528hemi
216 posts
Aug 11, 2011
5:49 PM
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Is it only me that when doing an overdraw are paranoid thinking that the reed might break and get sucked down your throat? Can this actually happen? You every hear of someone getting a reed sucked down into thier lungs?
528hemi
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Reed Triller
10 posts
Aug 11, 2011
6:08 PM
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I have often joked about the CSI directors doing an episode on a harp player dying as a result of an inhaled broken reed but I have never heard of it happening.
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Bend it like Ricci - Me
(Formerly known as Big Daddy Ray)
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shbamac
139 posts
Aug 11, 2011
7:00 PM
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I've come close to having one go down the throat. Got stuck on the very back edge of my tounge. I use to snap reads all the time...
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Reed Triller
11 posts
Aug 11, 2011
7:21 PM
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Now I have visions of someone inventing screens for the harmonica holes like screens for coals in....pipes....
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Bend it like Ricci - Me
(Formerly known as Big Daddy Ray)
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HarpNinja
1578 posts
Aug 11, 2011
9:10 PM
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I don't need to suck that hard because I know how to set them upright. I can't see it being any more likely to happen on a OD than any other draw note.
I have never ever had a reed break to the point of being able to shake it out a harp. I wouldn't worry about it.
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Mike
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
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mandowhacker
80 posts
Aug 11, 2011
9:33 PM
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We need to kill this thread before Raplh Nadar and the feds make us have to put screen doors across the holes.
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Just when I got a paddle, they added more water to the creek.
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eebadeeb
10 posts
Aug 12, 2011
2:32 AM
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I recently had a reed that was flat and steadily getting flatter and I kept playing on it and it did snap suddenly off but stayed in the harp, but I've been thinking about it ever since. Definitely quit playing as soon as you get a flat reed.
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barbequebob
1708 posts
Aug 12, 2011
6:56 AM
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If the reed breaks, you're most likely using FAR TOO MUCH breath force when you're playing and it should never happen if you cut down on your breath force by at least a good 50% or more.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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bubberbeefalo
34 posts
Aug 12, 2011
6:57 AM
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I was playing a Blues Harp back in the early 70's and a reed broke and went into my mouth but got no further than my tounge.
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barbequebob
1709 posts
Aug 12, 2011
7:02 AM
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If the reed breaks, you're most likely using FAR TOO MUCH breath force when you're playing and it should never happen if you cut down on your breath force by at least a good 50% or more.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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harpdude61
958 posts
Aug 12, 2011
8:07 AM
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If it starts cracking you will know it long before it breaks. My guess is if the reed broke off it would just lay there. Vibrating an affixed reed is one thing, pulling it thru a hole is another. It would be like sucking a marble up with an empty paper towel roll.
Ninja is right on..ODs are as easy as any note with proper set-up and technique. I really do not like the milkshake thru a straw analogy as overdraw instruction. The shake is much more difficult.
Of course someone out there that has an extra reed could experiment a little...
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528hemi
217 posts
Aug 12, 2011
3:28 PM
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I guess yuo are right about setup but I was just experimenting with a gapped harp and figured I would try to do some overdraws and could get them but it took about of breath to get it them to pop. Definitely would not try to do them without proper setup bur just for experimenting I could do them but not very easy and thought that with the amount of pressure I was using could easily suck a reed down my thoat if it broke....Guess I do nto need to prove anything. :)
528hemi
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walterharp
682 posts
Aug 12, 2011
5:37 PM
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it would really suck getting a reed down the throat!
but, reeds are small enough that it should not obstruct your breathing.. just lots of discomfort till a doctor got it out or you coughed it out.
there are an awful lot of playing hours here, and nobody actually had it happen, so that is good news
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jbone
607 posts
Aug 13, 2011
4:25 AM
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i've never known for sure. many years ago, at least a decade or 2- i was working with the first band i helped found. we were loud loud LOUD. i played hard hard HARD. the philosophy i had- which was absolutely wrong- was that if i drew and blew harder i would be able to hear myself better and the audience would hear me better. it was usual to kill a harp every other gig or jam for a year or two there. one night i actually did break off a reed, draw 4 of a sp20 in D if i remember right. never did find it but i never had a breathing issue. my guess is it found its way into my mouth at i swallowed it.
of course Bob is 100% correct,as i learned after killing a lot of harps and searching in vain for a terminator harp for a few years. doesn't exist and i doubt it CAN exist. luckily, good habits of breathing correctly and addressing the harp as it was meant to be addressed have saved me from further broken reed misadventures, and with responsible drawing and blowing procedures i don't kill harps anywhere near as often.
i occasionally gap a reed here or there. i keep the combs and plates relatively clean. aside from that i just play the things.
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http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000386839482
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Andrew
1420 posts
Aug 13, 2011
5:11 AM
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It can happen, and it can happen even if you never play an overdraw - a friend of mine sucked a reed down his throat on stage once, and his band continued playing and laughed at him!
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Andrew.
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Those who are tardy do not get fruit cup.
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