Asian tremolo harmonica players are masters of combining two diatonic instruments together to play chromatically. I've heard it from a distance but never seen the technique up close till a friend in Kaohsiung Taiwan demonstrated it for me on my visit there in December 2011. Very impressive!
It would be interesting to know if anyone uses this technique on a 10 hole diatonic to the same level. Any sightings?
I think this was the thread I was responding to when things went dark. I've tried diatonic switching but have never got very good at it. I think most 10-holers are problematic, since the flare at the back edge of the harp would tend to push them apart. I didn't realize that was what was happening at a conscious level though until I saw this vid. I've got the Huang Musette set that are designed to be played like this. They are kind of big for my hands though. I've always wished I had a double rack to put them in, like for a bass harp. Maybe holding them like this would work though. I try too much to cup them.
@nacoran: Yes, cupping is not possible when the harps are held this way. Even holding a mic would be problematic. Those issues, plus the coverplate shapes you mention, would suggest few 10 hole diatonic players would be tempted to learn this technique.
But it's still very impressive (and effective) all the same!
I took some lessons from Annie Raines this summer. At one point, just for fun, she was showing us how to play "I Fought The Law" on two harps (An A and a D maybe??). We held them together like in the video but didn't "swing" them in and out. Rather, we just held them static and moved our hands to go from the top harp to the bottom harp.
Wow! It's a scissors like action, eh? That is NOT what I have been trying... I have a set of Leo Shi tenor tremolos, and what have been doing (or really, trying to do) is holding them so that they are parallel to each other, with the C# right above the C, with the mouth pieces separated by about a "lips" distance. Basically, in the same configuration as a chord harp or a double bass harp. Then I've been sort of rotating the whole shebang up and down to switch between the two... Needless to say, that hasn't really been working well...
I'm definitely going to try this scissor technique out, and see if it works better for me... It's definitely working for that guy! ---------- == I S A A C ==
This is impressive. But.... isn't that what a chromatic harmonica with a slide button does? It too is two diatonic harmonicas, one on top of the other, with the added convenience of the slide.
On the other hand, I can see using this technique when you need to quickly switch between two harmonicas that aren't simply a one half step apart in pitch.
@littlebubba - we must immediately erect an electronic net around this video to prevent this technique from migrating to the Great Lakes and on into Canada.
