I have a STOCK LF Thunderbird. Besides having the 9 and 10 overdraws OOTB, I can bend the 5 draw, 7 draw, 8 draw, 9 draw, and 10 draw just like my PT method valved harp - easily.
Just tried a few more keys...can't do it on all of them as they overdraw to quickly, but a few like a standard A can be played in similar fashion.
One LF, against a tuner, I was able to bend all of them down to pitch with reasonable breath pressure. I never spent much time thinking or trying this, but at least in some lower keys, it is totally possible to have your cake and eat it to (both valved-like bends and overdraws).
This has come up numerous times on the forum, even recently, but hasn't generated as much interest as other topics. It is a really cool technique. It works on the blow notes also - some harps work well, others don't. I assume it has partly to do with the gapping.
I am not surprised at that....the lower the pitch of the harmonica, the longer the reeds are in the upper octave. I can do it on all the Seydel ootb low pitched harmonicas as well....however the valve makes it way easier at least for me to play it loud if I want and to really dig into it and sustain the note where it does not sound weak. I can also blow bend hole 6 on certain ootb Seydels but again not with the same control. It has something to do with the gapping but more I believe in the length of the reed. ---------- "Life...10 Holes & 20 Reeds At A Time"
Playing a PT harp has made the difference. I could always bend for inflection like that, but necessarily to pitch. The initial concern is always that it can be done but is it useable...meaning do I have to change my attack to do it.
The answer is no. It was very similar to play a valved harp and not the same technique as an overdraw.
Before when this was brought up, I hadn't played valves yet, so I was sorta guess at the best way to try and bend a note like 7 draw. After getting valved bends under control, it made it easy to get the bends on the LF, and it has become useable and sustainable. Does that make sense? I could bend for inflection, but I couldn't hit the next note on holes 7-10.
The best I got last night was bending the 7 draw on a D. It got trickier on higher reeds that were setup to overdraw (as the ODs tried to pop), but I tend to not work much on my higher keyed harps. They aren't embossed nor are they always set up to sustain overblows, so the gaps aren't optimized for trying to do valve bends unvalved.
I am really excited about this as I spent a lot of time creating valved licks on the PT harp I have. I am surprised this isn't a hotter topic with players - especially just the bending for inflection piece.
Like I alluded to earlier, I wouldn't have figured this out very well without having played a nice valved harp in order to get the technique down.
I was able to get similar results on my stainless steel harps (which are all low keys), but the LF TBird allowed for a much more practical useage per your description.
It was obvious right away that the gapping piece is what is allowing this...there is a window where you can both bend down and overdraw, but it must be fairly narrow for me right now.
I didn't touch my workshop last night as I was watching the Giants play, but I will try and post a sound sample tonight (I need to figure out my home recording gear anyways). ---------- Mike VHT Special 6 Mods Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas - When it needs to come from the soul...
@harpninja: Your comment on "bending for inflection" is again right on the money. I consider that part of valved playing as exciting as being able to fill in the missing notes. For those of you who have not seen it, here is a video clip of me demonstrating just that.
