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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Harp Players-- 8x10 Photos
Harp Players-- 8x10 Photos
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Noodles
6 posts
Jun 20, 2012
8:25 AM
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Hello All…
I’ve been working on something that might be of interest to some of you.
I have always wanted to hang photos of the great harp players in my woodshed. Call it “Inspiration.” Well…one of my hobbies is restoring old photographs – enhancing them, resizing, focus, etc.
I’m creating a library of 8x10 photos of great harp players and putting them on Photobucket.com. They are Public. Which means, not only can you view them, you can DOWNLOAD the 8x10’s, PRINT them and FRAME them. Pick the ones you like (if any) and go for it.
HOW TO:
1. Go to Photobucket.com/bluesharp
2. Click on the folder “Harp Players” (that will show you the thumbnails – don’t download yet)
3. If you like something – CLICK on it to make it larger
4. Once enlarged, DOWNLOAD (you’ll get an 8x10 picture)
5. PRINTING: Grey-scale photos will usually print better. Color quality depends on your printer setup
Use a good photo-paper and a better print setting on your printer and you should get decent results.
The quality of the photo really depends on the source file I had to work with. Internet pics are low resolution.
I will be adding more over time, this is just a start. If you like the idea, please let me know. If you have suggestion, let me know on this thread.
I would appreciate any input.
Here’s a few that are up there right now. Take a look.
If you click on the picture below, once you get to photobucket, Click on ALBUMS on the menu bar and go to Step 2 as outlined above.
Noodles
Last Edited by on Jun 20, 2012 9:29 AM
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didjcripey
296 posts
Jun 20, 2012
2:53 PM
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Good one. Thanks for posting.
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Lucky Lester
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Lonesome Harpman
94 posts
Jun 27, 2012
8:24 AM
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This is Great! Sorry,I missed this when it first posted.
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BronzeWailer
661 posts
Jun 28, 2012
2:35 AM
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Thanks Noodles. I asked my mum, an occasional artist, to sketch Sonny Boy for me for my 50th. I am 51 now, and still waiting. But she is 85, so I have nothing to pressure her with...
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Hondo
177 posts
Jun 28, 2012
5:44 AM
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Thanks Noodles. Scanning the pictures looking for similarities, I noticed that the older masters aren't using JT-30's or any other bullet mics (except Wm. Clark and J. Portnoy and I am really talking about older than them). I also noticed a trend of Marine Band harps (no big surprise). With the thought that those mics were cheap and readily available, at the time, I would have thought that there would have been more.
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Joe_L
1906 posts
Jun 28, 2012
8:15 AM
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You should ask the photographers for permission before collecting their work. I might have said yes, but it's nice to be asked.
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The Blues Photo Gallery
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Noodles
34 posts
Jun 28, 2012
9:03 AM
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@Joe_L
Joe, if I posted a photo that you personally photographed and this upsets you, I will remove it. There are plenty of others to choose from.
The reality is that anyone has the capability to print anything off the Internet on his or her home printer. Technically, there is no copyright infringement here. The spirit and intent of the photos is a purely “non-profit and educational” endeavor and therefore covered under “Fair Use” within the copyright law.
So, just drop me a note in email as to which photo is your personal work and I’ll remove it.
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Noodles
View my growing photo collection of the top Harp Pros
Last Edited by on Jun 28, 2012 9:03 AM
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Joe_L
1907 posts
Jun 28, 2012
10:02 AM
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I completely understand the realities of the Internet. I also understand what you are doing "as a service to the community". All I was asking is that you extend common courtesy in advance. I don't mind people using my photos. I just like to know where they end up.
Since, you sort of lectured me. I decided to drop you an e-mail.
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The Blues Photo Gallery
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barbequebob
1959 posts
Jun 28, 2012
10:13 AM
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Here's the thing about many of the older masters based on experience with a more than a dew of them. Many of them just used whatever was available at the moment and most of the time from the 40's even thru the late 60's, the amp they played thru, they also sang thru as well, which totally goes against the beliefs many white players have had since the late 60's and, truth be told, they could care less about what the mic or rigs were as long as they got their sound across and it wasn't uncommon for clubs in the ghetto clubs they played, if they did have a PA at all, often used mics considered today to be harp mics like all of the bullet mics because NO mic back then was designed specifically for the instrument nor were harp players looking for distortion with amps because back then, you had no choice in the matter and all amps made from the late 30's until the dual tube rectifier Bassmans came out, any amp you bought back then distorted everything that went into as soon as you drove up the volume whether you like it or not.
What I'm saying may sound like total blesphemy to a lot of harp players today, but it's the truth, so don't get too crazy about the gear thing.
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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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Hondo
178 posts
Jun 28, 2012
1:44 PM
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Bob, I can sure understand that they played through what was available especially at small clubs. I would have thought that they would have at least carried a favorite mic along with them. But wouldn't it make sense that the recordings (where by comes their sound) we listen to, of those guys, were not from the small clubs but rather from a studio and one would think that a studio would have had better equipment.
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mandowhacker
163 posts
Jun 28, 2012
6:29 PM
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@ Bob "What I'm saying may sound like total blesphemy to a lot of harp players today, but it's the truth, so don't get too crazy about the gear thing."
1,000,000 X 1,000,000 pluses and multiply it by pi if you choose to do so.
Way too many players of any instrument get way too anal about the "tone or sound or whatever they choose to call it" and no one that will EVER hear them will ever know a rat's ass of difference between them and the next anal tone freak.
I am glad that akaline batteries are all you can find today. That solved the debate of whether or not old standard batteries sounded better in pedals than akaline batteries do.
Shut up, tune up and play.
Greg
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Just when I got a paddle, they added more water to the creek.
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mandowhacker
164 posts
Jun 28, 2012
6:36 PM
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Oh, yeah. Noodles.....how about the Robert Johnson (I know, not a harp dude) photo with him sitting down playing the guitar. If memory serves me well, this is only one of two pictures of the Crossroad legend.
Greg
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Just when I got a paddle, they added more water to the creek.
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Hondo
179 posts
Jun 29, 2012
4:24 PM
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Mandowhacker- you are right in that we all should tune up and play. We all can improve on just playing the instrument, but there is also the aspect of tone with this instrument and amplified tone. ALL things can be taken too far. Your tone is probably more important than how well you vibrato.
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Noodles
36 posts
Jun 29, 2012
9:57 PM
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@ BBQBob: "What I'm saying may sound like total blesphemy to a lot of harp players today, but it's the truth, so don't get too crazy about the gear thing."
@mandowhacker: Way too many players of any instrument get way too anal about the "tone or sound or whatever they choose to call it"
Gentlemen… I think you both make valid points. Too many players get hung up chasing the perfect mic or that vintage amp that growls and grinds behind a battery of special effects pedals. It wasn’t Michael Jordan’s boutique sneakers that allowed him to leap to the basket like a gazelle. He had worked on his skills for a long time before anyone had ever heard of him.
One can own the best harp gear and frankly --- forever suck as a player. Until one develops some genuine skills and commands the fundamentals to become a pretty good player, the equipment won’t make any significant difference in one’s performance. I can’t imagine anyone believing that any of the great players got that way because of their equipment.
But I also think one needs decent harps, even as a beginner. The harps don’t have to be top-shelf, just decent. It makes no sense (to me) to fight cheap harps at any stage of development. Later on, the better harps make a difference---more responsive, etc. I’ve seen new players buy custom harps and expensive amps that would rattle Yankee stadium and guess what – they can’t play any better and they still have a thin, nasal sound. There’s only one proven method to being a good player… paying your dues.
Wouldn’t it be nice if all we had to do is buy the right equipment? Owning a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter.
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Noodles
View my growing photo collection of the top Harp Pros
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2012 9:44 AM
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waltertore
2380 posts
Jun 30, 2012
6:04 AM
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Most players here didn't have the experiences Bob and I had. You had to witness it to get it. Most of the old guys were about their clothes, caddys, and the women looking good. The equipment came in behind that. I remember Lightning Hopkins would travel with just his guitar. Whatever amp was onstage was what he used. I backed Sonny Rhodes for a couple years and he never owned an amp but man did he dress and that red caddy was always shining. The music gear was a minor piece of the old bluesmans makeup. It was their vibe that was the main piece. todays players sound way to generic to my ears part because they all pretty much use the same gear/try to sound the same but mainly because they lust gear over just plain (excuse my language) "I am the baddest mother fucker that ever played this music". Now it is about being politically correct. It would send shock waves in the internet harp community if I was to say "there isn't a harp player on earth that could hang with me when the crowd was into the music or in more bluesmans terms Nobody can touch my shit in million years and if you want to get your ass whipped come on the stage and let me show how its done." But that was the norm when I was starting out and to be honest, I still have that vibe in me. Its not about the notes, tone, or any of that stuff. Its about your vibe and how you command the sound. Most all the blues greats were very primative players by todays standards. Yet, IMO, there are none on the younger scene that could burn them on the stage. Technique talk is a white blues players thing that evolved out of the white players of the 60s' rock and blues scene. I can honestly say that in the countless hours I spent with the old blues guys a few minutes at most were spent on technical gear talk and that was mainly stuff like- you have an extra string, or turn that thing down or up. Walter
PS: The white guys have made almost all the money in the electric blues since they started playing it, and being gear obsessed it has trickled down to the older black players still out there. I think this has occurred subconciously because they have watched clapton, SRV, etc, make more money in a day than they made in a lifetime. Buddy Guy is a prime example of this. He hung with those guys in the 60's and now is pretty gear driven. I have been influenced by it too. I use to play on whatever, with flat harps, funky guitars, etc. Now I have nice gear. It is nice to have nice gear, but without that other factor I talked about you will just be a squeaky clean, boring player. It isn't something you can fake, it isn't being angry, it isn't being a super egomanic, it isn't feeling superior, it just a plain and simple honest feeling no one can touch you with your music. Why would one play if they didn't feel their music was untouchable :-) That was the old school way and thus such great music came out of those simple players.
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
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Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2012 6:13 AM
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