Lee Oskar is going to have a workshop at one of my local Guitar Centers in about an hour and a half. Guess I'll head on over there and check it out... ----------
My humble guess is that this workshop had quit a lot to do with marketing Lee Oskar´s harmonica system? If not, I´d be interested to hear how he´s developed things.
I've been to one of these, and yes, it was a marketing event plus performance. It's not really a workshop. I had hoped Lee Oskar would provide some advanced instruction on harp technique or music or customization. He only went into the basics, but it was worth it to go just for the performance.
I picked up a LO Harmonic Minor. It's a killer. I'm thinking of doing it up fancy with some colored corian. ---------- Sun, sun, sun Burn, burn, burn Soon, soon, soon Moon, moon, moon
Last Edited by on Aug 06, 2012 10:53 AM
We had one at the American Music in Bellevue which is a suburb of Seattle. I went and it was definitely worth the price of admission (free). It was part marketing and part show and it was cool to hear Lee play without his band (which plays once a month at our Highway 99 Blues Club). I did find that he had a nice handout and they were selling his stuff discounted after the workshop. He spoke of "application" of the harp and said to look outside the box when you play. It was a challenge for harp players to play something other than the "traditional blues poem" that supposedly everyone else plays. While I didn't agree with all that Lee spoke about I did take much to heart and appreciated learning from someone who is much more talented than I and who has a different type of music appreciation for the harmonica than I. Glad I went. ---------- snakes in Snohomish
All the stuff he talked about was pretty basic, but it was worth it just to hear him perform to some pre-recorded tracks. He's a fine, fine player, but I didn't hear a lot (if any) tongue blocking going on... ---------- myspace
No tongue blocking and sometimes what he called blues wasn't in my opinion. He did opine about a clear sound and what gear he used to get it, especially his mic. I took it as a little bit of a slam on the traditional blues sound most of us like. ---------- snakes in Snohomish
Lee has never been a blues player in the classic sense. He’s always played a Funky, Semi-Jazzy-Bluesy kind of thing ever since I began practicing to his albums in the mid 1970s. Yes, I said albums.
Here’s a recent interview that popped up on YouTube a few days ago. He does a nice bit of playing in his distinctive sound, beginning at 2:40.
His amplified sound is just gorgeous, esp. when he´s a bit restrained w/ all those effects: playing blues w/ a chorus sound is not that cool.
Well, perhaps not primarily a blues player, but he´s responsible for one of the greatest harmonica blues solos ever: "Mother Earth", first or second Burdon and War album.
Yes, I didn't mean to say I didn't care for his music. I just meant to say that he has different ideas about what is a good blues sound. He has three pedals set up. One or two Whammy pedals and something else he called an envelope if I remember correctly. ---------- snakes in Snohomish
Does anyone know what the tuning is that he uses in this video? The draw chord is tuned like the B-Thing tuning, but not the blow chord. The notes in the higher register are retuned also.
There are 3 Blues Tunings for Lee Oscar on Overblow.com, (apart from his minor tunings)
Look for 11.21 BLUES TUNING (Lee Oscar) on the Scale Finder page, (scroll down near the bottom of the page). I believe those are variations of B-Thing. Please let us know if you find the tuning for this tune. . .
Last Edited by on Aug 06, 2012 11:57 PM
If you re-tune the 3 blow up, a whole step, you get Brendan Powers’ PADDY RICHTER TUNING. OR If you re-tune the 5 draw up, ½ step, you get COUNTRY TUNING OR If you re-tune both 5 draw and 9 draw (both) up, ½ step, you get a variation of COUNTRY TUNING
OR finally, combine them
Raise the 3 blow up, a whole step (Paddy) and raise both the 5 draw and 9 draw, up ½ step, you get MELODY MAKER TUNING. . . .
Last Edited by on Aug 07, 2012 4:00 PM
