Here's a video demonstrating chromatic scales using bends alone on a Richter harp, choosing bendable versions of normally un-bendable notes for extra expression, playing with a handheld mic, and more:
Thanks a lot for updating us with some more information on this ingenious innovation. Real honest and helpful. I am very curious also to see where this harmonica design is going to go and will continue to watch for it. Great work here I think.
Brendan, on the airtightness question, do you think it might simply be that a narrow gap offers a lot of dynamic resistance compared to the (fairly easy) path through the reed/slot itself? I've never been convinced by the idea that a harp has to be hermetically sealed in order to play well.
@MindtheGap: I think a normal harp should be well sealed for best performance. When you hold it to the light the SlipSlider appears leaky, but it self -seals under playing with moisture from your breath. And you can add gap-filling solutions like extra natural saliva, slide oil or grease (eg. Vaseline) to enhance the seal. In practice it plays well, as you can hear. With embossing and gapping it would be even better - I'll demonstrate that in a future video.
On mic holding: After I made this video I found I can use my right thumb against the lower coverplate to initiate and help hold the more awkward left shift movement for draw bends, and that works well with holding the mic. Makes quite a difference!
It's still very early days with this harp, still lots to discover.
When the drawplate is shifted to the left, you get a 4-hole tongue block octave all the way up the harp, on blow and draw! Plus, the draw note is always higher than the blow in the octave block.
This makes octaves super easy to do throughout the range. Just maintain your embouchure and race up and down the harp, simple, accurate and fast. Starting at hole 4, here are the notes in each octave block for a C harp (high note in lower case):
LEFT-SHIFT 4/7 - Cc. Dd. 5/8 - Ee. Ff. 6/9 - Gg. Aa. 7/10 - Cc. ---
If you want the B octave on hole 3 you need to get it with the harp in default no-shift position, and it is still a 5-hole split. All your low octave splits remain the same, then do the left shift at hole 4 to maintain the simple 4-hole split up into the middle octave.
With a right-shift of the lower draw plate you also get 4-hole splits, but they are different: the blow note is above the draw everywhere. Interesting but not so useful I think.
One 'effect' you can get is to maintain a single split on one hole and shift the draw plate left or right. The blow split stays the same but the draw note changes. Here's an example for a 4-hole split on holes 4/7:
No shift: Cc. Db. Left-shift: Cc. Dd Right-shift: Cc. Ba
All the above is for Richter tuning of course. I'm in the process of making a SlipSlider for PowerBender and PowerDraw tunings. Looking forward to explore that one as it relates to tunings I actually use myself!
But the new Richter splits above should be quite interesting for tongue-block players to explore :-)
Yesterday I got the Seydel and Easttop versions of the SlipSlider working.
Seydel is the quirkiest because it has wider hole spacing than other harps, and less space at each end of the comb to place the magnets. To fit them you have to do some extra work on the reedplates and covers, making the attachment screwholes into slots, and extend the comb outward a little. The slots can be formed with a file or rotary tool; once we have Seydel listed I'll make a video showing how.
The good news with Seydel is that the greater width of the harp means it's easier to grip for the sliding action than the small Hohner Marine Band type.
Easttop have two main types of sandwich diatonic: the popular low-cost T008K/T008S with central coverplate screws, and the pricier Blues Player type with four cover screws (like the Crossover). I've designed a SlipSlider for each type.
They have a nice heft and extra rigidity due to the thicker reedplates Easttop uses: 1.2mm, as opposed to 1mm for most other brands.
The Suzuki Manji version should be done very soon. That will cover the main popular brands; we'll get these up on the website later this coming week.
I also designed SlipSlider combs for regular breath tunings like PowerBender, PowerDraw etc. They require only one shift direction, a slide of the drawplate to the right. But as with Richter, the SlipSlider format makes these tunings fully chromatic with bends alone, whilst retaining the ability to overblow.
I experimented with Vaseline as a gasket solution for internal sealing - it works well! :-)
The video showing how to finish the raw parts of a SlipSlider ready for assembly will be out this weekend. This is the cheapest option for players who are experienced with customising their harps.
One more version coming will be a Lucky 13 SlipSlider. That should be fun to design and test :-)
Not getting a lot of traction on this thread in this traditionalist space lol :-) But I'll persist for those of you who are interested in the development of an actual real Modern Blues Harmonica - one that gives the instrument we love new capabilities, without changing its essential character.
Here's a video showing the 'from scratch' option for making a Hohner SlipSlider from the raw parts:
This is the lowest-cost option, and quite satisfying to do if you are the hands-on type. It goes with a second video showing how to assemble the finished parts to the harmonica. For the non-tech minded fully assembled harps are available too. All info and details here:
http://www.brendan-power.com/SlipSlider.php
I got the Lucky 13 SlipSlider designed yesterday, quite a machine! Looking forward to testing it.
I dunno about the rest of the gang, but I follow these developments with great interest, and try to figure out if I would put in the effort to learn how to play any of these magnificent beasts you are constantly unveiling, Brendan. The slipslider is very tempting. If I had more budget, I’d get just about everything you’ve invented. Anyway, I really like the slipslider and am thinking about it.
I’m sure there will be more traction once people get them in hand and fool around with them a bit. Blow bends in the bottom octave, and draw bends up top. Both in the middle. Enharmonic choices .... What’s not to like. If a Lucky 13 model with comb for for consistent breath direction tunings comes out that would be very tempting too. And I’m with Robbert it I had the cash or time to play with them I’d have lots of your inventions.
Thanks for the feedback Robbert & Crawforde. Good to know some folks here are following developments of this new approach to enhancing the expressive powers of the blues harp. Sure part of the intent of the thread is to let people know about an interesting new harmonica I've created, but honestly I'm more up for discussing the musical possibilities the sliding reedplate concept creates than in making sales. I don't care so much if MBH readers buy the SlipSlider or not, more in what they honestly think of this approach - positive or negative. You two made some good points to bounce off.
I want to stress that the idea itself of shifting the reedplates relative to each other on a harp is not mine (AFAIK Zombor Kovacs invented it), and furthermore there are several ways to do it. The SlipSlider is just the first one out there, but I'm sure others will follow. Joel Andersson is working on his own design, and the interest in his original idea has got Zombor sparked up about revisiting it in a new way too, which is great :-) Both these guys are very smart and capable, and I look forward to see what they come up with. Now that the idea is out there, no doubt others around the world are mulling over how to make harps that do the sliding reedplate trick too.
I think for players who love the traditional un-valved Richter diatonic, this approach has a lot of promise to open new musical possibilities whilst retaining all they cherish about the harp. The same tone, same feel, same bends, same overbends - but then lots of new bends, overbends, octave patterns etc right there between your lips when you want it. Joel said to me "This is the future!".
Once the various harps of this type that come out are road tested, compared and verified in the market, I think for diatonic players Joel could be right: it is a future of the blues harp that will appeal to many. As Crawforde says, what's not to like? If you can keep all the good stuff you're used to, including overblows, but have all this other cool bending expression on tap, it will be hard to deny yourself the option to play harps that are capable of it.
But as both of you said, for that to happen prices need to affordable. I'm very aware of that for my own design, and am working on various ways to lower the barrier to trying it. One good aspect of the SlipSlider is that players can fit their existing harp reedplates and covers to my new comb and other parts without much difficulty - thus retaining what they already own, know and like whilst giving it new powers.
So far I've only got a design that applies to a couple of more expensive Hohner models, the MB Deluxe and Crossover, but soon I'll have versions for the Suzuki Manji, Seydel 1847, and Easttop 008K. These will open up the options available for players to retrofit their existing harps, and the Easttop in particular will offer a way to try the SlipSlider in a very low-cost but decent harp.
But as noted, my design is only one of several ways to use the existing reeds in a harp to get new bends. What those new bends are differ according to how you make the concept work, and I think that will be an area we'll see some interesting discussions as various approaches become available.
For example, Zombor's original prototype used a simple comb design that gives the same new high draw bends and low blow bends as the SlipSlider, but also huge new bends elsewhere on the harp. The high blow bends in holes 8-10 and the draw bends in holes 2-7 are between reeds that are often a fifth or more apart, giving bends of 6 semitones in some cases!
To me the radically altered note layout in Zombor's design is not as intuitive and user-friendly as what I've come up with in the SlipSlider, but maybe some players will prefer it because of the wild new bending possibilities it offers. And other designs give different bending outcomes again.
It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out in the end, but one thing I'm sure of: once the technical issues have been overcome and there are some rugged low-cost models of various types on the market, the sliding reedplate concept will start to go mainstream. Within 10 years time I predict most blues harp players will be using these harps, even if as just an extra weapon in their harp kit. And for an increasing number it will be the only kind of harp they play.
Last Edited by BeePee on Apr 23, 2018 11:56 PM
I’m wondering if the Lucky 13 edition of the SlipSlider will be as overbend friendly as say, the Crossover version? I’m sure with reed & reedplate work, many models can be made overbend friendly, but some models require less work.
Hi Brendan - I think this is a great idea and looks like an easy transition for standard diatonic players. Can you post a chart with the new notes available by shifting the reedplates?
@robbert: Hohner reeds are widely regarded as the best for overbending, but overblow players report the Lucky 13 (like other Easttop-made harps) performs well in this regard.
@Gus: good request. Unfortunately it's not easy to show tuning charts on MBH, but there is one on the SlipSlider webpage:
http://www.brendan-power.com/SlipSlider.php
Here it is in text form for a Richter C harp (blow notes to the left):
Default Position (Normal Richter Tuning) CD EG GB CD EF GA CB ED GF CA
Left-Shift (all draw bends) C- EG GB CD EF GA CD EF GA C-
Right-Shift (all blow bends) C- ED GG CB ED GF CA ED GF C-
You can see that with the left-shift the lower two octaves remain the same and the top octave is exactly the same as the middle octave.
With the right shift the middle octave becomes the same as the Richter top octave, which stays the same as normal.
This makes it really easy to flow between the middle and top octaves in either posiion: just hold the shift and do the same licks up and down. It's very intuitive.
Last Edited by BeePee on Apr 25, 2018 9:35 AM
The Manji SlipSlider is made! We will will release it soon, along with Seydel and Easttop versions. No Lee Oscar sorry, as my design doesn't suit lipped harps.
