Oisin
208 posts
Apr 19, 2009
4:12 PM
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You know it's midnight here in London, i'm sitting at work on my break checkin out the forum, listening to a little music and playing a little harp and I just noticed something and wanted to know if any of you get the same thing.
When I'm playing the low notes I find I'm letting air out my nose as well as through the harp. Is this normal??
Oisin
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jonsparrow
123 posts
Apr 19, 2009
6:43 PM
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i do that too. i donno if its just on the low notes i think i do it just when my lungs get filled. kinda like "circular breathing". like when playing a didgeridoo.
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Oisin
209 posts
Apr 19, 2009
7:44 PM
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Yeah I know what you mean. I thought that it might mean that I wasn't getting all the air I should into the hole and I tried pinching my nose but it sounded bad. I suppose it's a way of regulating the amount of air your forcing over the reed, as you don't need to play as hard for the higher notes
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jawbone
1 post
Apr 19, 2009
8:26 PM
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I allow air to bleed thru my nose on blow notes and sometimes over the harp on blow notes as a fast way to expell air. Generally I am drawing and if I hold a note, it will be a draw note so you can fill up fast. I try to do the "Junior Wells" cough, as well, to get rid of air and sometimes a nice growl helps and adds another dimension to your sound.
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Zhin
213 posts
Apr 19, 2009
10:59 PM
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It's a good thing to be aware of it!!
Using your nose as a "pressure release valve" can really help with releasing excess air.
But you should not leak any air in or out of your nose when you're aiming to get a full sounding tone. When you got that leak it weakens the tone. You also lose a lot of back-pressure which is very important for tone/volume/bend control.
Knowing when to leak the air through your nostrils deliberately can open up some interesting possibilities with "subtle" effects and give you a little more variety to your technique.
Perhaps someone else who has actually studied this can add to this.
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peeper1
5 posts
Apr 20, 2009
9:46 PM
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Let me amplify Shin's observations. For years I allowed myself to breathe through my nose until finally someone told me to stop. I did and discovered I'd been missing most of my sound. It's all about compression. Seal everything up except your harp. It'll change your life.
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Patrick Barker
240 posts
Apr 20, 2009
10:14 PM
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I used to have this problem with trumpet, but the problem fixed itself after a while. This probably doesn't help much, but if you stick with it I have the feeling it may go away eventually.
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"Without music, life would be a mistake" -Nietzsche
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Aussiesucker
254 posts
Apr 20, 2009
10:17 PM
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peeper1 : cannot agree that you should seal everything up. Tried a nose clip that is used in swimming & stops breathing via the nose and the sound I got from the harp was IMHO lacking tone sort of like going from sterio to mono. Of course by sealing off the nose it also plays tricks with the ears but for me my tone was fatter by leaving my nose unclipped.
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Oisin
210 posts
Apr 20, 2009
10:43 PM
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Hey Aussie that's exactly what I tried and it did sound awful too....like I was playing with a cold.
Buddha..I'd be very interested in your opinion on this.
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Andrew
221 posts
Apr 21, 2009
12:31 AM
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"I suppose it's a way of regulating the amount of air your forcing over the reed"
Yeah, I was wondering if it was a fault or if you had found naturally a way to avoid overstressing the low reeds. But it depends how low the harp is. I can imagine it on a low D, but not on anything much higher, unless you normally play very loud.
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SMaxwell
26 posts
Apr 21, 2009
8:28 PM
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"Seal everything up except your harp" Agree! - except when your trying to get rid of excess air. Then the nose bleed comes in handy.
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