Nowadays we're blessed with a cornucopia of diatonic harmonica types and performance options: from Overblowing to the Overdrive, Discrete Combs to the TurboSlide, the ELX to the XB-40.
It's easy to forget that after the production of the first popular 10 hole diatonic harmonica (the iconic 1896 Hohner Marine Band), very little development of the format occurred for 90 years. There were some cosmetic changes (eg. moulded plastic and alloy combs in some models), but in terms of actual functionality and construction the 10 hole harp remained basically the same: a comb, two coverplates and two reedplates.
That all changed in 1991 with the launch of Suzuki’s Promaster MR350-V, the first 10 hole diatonic to offer players something totally new. It included 10 valves, strategically placed to allow extra bending expression on the low-pitched notes in each hole (the lower 6 blow notes and the upper 4 draw notes) in addition to the double-reed bends already available.
I’m proud to have been the originator of the half-valved concept for diatonic (and chromatic) harps. The format is becoming increasingly popular, especially through the work of PT Gazell in the swing jazz style he plays so well, but also in the folk/Irish scene (most harp players choose half-valved harps for that music). Seydel's introduction of the PT Gazell Method half-valved harps last year is an indication of the growing interest.
To mark the 20th anniversary of the launch of the original half-valved harp, I've recorded a video on how the idea came to me and was taken up by Suzuki, as well as performance examples of the benefits of half-valving:
Enjoy!
Brendan Power WEBSITE: http://www.brendan-power.com YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/BrendanPowerMusic
Thanks Brendan for making this video. You summed up all the most important points about this viable alternative to over blowing. In addition to having all the notes, the two big extra advantages for me is the expressiveness on all notes, and as Brendan said, the way it balances or evens out the response between the draw and blow notes.
Bravo and well done Brendan! ---------- "Life...10 Holes & 20 Reeds At A Time"
We are in a process of making a record with my band and there are few solo's where I use overblows too. Today I was listening one of the solo's in the upper register and decided it was lacking some feeling there. I was thinking of playing it again from the lower octave where it's easier for me to get more expression with the bends. Then I decided to give it a shot with a Powerbender tuned harp of mine and there it was - it's simply easier for a player with my skill-level to get the expression with regular bends than with the overbends (especially if there are some quick runs required). Of course that depends on the case too - the other two solos did benefit from the tone of OB's and so they were better with richter tuned harps...
But the point is that innovations like this give more choices for the artists to use in musical context. After all it is the musical context that is the most important one - most people in the audience don't give a damn what techniques or equipments are used as long as it sounds good!
I have one fully half-valved harp (powerbender tuned) that I play occasionally and few partially valved harps where I have added valves where it benefits the musical context that I use them with (mainly holes 7-8 in richter tuned harps). Although I do use overbends I'm beginning to value the potential for expression with half-valving more and more and thus I'm willing to sacrifice some overbends I don't use often (especially the overdraws in richter harps) - after all you can get those notes with half-valved bends too.
Congratulations Brendan, keep up the good work! :)
@PT: You're the man when it comes to really exploring the potential of the half-valved Richter harp. And thanks for discovering the efficacy of Ultrasuede for valves - it's a great material.
@apskarp: When you say "...it is the musical context that is the most important one - most people in the audience don't give a damn what techniques or equipments are used as long as it sounds good!" I fully agree. It's what comes out that matters, not how you get there; there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Hey guys, I've been tossing the idea of half-valved harps around in my head, but the only reason I'm dubious is a) I have to relearn all of my overblowing runs (not that big a deal), and b) I'm afraid that those notes that I used to overblow with strong tone will sound wimpy or a little sharp if I valve bend it. Do you guys notice this issue, for instance on the 7 draw bend, which would be the minor third in 2nd pos? I'm assuming since the high note is valved that you can no longer overbend on a valved harp, am I right?
@jonlaing I will go out on a limb and speak for Brendan as well as myself: yes you will need to relearn the runs. No the bends will not sound wimpy or weak. Players who have good bending technique will only have to make subtle (if any) adjustments. My main hurdle was to forget 30 years of knowing I could not bend blow notes 5 & 6 and draw bend 7,8 and 10. Once I jumped that barrier it was pure joy! Listen to Brendans video again...does anything he plays sound weak? You can check out my site www.ptgazell.com and listen to previews from my last three solo CDs which employ half valved harmonicas. There is life after over blows.
PT ---------- "Life...10 Holes & 20 Reeds At A Time"
Thanks PT. In Brendan's videos he was both inflecting the pitch and the volume, so I couldn't tell if that was his flourish, or if the volume of the bends dropped off the further down in pitch you got.
I might just have to give this a shot for myself. The Promaster is my favorite harp to begin with, so I guess if I really hate it, I can just take that valves off, haha.
