bluzlvr
49 posts
Aug 14, 2008
3:11 PM
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There's a lot of discussion about how one kind of harp sounds different than the next (Marine Band verses Suzuki or whatever), and I agree that acoustically there are differences, but can you really tell the difference when somebody is playing out of a loud amp with a pedal board full of effects (ala Jason Ricci)?
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oldwailer
145 posts
Aug 14, 2008
9:24 PM
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I'm gonna go out on a limb here and vote NO on this one. I'm sure I'll get lots of people saying I'm nuts--but I think a Bluesband could sound as good as an MB with the right mic, amp and effects box. Of course, it wouldn't be near as much fun to play--that's why I only use bluesbands for parts.
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wheezer
25 posts
Aug 15, 2008
4:38 AM
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Oldwailer is spot on here. When your rig is set up in the peace and quiet you can hear the different tones of your harps. Put that sound into the mix of a kicking live band with all the different frequencies from all the instruments and some of your tone will be 'lost',that is, covered by the other players.
If you don't have a sound man creating a mix in a live band situation what the audience hear will not be exactly what you hear from your amp, 8 foot from the stage and all those sounds are mixing. All you can do is use whatever harp you think best for a particular song and hope that not too much of the sound is lost to other members of the band. I hope this makes sense.
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Preston
36 posts
Aug 15, 2008
6:45 AM
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Well this is a refreshing topic that nobody seems to have mentioned before (that I can remember). I tend to agree as well, If you get into distortion pedals and have a good amp, I think it's gonna come down to the 110% your putting into the song, and not the $110.00 you spent on the harp.
Of course I need to be the devils advocate here and talk about how some harps aren't set up for overblows and/or they don't bend easily on the low notes, etc. etc. We're just talking about from model to model played through a rig, not all the other variables that come with it.
If I didn't write, somebody else would have.
Great topic
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Patrick Barker
117 posts
Aug 15, 2008
11:19 AM
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I think in some cases where there is less distortion, I think the harmonica does matter a lot- There are some harp songs that I listen to and immediately think "Marine Band" (I'm mostly talking about the less distorted stuff of James Cotton and other similar harpers here).
Yet on other songs with higher distortion, the harp doesn't even really sound like a harp that much so its really more about the amp and mic than the harp itself.
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"Without music, life would be a mistake" -Nietzsche
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