux Jeaux
34 posts
Jan 17, 2015
12:49 PM
|
You can only enhance your bands sound, I say go for it!
|
A440
309 posts
Jan 18, 2015
9:34 AM
|
Hawkeye, You mentioned that you can't sing and play harp at the same time. Actually, it is possible! I sometimes sing through my harp, playing through 4-hole chords. The articulation of the words with my tongue carries through the mic. I imagine that with some practice, it should be possible to emulate the Joe Walsh talk box sound, singing through your harp.
Last Edited by A440 on Jan 18, 2015 9:35 AM
|
Shredder
400 posts
Jan 18, 2015
8:08 PM
|
Auto-wah like Ricci uses with sensitivity way up but play the harp softly to make it activate, combined with a BBE mind bender vibrato/chorus pedal, combined with a Boss DD7 delay works best for me along with hand articulations. I have played it with a band and it works but it takes practice and breath control. There is room for improvement with this setup but I haven't figured it out yet. I tried a wah pedal, it doesn't work for harp, at least in my case.
Mike
|
HarpNinja
4003 posts
Jan 19, 2015
6:58 AM
|
If I had to play this part right now, I'd scat into my harp mic with something like a ring modulator. You'd be ultra bad ass if you were to scat into the harp through the mic so people couldn't tell what you were doing.
----------
Mike
My Website
My Harmonica Effects Blog
|
