Destin
4 posts
Jan 26, 2012
10:04 PM
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So Nortan endorsed silvertone harps, but did he always play them? His acoustic tone on the Roy Rogers stuff is perfect, I wonder what type of mic set up the engineer used, it sounds so natural, and it sure does sound like it could be a mb.
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Todd Parrott
823 posts
Jan 27, 2012
1:04 AM
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I think he played Golden Melodies in the 70's when they came out, but I'm sure someone can confirm that. As for the Silvertones, Chamber Huang once told me that they at Huang provided Norton with better quality harps than the standard Silvertones. Chamber said he did the same for other endorsers because they were his friends. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that Norton never played them right out of the box sometimes - I'm sure he probably did. Sometimes the Huangs are pretty good, and sometimes not so good. Before I was a heavy overblow/overdraw player, I used them all the the time. I'd usually retune them first, but that's it.
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Michael Rubin
417 posts
Jan 27, 2012
6:07 AM
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Star Performer was my college harp! Around 5 bucks in 1991!
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Michael Rubin
418 posts
Jan 27, 2012
6:17 AM
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I taught a 3 day workshop with Norton and Rob Roy Parnell just before he passed away. It was just the 3 teachers and 20 students for 15 hours. Norton was a great teacher and nice guy. I noticed a few things about his tone. Except for chords, he was 100% U blocker and his curl seemed much more U like than most players who use that embouchure. On chromatic, he used 2016's in multiple keys and focused on 2nd position. He used a drone shake where instead of moving back and forth between 4 and 5 draw, he kept 4 draw going constantly and played between hole 4 and a double stop of holes 4 and 5. Also, his absence of tongue slaps really separated him.
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barbequebob
1807 posts
Jan 27, 2012
7:33 AM
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From an old interview he did for the Boston Phoenix in the 70's, before he began using Huangs. he used to use GM's for solos and MB's for chording. Huang was the first company to begin using 19LJI tuning when they came out in 1982 (except for the GM and solo tuned diatonics, Hohner was using 7LJI at the time on them), he began using using the Huang Silvertones (and sometimes the Star Performer) exclusively because having 19LJI was more like a best of both worlds and not needing to use one for soloing (mainly outside of blues or country music) and another for chording.
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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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HawkeyeKane
670 posts
Jan 27, 2012
7:57 AM
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Okay, I need some clarification here since I'm of the younger harp generation. Is there a difference between the Silvertones that Norton used back in the day and the Silvertone Deluxe that's now on the market today?
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Hawkeye Kane
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Todd Parrott
824 posts
Jan 27, 2012
8:48 AM
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According to my conversations with Chamber Huang, they provided Norton with better harps than what was available to the public.
As for the difference between the early Huangs of the 80's and the ones today, perhaps BBQ Bob can shed more light on this. I only know that my older Huangs were much better - maybe I just got lucky.
Still, Huangs are not good overblow harps.
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HawkeyeKane
672 posts
Jan 27, 2012
8:58 AM
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@Todd
I'm not much of an overblow guy. I OB sometimes on the 9 of my A harp, but other than that...
The ST Deluxe has usually served me in good stead when I'm in a bind. It's not my first choice, but I'm still tinkering with the ones I have and they sound better now than they did OOTB.
(Just noticed...following the typical harp abbreviation system, the Silvertone Deluxe winds up as the STD.)
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Hawkeye Kane
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clyde
232 posts
Jan 27, 2012
9:28 AM
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i remember reading several years ago norton writing about the huang harps. he mentioned that he did work on them and he liked the tuning. i don't think he played just them, later on. did he?
Last Edited by on Jan 27, 2012 9:29 AM
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Lmbrjak
76 posts
Jan 27, 2012
10:12 AM
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@ Michael Rubin Did Norton go into detail on how to do u-block when you had that workshop? Do you use and teach that method?
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chromaticblues
1152 posts
Jan 27, 2012
10:46 AM
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@Lmbrjak That's good question!
U blocking is the last thing I would teach anybody to do! I admire Norton Buffalo, but U block (as everybody is calling it) is nothing more than rolling you tongue so that when you look at the front it looks like a U. That has got to be the hardest and most constricted way to play possible!
I recieved some bad advice from a guitar playing friend when I first started playing and that is what he told me to do. Man after a couple weeks I has like how in the hell do people do this?
As I said I admire how good Norton Buffalo was.
I would not advice anyone to be a U blocker just because Norton was.
Edit: It sounds to me like he was playing Golden Melodies on the CD with Roy Rogers. That's a cool version of Mercury Blues!
Last Edited by on Jan 27, 2012 10:49 AM
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clyde
233 posts
Jan 27, 2012
11:24 AM
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u blocking comes natural to some people. if it's not to someone i also believe one of the other two would be better
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markdc70
102 posts
Jan 27, 2012
11:32 AM
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@ Todd Parrott: Around what year did the Huang company change hands, and do you think quality control has gone up or down since then?
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Michael Rubin
419 posts
Jan 27, 2012
12:59 PM
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Lmbrjak, Norton most likely went into detail. However, I already understood U blocking, so unless he made it clearer and the understanding has become a part of my method, this is my method:
Put the tip of your tongue underneath the intended hole of the bottom cover plate. Curl your tongue like a U, blocking to surrounding holes with your tongue.
I believe the tip to be the active ingredient. Therefore if you cannot curl your tongue, putting the tip under the hole on the bottom cover plate will still work. As I bend the high blow notes, I often push my tongue forward, blocking out the lower half of the hole.
Hawkeye: I am concerned that you do not truly understand what an overblow is. You say you overblow the 9 on your A harp. Are you blowing or drawing when you do this? If you are blowing, you do not understand what an overblow is. You are blow bending, making a note become a lower pitch while blowing and changing the shape of your mouth. On hole number 9, overblowing takes place while drawing and is therefore often referred to as overdrawing. It makes a note go higher in pitch. If you get a tuner, 9 blow on an A harp is E. 9 Blow bend is Eb or D#. Nine draw is D. Nine overdraw is F.
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HawkeyeKane
675 posts
Jan 27, 2012
1:35 PM
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@Michael
Probably right, I don't understand the differences. I know I probably should by now, but I only seem to learn by doing and not so much by reading. But from what you're telling me, I don't believe I'm blowbending either. I reposition my tongue further forward in my mouth on the 9 blow, increase the amount of breath, and it sends the pitch higher, not lower. Hence, what led me to believe that overblowing is what I was doing.
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Hawkeye Kane
Last Edited by on Jan 27, 2012 1:36 PM
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Michael Rubin
420 posts
Jan 27, 2012
3:26 PM
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Hawkeye,
As far as I understand, you are doing the impossible. You cannot make 9 blow into a higher note. Unless of course, your default note is 9 blow bend. If you start on a bend and release it to a non bent note, that would make it go higher in pitch.
What I am guessing is you are not hearing a raise in pitch, but more likely a change in tone that sounds like a raise in pitch to you.
Have you documented this? Have you played it into a tuner? If you do, PLEASE make a video.
I love it when someone proves my understanding wrong. Please do it! No sarcasm intended.
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chromaticblues
1155 posts
Jan 28, 2012
7:49 AM
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I listened to a little Norton Buffalo last night and it sounds like he never tongue blocked, but did not play U blocked all the time either.
He perfected a neat trick off doing a tongue flutter with his tongue not hitting the harp and also hitting the front and could vary between the two.
So he did Lip purse also.
Honestly I don't really care to much how he did what he did, but his chrom playing on "Mercury Blus" just blows me away every time I hear it. I've heard it 100 times and it brings a smile to my face every time.
That's some of the best harmonica ever recorded IMHO!
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Frank
123 posts
Jan 28, 2012
8:28 AM
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I love Norton Buffalo's music...I believe ultiimitely his TONE comes from the fact that he was a MASTER at playing his music with an unfettered PASSION. He was a PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN through and through and when it came time to blow his horn, he did'nt Fu*^ around!!!
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harmonicajoe
25 posts
Jan 28, 2012
10:03 AM
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Amen Frank!
He played that U block style like no one I ever heard. When I used to see him in the late 70' and early 80's he seemed to use Golden Melodys but he switched around harmonicas so much it was hard to follow. He also was the first person I ever saw using those black plastic Hohner CBH chromatics. As Frank says the great tone comes from the musician, and he was one of the best ever..,.
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easyreeder
131 posts
Jan 28, 2012
10:20 AM
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@harmonicajoe:
I once asked Norton about that black chromatic after a show he did in Watsonville. He was coy about it, all he said was "Yeah, that's my stealth harmonica."
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Lmbrjak
77 posts
Jan 28, 2012
10:24 AM
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Michael, Your tip on bending was what I needed and it helped on draw bends as well. I am comfortable with U-block for single notes but the bends were difficult...until now. The key was using the tip of the tongue. thank-you! @chromatic I have the Travelin' Tracks version of Mercury Blues where he's live with Roy Rogers. At the end Roy says "Norton Buffalo on the harmonica...oh my God!" Pretty well sums it up. Shake your money maker on that album is almost as good.
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