nacoran
6252 posts
Dec 05, 2012
4:19 PM
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Hey, my friend is learning chromatic and he's coming along nicely, but he's having a hard time with his 1 hole draw. Is that normal? It sounds kind of wonky. Is it embouchure or is it a mechanical problem? We're trying to fix the embouchure, but I'm not as familiar with chroms.
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Nate
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Frank
1537 posts
Dec 05, 2012
6:22 PM
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Learning the beginning stages requires gentle lovemaking to that sticky hole, kiss it, tease it, stick your tongue in it, passionately wrap your lips around that hole and let your breathe caress the reeds with pure desire, explore the hole and delight in how the reeds respond to the panting of your breathe and don't stop to you are pleasured by the resulting titillating tone!
Last Edited by on Dec 05, 2012 6:23 PM
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nacoran
6253 posts
Dec 05, 2012
6:53 PM
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Funny. Not terribly helpful, but funny.
That's what I get for trying to make a silly title to get more reads. :)
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Nate
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KingoBad
1209 posts
Dec 05, 2012
7:11 PM
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I think I might throw up....
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Danny
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Steamrollin Stan
630 posts
Dec 06, 2012
3:44 AM
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Use some KY stuff, might lube it, just played the thing 4 times and no sound, is there a reed in it??....Nup, it's your friend i think.
Last Edited by on Dec 06, 2012 3:47 AM
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Tuckster
1208 posts
Dec 06, 2012
7:05 AM
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Frank-Your wife must be a happy girl! But seriously,Frank is right. I think you're using too much pressure. The lower holes on chroms don't respond to hard blowing. Ease up some. It's more about volume of air and not force. But after all that,you may still have a sticking valve. Hard to tell from that little snippet.
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MP
2570 posts
Dec 06, 2012
12:23 PM
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"The lower holes on chroms don't respond to hard blowing. Ease up some. It's more about volume of air and not force. But after all that,you may still have a sticking valve. Hard to tell from that little snippet."
Ditto Tuckster on that because the Chromatic is a very different animal than the diatonic. i just restored a Hohner 64 chromatic. there is more than just gapping/profiling to think about. if the wind saver/valve is slightly ski jumped or out of shape in anyway you will get air loss and therefore slower response.
Moisture can sieze a valve ( it will glue the valve to the plate and not open very quickly. sometimes, not at all.)
also, the one draw on a chromatic is a large long thick reed like you would find on a Marine Band lower octave C 354/365 and the response rather similar.
PS. i will never work on one of these again. i'll refer people to chromaticblues aka Kevin Baker. Sorry Kev. Mea Culpa. in the future you can have anything comes my way that is Chromatic:-)
too much work! 64 means 64 reeds! i replaced 50+ valves and tuned forever.
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MP
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"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
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you can reach me via Facebook. Mark Prados
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laurent2015
562 posts
Dec 08, 2012
2:06 PM
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As Frank said: if the result is a warmed chromatic, that's ok; the fact is that the instrument is almost always colder than your breath.
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Frank
1560 posts
Dec 09, 2012
8:17 AM
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It is ultimately intimacy with that area of the harp that will unlock the stickiness of the hole and give it the slick, sleek, fat, wet tone you want so bad to experience.
Examine what happens as you move your tongue and how it affects the response of the tone – does it stiffen up or get excited…
Listen closely for these clues and try to connect with the soul of the reed and spirit of the instrument.
Feel the heartbeat of the tone and try to become one with its beauty and perfection!
Let your breathe ever so slowly fondle the reed while longingly inhaling and exhaling with bridled passion, always being mindful that your harmonica is not unlike a lover, who yearns to be fully known!
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