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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Humerous Anecdotes Harp Rage
Humerous Anecdotes Harp Rage
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sopwithcamels266
53 posts
May 21, 2009
5:15 AM
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Anyone relate to the following:
Just finished a cup of coffee mouth quite wet.
Pick up Harp set up groove and riff line. Move into impro
5 draw trapps up.
Stop,
"I'm warning you" I say as I hit the Harp several times on my knee.
Off I embark for the second time. This time knock out groove, sustain riff, line sitting nice go to impro, first go through OK second time through go for 5OB but jammed on 5 draw.
"Right you bar steward" says I" "You deserve this" More whacks onto the knee then wafting through air followed by down ward force to knee. By this time knee starting to give cause for concern.
Off we go again, third time lucky you say. Sure enough get through the groove lead line the lot impro twice through third time I go 454 draw go for 5OB heading for tonic at 6 blow, it jams.
"Right thats it you bas..." says I "Youv'e been warned. I'm going to give you a damn good thrashing."
Throw harp on floor hit with amp cables or what ever is at hand. This is followed up by stamping on the harp till it is crushed almost beyond recognition.
Stop to relax, admire the handy work and say to myself.
"You know,its strange these out the box harps just don't seem to have much of a long life."
Humerous anecdotes please
Last Edited by on May 21, 2009 5:30 AM
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Honkin On Bobo
72 posts
May 21, 2009
5:46 AM
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First time it happened to me I thought of it as some kind of rite of passage, like, "Hey I'm a bad ass harp player I destroyed my first reed."
Then I came on this forum and found out that it was happening because I wasn't bending properly, which really sucked because I had just started to get some bends. I thought...so..I can bend, but I just can't bend correctly???? Freaking great.
So there they sit, a bunch of harps with various blown reeds. A two draw here, a four draw there. My own private harmonica boneyard. I know I should be cannibalizing them for parts, you know, replacing the reeds on one with reeds from another. But I'm a lazy shit. I like to drive my car, I derive no pleasure from working on it. As it stands now, the boneyard is bigger then my "playable case".
Gotta watch out that you don't get 'em mixed up. Nothing worse than being up there reaching for a great wailing note and .......nothing.
Last Edited by on May 21, 2009 5:48 AM
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Buzadero
78 posts
May 21, 2009
6:19 AM
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I've had one 'near death' harp experience. Many years ago, I was screwing around down by Jackson Square in New Orleans with some of the local denizens of street music. It was sort of that in-between time of year when the NOLA tourist onslaught isn't quite as chaotic and wierd. A bit more mellow crowd. We were keeping a bagged bottle moving surreptitiously around our little group of a couple of guitars, a little trap kit of as many hardware implements as actual drums, a muted horn, and myself. Lots of screwing around and funky lines, as much to make everyone laugh as coordinated music.
I have lungs. They are part of how I make my living. I regularly work out and exercise my lungs and diaphragm with a couple of devices specifically to make them more powerful.
I took it and was running away with some kind of lead, when a reed broke loose and went halfway down my pipe. Holy crap. Surprised is a light term. In a split second, I both realized what had just happened, and was scared to death that I was either choking uncontrollably or about to get sliced from the inside. Apparently, my contortions, coughing and gag-antics were the best entertainment of the afternoon. No Heimlich for me from any of my very supportive 'friends'. They were crying from laughing so hard that I doubt if they would have every been able to stop even if they'd noticed a blue change in my face. That little experience still stays with me when I'm really getting after it. It has put into perspective the thought from several respected players that huge air flow does not necessarily equal big tone. Whether it does or not, I don't pull with full draw from the toes without holding the muscles ready to shut things down if it happens again.
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~Buzadero
Underwater Janitor, Patriot
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Elwood
67 posts
May 21, 2009
8:45 AM
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You're all familiar with my much-trotted-out anecdote about my first open mic, played on a tremelo with a very sour lower octave. Turns out, there was a hornet's nest in it.
Which is why we don't use instruments that have been in the attic for the last 20 years.
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jbone
77 posts
May 21, 2009
9:32 PM
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i once had a night where i blew a reed on 4 of my 7 harps. talk about a loud band! and of course i was still in that phase where i thought if i just played louder at the harp and lips i'd be able to both hear myself and keep up with the band. i made $65 on that gig which "only" put me in the hole $15 after replacing the 4 harps. and one of them did actually physically lose a reed. i don't know to this day but suspect i swallowed it!
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jonsparrow
326 posts
May 21, 2009
11:02 PM
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^lol
i havnt broke a reed yet.
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Randy G. Blues
21 posts
May 21, 2009
11:10 PM
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Playing the local open mic jam one night. Good crowd with a number of folks up and dancing. One particular blonde female, quite pleasant on the eyes, and I assume was equally welcomed by the till behind the bar as she apparently had been spending money freely there.. mainly on herself and to excess. I saw her nearly fall on the dance floor a couple of times, and do so quite well once.
I usually play with my eyes closed during solos, and during one I heard a small crash at my feet and looked down to see the head of the blond in my stage case. As she righted herself I picked up the harps that had bounced out of place and all the while never missed a note of the solo. Later I found that she had bent the case a bit and misaligned the hinges, was able to bend it back to a useful state.
Told the story to my wife, who had bought me the case as a birthday present. She said, "You should have kicked her in the head.. She's lucky I wasn't there.. I would have!"
When your wife stands up for your stage case.. THAT'S true love!
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snakes
247 posts
May 31, 2009
11:08 AM
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I worked out this song a bit where I'd sing a line and then play a line of harmonica notes back and forth until the chorus, sing the chorus altogether, then repeat and finish with a small solo to end the song. I played this for my son to bounce it off him. I remember when I was finished I felt that I had fairly well nailed the vocals, but thought the harp playing was pathetic. I asked for an honest critique with no worries about hurting my feelings. His opinion was that the singing was so-so, but the harp playing was awesome. You just never know what people think about your playing I guess.
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