I sent one of my Richter 10-hole MiniChrom prototypes to New York player Mitch Weiss to evaluate. Mitch has been playing my old custom Richter CX10s for many years. He found the small size and moving slider/mouthpiece a bit odd at first, but he seems to be adapting pretty well judging by the sound of these clips!
They are two Marine Band harps in Db/D, with slider notes in hole 3 altered slightly - but otherwise stock Richter tuning, half-valved.
Just working on the webpages for the MiniChrom and other TwinDiatonic harmonicas. Available for ordering from 20th Sept.
Last Edited by Brendan Power on Sep 07, 2017 8:34 AM
I'd like one of these. I'm specifically interested in it in order to explore possibilities of using a slider to move from one overblow to another, say, from a 1 OB Eb on a C harp to a 1 OB F on a D harp. Basically I'm looking for a way to reverse the harp: to make OBs and other tender bends (like 3 draw down a whole step) as the primary method of producing a tone, with regular tones reserved for passing tones.
Provided the slide is adequately airtight, I think this could work. Doing so might require a gasket and silicone grease and/or other method of truly sealing the air path.
How do I order one, how much, and can you build one airtight?
Interesting concept LevelUp. Can you explain further?
Re. airtightness of the mouthpiece/slider - the design is intrinsically airtight. There is only one interface, instead of the 2/3/4 interfaces of traditional chromatic harmonica mouthpiece designs. The mouth-slider has a slight bow to it, so pressure from the two screws keep the part pressed down upon its length. In addition the player's mouth pushes the sliding mouthpiece against the front of the harmonica unit.
I did try making a more conventional slider inside a non-moving mouthpiece, but this design was superior for airtightness.
All options for the various TwinDiatonic harps, including the MiniChrom, will be up by 20th Sept at this link:
Basically, I love the tone quality of a 4 hole and 6 hole OB when it is on a well adjusted harmonica, where the note can be gotten without additional force, but yet there is some airy quality when played at low volume. Kinda like a sax sub-tone.
This kind of tone can also be had on whole step bends. I'm not sure what I'd call this sound quality, but I know I like it, but part of the trouble is unbent and non-ob tones don't have it. Half step bends don't really have it either, but it might be worth incorporating to have a more connected scale.
But still this leaves me with a limited number of notes. So if I pop another harp in the mini chrome, I'd have more notes.
I'm able to get a breathy, soft OB out of holes 4, 5, and 6. Sometimes on the 3, but that may be an adjustment issue.
If I used a C and Db harp, then the notes that get the tone I want would be a half step apart. For a more complete scale, it makes more sense to have them as a whole step apart.
Maybe it would be easier to make a custom tuned diatonic (say, with mostly whole step apart blow and draw notes) to do this, but the allure of being able to try it out at the flip of a button...I can't pass that up.
@ LevelUp: You have some interesting alternative perspectives for these twin-diatonics! In this case some might say it's bordering on masochistic, but your overblow technique must be that good you prefer them to 'normal' notes.
That's the good thing about these babies: they lend themselves to many different configurations. Your ideas make me realise there are plenty I hadn't thought of!
