This piece is played in 1st position on a C harp. The introduction is played with more modest overbending, but as the piece progresses, the wails become more prominent and start to create almost a desperate atmosphere. If you want to skip to the point, go straight to about 5:40.
Starting from 4:48 sounds pretty non-harp-like too with the vulgar bending of 1d.
I don't know about you, but the last minutes of this song make me feel really weird...
I think this is really cool and shows a lot of technical ability. For an exercise in bending obs, it is wonderful. I don't know if it was the "best" position for the song, but maybe that would have made it impossible to bend?
I dunno...I really dug it, though. Totally cool! ---------- Mike Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas Updated 2/24/11
Last Edited by on Mar 15, 2011 12:53 PM
@ Reverblow: To be honest, I don't know much about minor harps. You can try of course, but I think the soul of this piece lies in the feeling of stress, mainly created by the tight overblows. I actually bend the 4-6 ob's a full note, so that 5ob (F#) hits the note of 6d bent (G#) etc.
@ HarpNinja: I know, it's not the "best" position, but as you said other positions would exclude these particular harp-raping possibilities :) Thus, with even more practice, I believe it becomes a perfect position for this type of music.
I'm glad to hear you enjoy my new material. There's actually a story behind this piece. "Hamam" is the name for a public bath in Turkey. I entered one of the less touristy ones in Kadiköy, Istanbul and paid for "full service", which includes a massage and a full body wash. So I went inside and was sitting on a marble plateau enjoying the steam, minding my own business, when this incredibly big bellied Turkish man comes to me, flips me over and starts rubbing my back so hard it forcefully empties my lungs and makes me whine involuntarily. Next thing I know he flips me over again, this time to my back, and starts doing the same to my chest standing behind my head in such a manner that eventually my face gets buried in his enormous belly, leaving nothing but a little pocket of air for me to breathe. I'm telling you, that day I thanked Allah for that little pouch of air. And later made this song to capture that particular moment. Maybe now you can feel the belly on your face, too.
As a huge fan of the arabian/central europe music I totally dig what you've done here, congratulations.
I don't believe in the concept of the "right" position thing. It's not relevant at all. Howard Levy, Jason, and Carlos (Jason Rosenblatt too) proved that at the end of the day, this is the musicality that prevail and if one is mastering his/her instrument enough to break some boundaries that others meet. ---------- Never try to be as good as someone else, succeed to be the best player you can be!
Those evil 1 draw bends remind me of the sounds of goats being slaughtered on Eid al Adha... Very intense. This whole piece is intense. It's a serious rollercoaster! I loved it.... ---------- == I S A A C ==
Never thought I would try overbends. You changed my mind. By the way,love the harp work on puulaatikko too.Elk bugling,geese honking the possibilities are endless.....
If there's a message for harpists in this song I think it's this: With lots of practice and careful study of ornamentation distinctive to the style of music you want to play, overbends don't become "just like regular notes". They become MORE than regular notes, and the instrument becomes a new instrument with delicate microtonal qualities. This goes for regular bends too, as experimented in Ataturk Band's song "Totafot".
Here, at times, the harmonica sounds something like a Turkish wind instrument zurna. I'm still not being truly faithful to the ornamentation of Anatolian music. But I feel like I'm on my way to new grounds!
The sound on the 1d reminds me of some kind of bird. There's also something Shakuhachi-like there I think. The piece is not just well played but you add there so much artistic expression that it is really rare. Musician with a capital M. You are one talented man J-Sin!
ps. Tomorrow we'll have the local blues association meeting and I'll make sure we'll get the harp workshop here that we talked about.. :)
By best I didn't mean you picked a bad position. I just couldn't tell, without a harp in hand, how it would have sounded different on a different harp. I could assume, though, that in pretty much any other position you would have lost the ability to express yourself with the intense bending. I've gone back and listened to this tune several more times, so it definitely has more than impressed me for your overall playing and not just the technical aspect.
I do think there are times where one position is better than another, and in fact, this song my prove it as you could (haven't tried to do this) totally lose the vibe on a different harp. ---------- Mike Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas Updated 3/14/11
I had literally 4 minutes and tried to jam along. Is there a particular scale you are using? I know a little about this sort of music - mostly watered down through listening to musicians influenced by this style but maybe not having mastered it. The 5ob seems to be used a lot. Thanks! ---------- Mike Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas Updated 3/14/11
@ HarpNinja: Basically the scale is C, (D), Eb, Gb, G, A, Bb, C. Sometimes I use B instead of Bb on the lower octave. Substitutions like this are common in Arabian music to make the scale more lively. Once you get the hang of it, you start to hear when the ob's sound right - and they don't necessarily sound the best when played as semitones, more like 1/4 and 3/4, depending on the note of course.
I had a look at your website. Looks good, I might be interested in getting one of your Quicksilver harps at some point! I have a couple of Sjoeberg combs, and I love them. Airtight combs and good setup makes overbending like this way easier.
Very cool! Not my kind of music but I do appreciate the "feel" you are creating with overbends.
I practice bending overbends often. They are very useful in 2nd position to recreate what you do in the first octave. At Monday's blues jam I ended a solo break by playing 5 ob and bending up to the root (same as 6 blow) with a strong vibrato and it worked great.
Lots to explore with bending overbends. Some bend up a step or more.
Curious here...have any of you overbenders ever played the ten hole overdraw bent up 1/2 step as a wailing note? In 2nd position it the major 5th and in 3rd position it is the root note....I can see it being useful on the lower harps.
Thanks for the info and kind words! I will for sure be jamming along with your tune more. Very fun to play! I have the Sjoeberg combs for GM's and all three MB types.
We recently decided to get rid of the ridge on the back. It doesn't really change anything from the player's perspective, but it allows the combs to be made much more quickly. They are actually milled from both sides, whereas most other manufacturers only mill from one. Add onto that the finishing of the dymonwood and lacquering process and the ridges were adding way too much time.
I will hopefully be able to offer bamboo and colored bamboo in those combs soon as well.
I agree that they do impact the playability of bends!
@harpdude61
When I overdraw, I usually do so with vibrato, but I haven't used them in that context. I will try it soon though. Honestly, the C harp I had handy played obs perfectly, but I hadn't tweaked the overdraws to not squeal when trying to bend them. It was an older harp of mine and my gig harps where on another level in the house.
I love this use of overbends for a number of reasons, but I think bending them is just the best. I do that all the time, but never in such a demanding setting as this. I use the 5ob a lot more than the 4ob, but typically only when I land in 1st position...and being that I am doing mostly rock music now, I play mostly 2nd, 3rd, and 12th and often don't need to wail on those notes. The overdraws are getting used more.
HarpNinja....set the recorder up...love to hear some cool stuff.
I agree. Bending an overbend is way cool. Perfect for blues! I honestly think the 5 OB bent up is very useful. You can do more with the note than regular 6 blow. I use the 7 od a lot in 2nd position.
I play more third now and it is nice to play 3rd in Aeolian (natural minor) instead of Dorian mode by simply switching from 7 draw to 6 ob...minor 6th instead of major 6th.
@ J-sin Love it ! Beautiful (and disturbing) job. I have been working on somewhat similar things -Listening to and playing over Anour Brahem's Astouinding Eyes of Rita
and generally exloring minor music and scales, mostly in 3'd and 12th positions. I picked up a D harp (I just recieved a firebreath) and started playing along with your piece. It works quite well - turns out that's playing in 11th position, which I hadn't explored before.
Those deep OB's are freaky indeed. Does not sound like a harmonica any more. I like Isaacullah's take on it. Also recalls the Eraserhead baby for me.
I will be looking into your band and music some more after this.
If anyone knows OUD and tabla players up for experimentation in the SF bay area - give them my email
Talking with Jason about positions he recalled bugging Michael Peloquin to tell him what positiion he had been playing a piece in. Michaels reply was "standing up" . Iv'e tried that - but I fell down. ----------
I went to a turkish bath when I was 21 years old. I stood in line with a bunch of men is their 70's and older to get a massage. I was probably around 10 deep in the waiting line. A huge football player of a masseuse steps out of his office, looks the line up and down, points right at me and says "You next!"
This morning I jammed along this piece and got to the feeling of it. The feeling of it is somehow lonely and at the sametime melancholy - or perhaps forlorn. The music has also a sense of mystery in it.
I can't feel the massager's belly in this :) - rather I think of this as a story of somebody trying to hold on to his life (or perhaps to his loved one) with the last remains of his strenghts..
