WinslowYerxa
109 posts
Oct 23, 2011
3:25 PM
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I was driving home from teaching on a hot day and decided to stop for refreshment. I ended up with a milkshake and some fries.
The milkshake was thick and took some effort to suck through the straw. After awhile I noticed that I was tongue blocking, with the straw inserted in the left corner of my lips.
So I tried it with a straight pucker and a U-block. but I was driving and also eating the fries so I forgot about it for awhile.
Later, I noticed I was doing the left-side tongue blocking thing again. When I compared it to the pucker and U-block, it seemed to have more power.
Please note I was not inhaling from the diaphragm. At least not through my mouth, as I didn't want to coat my lungs with frozen milky stuff, however good it felt in my mouth.
Also the straw was pointed up toward the roof of my mouth. It wasn't the bendy kind of straw that I could twist to point down, and I couldn't move the cup into a position to point the straw down without dumping the milkshake all over my face and shirt.
But I did notice that I pointed the straw up at a steeper angle than was required by the position of the container relative to my head. And the rim at the mouth of the straw was right up against the roof of my mouth.
Then I forgot about it for awhile, but later I noticed I was tongue blocking again, this time with the straw in the right corner of my mouth.
So what embouchure do you use to drink a milkshake?
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strawwoodclaw
275 posts
Oct 23, 2011
3:37 PM
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I'm getting worried
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walterharp
734 posts
Oct 23, 2011
3:38 PM
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man, hope you were not overblowing that milkshake!
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Jehosaphat
112 posts
Oct 23, 2011
3:58 PM
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Whatever you're on Winslow....I want some ;-0
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BronzeWailer
282 posts
Oct 23, 2011
4:05 PM
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Same embouchure as for toothbrushing. Articulaiton is "shhh shhh shhh".
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MP
1864 posts
Oct 23, 2011
4:22 PM
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first i U-block. when that doesn't work (it never does) i get a spoon.:)
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MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
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eharp
1532 posts
Oct 23, 2011
4:24 PM
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spoon blocking?
i wonder if that's how little walter did it?
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Frank
14 posts
Oct 23, 2011
6:06 PM
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Try this Winslow - next time your in the tub or taking a swim...With your head under water, blow bubbles with a tongue block, then try a pucker, then a U-block and let us know which embouchure produced the best bubble stream. Like your Milkshake experiment, the tongue block for me creates the best bubbles.
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eharp
1533 posts
Oct 23, 2011
6:52 PM
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you really did this, frank?
i am either a huge slacker or some of you guys got too much time on your hands.
i dont think i would ever have considered either of these things.
but now that the seed is planted...
i know some of you have practiced without the harp. me? when jogging i will sometimes practice breathing patterns or chugging. it seems very natural to do this in a pucker embrochure. i normally play puckered, anyhow, but i dont think that weighs in on how i breath during this.
my question is for those that tb- if/when you practice without harp, are you tb-ing then?
winslow?
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Frank
16 posts
Oct 23, 2011
7:10 PM
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Yeah, but don't forget to hold your nose eharp, not when your drinking a milkshake though - hahahahahaha
Last Edited by on Oct 23, 2011 7:11 PM
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Aussiesucker
937 posts
Oct 24, 2011
12:10 AM
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I'm really worried. Your book Harmonica for Dummies is/ was my bible? Please can I substitute beer for milk shakes? If I am going to get fat I may as well enjoy it. If I tongue block whilst drinking beer does that mean I will not get intoxicated?
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HARPOLDIE’S YOUTUBE
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nacoran
4792 posts
Oct 24, 2011
12:15 AM
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This place that used to be near me used to make milkshakes with any flavor ice cream they had, and they had the Torani soda syrups you could get added. I used to get chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with some vanilla and ginger shots in it.
As I recall, I'd drink them with a pucker with my tongue to the roof of my mouth with the straw placed above the tongue. It would maximize pressure and minimize area to match the size of the straw. It had the added advantage of pulling the flavor right across the tongue!
The only downfall of the shake was the chocolate chips. Even although they were the tiny ones they'd still occasionally clog the straw. Sometimes a simple blow wouldn't dislodge them, so I developed a technique involving inverting the straw, pinching it between my teeth above the obstruction and pulling it through, kind of like I was squeezing a tube of toothpaste.
It was so delicious that in a moment of weakness, if offered, I might just sell my soul at the crossroads for one. I had a harmonica point somewhere, but I got distracted, and now I'm drooling all over my keyboard.
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Nate
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the_happy_honker
91 posts
Oct 24, 2011
3:49 AM
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I get more of a Chicago tone if I tongue-block while slurping up the last bit at the bottom. A good tight cup on the cup helps too. A large cup gives good bass response, but if I'm slurping in a band setting, like when my band does Little Walter's "Milk Shake Boogie," I go for a smaller cup with more cut.
I heard that Little Walter used ordinary Dairy Queen cups, so I've been watching E-bay for DQ cups from the '50s and '60's for years, but no luck so far.
Meanwhile I've found that paper coffee cups with the insulating baffles are sturdier (they tolerate cupping better) and has a richer, more "open" sound, especially when slurping cleanly. I'm still searching for the cup that will give me that crunchy, overdriven slurpy-goodness.
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the_happy_honker
92 posts
Oct 24, 2011
5:00 AM
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I'm also experimenting with a "straw-monica:" 20 straws of differing lengths and bores, Richter-tuned.
Correct slurping technique is that you partially submerge the straw opening at an angle into the milkshake, close your glottis (to prevent choking) and depress your tongue, which increases your oral cavity. Circular-breathing techniques can be employed to create a never-ending supply of milkshake (think about it!) and preventing sugar shock at the end of a practice session.
Air and milkshake have differing viscosities and it is the instability of the air-milkshake interface at the straw opening that creates the slurping sound. If the airstream is interupted by milkshake entering the straw, say, 440 times a second, then a tone of A sounds. This tone can be bent and because it is a single-straw bend it can be bent down as far as one's oral cavity allows, typically 2 and a half steps. Overstraws - excuse me - overdraws can be had on straws 1 - 12, as well as overblows on straws 13 - 20. Overblows, though, are quite messy - milkshake everwhere.
I'm looking for beta-testers. Any takers?
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Andrew
1444 posts
Oct 24, 2011
8:49 AM
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I think I've only eaten MacDonalds about 6 times in the last 30 years. I was keen on the "Shakes" 30 years ago when I was in college and I craved one again only the other day. I remember when I was in college an urban myth was going around that MacDonalds shakes were 50% chicken fat, ha ha! And I like the root beer, but I don't think they sell it any more (in England).
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Andrew.
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Those who are tardy do not get fruit cup.
Last Edited by on Oct 24, 2011 8:49 AM
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eharp
1534 posts
Oct 24, 2011
3:11 PM
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nate- norton buffalo used that example for folks to learn how to bend.
not the clearing part you do, but the extra hard draw when the chip gets the straw clogged.
btw- he referenced strawberries.
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WinslowYerxa
113 posts
Oct 24, 2011
6:10 PM
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Maybe this is what Chris Michalek was talking about when he mentioned his "patented shaolin straw method" that he used to teach bending.
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BigBlindRay
132 posts
Oct 24, 2011
8:40 PM
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MBHers.....
I find my Milkshakes brings all the Harps to the yard.........
My pic below shows what embochure id use. Along with retarded facial expression.
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Big Blind Ray's YouTube Channel
Mavis and her China Pigs
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BronzeWailer
290 posts
Oct 25, 2011
4:00 PM
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Hey Ray. That pic got you the Opera Australia 'Of Mice and Men' gig, didn't it? Along with your awesome harp skills, of course...
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eharp
1536 posts
Oct 25, 2011
5:38 PM
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winslow- i was having a milkshake today and thought of your post.
i had to try the tb method. i got hardly any pull. my tongue needed the harp to set on, i think. without the harp, my tongue seemed to want to push into my lips causing even less suction.
damn you for ruining my enjoyment of a shake!
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WinslowYerxa
118 posts
Oct 26, 2011
8:45 AM
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Bwaa-haa-haa-haaa!!!
Seriously, though, why not let the tongue rest between the lips? That's what I do when I tongue block on the first two holes. It lets me play out of the right corner of my mouth without corner switching (which I also do when I want to, of course).
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