Here's my entry for Brendan's Lucky 13 competition. It's far from perfect, but if I waited to make a perfect video I'd never get this finished or submitted!
I'm using an Ab Lucky 13 harmonica that I got from Rockin' Ron. I tried to do something Sonny Terry-inspired, but not a note-for-note imitation of ST.
Anyway, I'd love to hear your opinions on my piece. Thanks!
Thank you so much to all of you! I appreciate your watching my clip very much.
I'm really glad you liked it. The next entry, people will either love it or hate it, I think. Here it is... this is also done with the Ab Lucky 13 harmonica.
Thanks to everyone who has watched the videos and had such nice things to say! I'm having fun with the Lucky 13's... I like the three bottom holes a lot, so i'm really glad to have a chance to try to win a set.
I got one in Ab and one in Bb from Rockin' Ron's, I think I ordered them on Friday and they were here on Monday (he must be very organized; he ships stuff almost instantly). The Ab one just keeps calling out to me, so it's broken in well and I enjoy it very much. The Bb hasn't seen as much use yet, because I've been busy noodling around with the Ab.
The one 'difficulty' I had with the Lucky 13 harps is that I guess I have always relied on memory and feel to know where I am on a harmonica, and the three extra holes made it confusing to know where the traditional 1 hole was (which is really the fourth hole). It took me a few days to get better at not "overshooting" or "undershooting" a hole and winding up playing something weird by mistake. Both my contest videos have a few mistakes like that. When I tried to end one of the songs, I tried to octave-block five holes to get a two-octave split (instead of a normal one-octave tongue split where you block two holes) and kind of botched it -- it's a big space to block. But now I have got the hang of it pretty good.
I might do one more tune for the contest, if time permits. I think the contest is pretty darn generous, because even fourth through tenth places win a Lucky 13 harp, which is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $58 US. So for me, it seemed like a no-brainer to give it a try.
I've had two Luckies since Xmas (wifes present) First: i was impressed with the Easttop harp and its response through all the notes....airtight as and well set up.A very good oob harp. Second: Ha, the added low notes, well i just couldn't get my head around them,as Cliffy explains above. He has nailed it and i haven't. Well done mate you are using that bottom end to great effect. Sonny ,what would he have done with a Lucky? Hope you do well in the competition
Good job. I just picked up one myself, in C. It is a great instrument. I am about to get a lower tuned one myself. That C will be a great addition to jamming with friends who seem to like to play everything in G....Ab my be my next choice. Or a G.
The one difficulty you stated becomes a hurdle for me when I am tongue blocking out of my right side. On the left, however, it seems to be easier for me. I am not bending much out of them yet, but those bottom holes really open up some warm deep tones you can grit into.
FYI, Easttop makes a well made nice harp OOTB for sure. I had been practicing my overblows on another harp. The new Lucky 13 is more responsive, so I'll be using it for that kind of practice now.
I got my Lucky 13 in F just this past week, and I'm feeling hamstrung by a crazy sinus/chest cold. Just to get a video out before the end of the month, I posted a bit of a loop-station jam I was working on of "Tequila." The harp is quite a lot of fun. I hope I can come up with something else which might be worthy of one of those 4th-10th place harps!
Now that I've played the F on the higher end of the spectrum (bending the bottom 3 are a breeze) I'd love to get my hands on the G and REALLY give my lungs a workout!
Hi Rob, I saw your clip and I thought it was cool, your version of Tequila. I would like to learn how to do some looping stuff, because my kids like Ed Sheeran and I saw him do a whole concert like that. Kind of cool.
Indigo and Chris, I agree that the harp is pretty nice. It's airtight and responsive. I can't overblow to save my life though. I can only do the 6 OB, and even then it sounds like a cat got its tail caught in the garbage disposal.
Thanks again to everyone who has had such nice stuff to say. Here's my latest entry into the competition...
