I want to start off by saying that I love all of you and respect you guys. I've been watching the forums a lot and I've learned so much in such a little time thanks to guys willing to put their butts on the line to give their two cents. This forum can be harsh.
I'm asking for you guys to do it again. I've been playing for two years. I've experimented with different harps and recently different microphones even though I've maintained the same amp for almost a year now. I would like your honest opinions of these three videos. On my youtube channel, I have short moderate examples of me doing exercises and tabs from Adam's Store, but here I am will give three longer examples.
[My rig - Marine Band Harmonicas - VT 1030 microphone (high impedance) although I am now experimenting with a Shure 545SD Unidyne III (newest edition by Shure) - Fender Vibro Champ XD (new edition partially tube - partially solid state) YOU MAY CRITIQUE MY RIG TOO AND ADD SUGGESTIONS OR IDEAS]
(scroll down for embedded videos that you can view without going to youtube, compliments of nacoran!) 1. Half of Big Walter's Boogie. Adam doesn't have a lesson on this and so this is what I was able to gather through tablature and ear.I play the song less than half way through:
2. Yes, yet another attempt at Whammer Jammer. I am previewing this because I learned from Adam's example on youtube and many seem obsessed with mastering this. I do only the intro. I think this is more interesting to others because it's not in the Store and nor do I simply sit and read tabs like in my other videos.
3. After two years, this shows off my ability to improvise. I did not practice this piece, but simply improvised over the jam track using the ideas I captured from Adam's lesson on Mercy Mercy Mercy. I incorporated the tabs and tried to fill in the rest with my own knowledge.
(scroll down for embedded videos that you can view without going to youtube, compliments of nacoran!) THANK YOU FOR YOUR CRITIQUES! I appreciate all of it. I am not afraid of real critique, I encourage it. I discourage blatant compliments such as "nice job" or "keep practicing," and also negative ones such as "you suck." I doubt any of that will happen. Thank you for your time and your wise words.
~M Fourte (Afro Blue) ---------- Hunger is the best spice.
Last Edited by on Dec 11, 2012 9:23 AM
Generally you sound a little hurried, but that will get better with time & better internal metering. Good pitch control on the bends.
Most importantly, you make a sweet sound when you play...so much so that I can forgive a few bum/missed notes, because I simply like the sound of it. The amped link must be the one that doesn't work...don't try and use the amp to inherantly change the sound that you are making...louder, a little more honk, then great, but don't drown your sound in distortion.
You might want to make the last video availible to people like me who don't have a Youtube account.
Regarding the first two videos, you're doing really well after two years, especially the Whammer Jammer.
You've got a good feel for rythm. You've got your breathing down - the tunes "hang together" well - they're not just bursts of notes, a slight pause for air, then another burst of notes.
Walter's Boogie: You know you have to attack the notes and you do - you just need more of it.
You prefer the middle of the harp and skip over the one-hole draw notes, because your embouchure is crappy there. Don't just shift your two-hole embouchure over to the one-hole. Make the one-hole sound good and practice going from the one- to the two-hole and back, with good attack.
The Last link now works, the problem was that it was set to open up the editing process to the video instead of the video itself. Please check it out! Thank you for looking so far. VERY GREAT CRITIQUE. You guys are so wonderful! ---------- Hunger is the best spice.
@5F6H I think you'll enjoy my idea of amplified. I was actually wondering if it was amplified or distorted enough. I'm sure you'll critique it well, I trust you. :) ---------- Hunger is the best spice.
@The Happy Honker -That's sound advice. I noticed in reviewing the videos that the one-hole draw seemed weak. I do dwell on the middle more than the high notes or the lower notes. I will work on this!
@didjcripey - Excellent advice. I think you'll see my timing needs a little more work with the third link now that it is a available, that longer example definitely shows more misses than the two shorter ones. Thank you so much!
This is all very helpful guys! ---------- Hunger is the best spice.
Last Edited by on Dec 10, 2012 12:03 PM
@nacoran THANK YOU! This is my first post and I didn't know quite how to do that or how to even create a thread for that matter. I edited my earlier post to include that you posted this below. Thank you. ---------- Hunger is the best spice.
I like your tone and your ideas. You need to work on your timing: you tend to rush the easy parts and drag the difficult ones. Find a tempo that you can play the whole piece comfortably.
You got a good groove going on "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," but I think it'd work a lot better if you'd learn the head and save the improvisation until after you've played it through once.
Bottom line: Really impressive for only two years in. Keep at it!
Last Edited by on Dec 10, 2012 3:04 PM
Afro Blue, no problem. I'm glad you figured out how to do it yourself too. You get a lot more replies when you have the video right there for people to see. Thankfully, Youtube is pretty user friendly (at least compared to posting any other HTML on the site.)
As for a critique, I'd agree with the timing thing other people have mentioned. I'm pretty solid with my harp timing, but I'm all over the place when I try to sing. I seem to write songs that come in on the upbeat and I always miss it singing.
Can´t be brutal really, but I heard what the other commentators heard -- didn´t read them before I listened so it came spontaneously, and it may seem a little sheepish to just repete what´s been said. Still: The timing goes off on the BWH number -- you appear to increase and it happens quite soon. And yes, play the head cleanly on "Mercy". Also, I think you should be a bit wary of emphasis on the 7 note (the Ab) on your improv on that tune -- it sticks out to much IMO, (of course there are no "no notes", just a question of integrating), you tend to force it a bit too heavily into the Blues corner. Also, you play a bit "to much" there in general, it doesn´t breathe. That´s hard to explain if you can´t show by example, but hope you see what I mean: if not I´ll try to be more concrete. (I could point to a riff on holes 2-3 that gets repeated a few times to often.) Some bum notes -- but I´m sure you hear them yourself. The coda of Mercy is really nice and fluent, and you sound like you´ve been at it quite a whole lot more than two years. Most importantly, you appear to have an analytical and learning attitude: it took me a whole lot longer before I started to listen to myself with that kind of scrutiny and I lost lots of valuable time.
For two years - it's hard to be critical at all - you are doing very well.
On the first two cover tunes, especially Whammer - you show that you've accomplished quite a bit technically, - but are a bit stiff rhythmically. Perhaps because you are trying hard to get it just right - and partly because you are still building comfort and confidence ?? Either a bit rushed as 5F mentioned, or right on the beat - like a metronome, without a lot of swing or groove happening.
On the Mercy Mercy Mercy - where you are improvising, you seem more at ease in that regard and the flow is more natural.
One thing you could do is to jam on top of some slow and simple familiar things with a rhythm that gets you off. Just get loose , get comfortable, leave space in your playing to accent the rythm and get into the groove. - then go back to working on your "chops" when you feel so inclined.
Overall nice work - I applaud you for sharing and taking the critique. Keep on keepin on.
oh - and welcome to the forum, (great user name)
Last Edited by on Dec 10, 2012 5:40 PM
You don't need brutal critique - what you DO need IS to keep doin what you've been doing to get you this far in 2 years! Stay focused on the prize,not the prizes...In other words, become great at something... not halfassed at a bunch of things. Your on your way to being a very good harmonica player - if you don't try to rush your progress, do that and you'll only end up chasin your tail...So, my advise is to tighten up and strengthen the things you have been working so hard on learning-there is gold in them there hills!
Last Edited by on Dec 10, 2012 6:27 PM
Great advice from the pro staff,as is the norm for this forum.You have come a long way in a short time,but now your heading for rough waters,tough sledding,and alot of woodshedding.
Brutally speaking,what the hell are you butchering mercy,mercy for,that is a classic with a beautiful melodic flow.Don't Sugar,Jason,Popper that piece,although those cats could pull it off.You are in the "Look Ma" stage of development,and actually sound better than most.Work on some finesse OK,wouldn't say it if I didn't like your attitude.
I'll try to listen more closely tomorrow. My first reaction is: big sound! That's partly a function of the acoustics of the space in which you've recorded this, but what comes through is a sense of spaciousness, fullness, even though your technique isn't quite optimized. So yes: if this is the fruit of two years, then Frank is right: just keep on practicing, playing, listening, working, and enjoying, and much of what you hope to achieve will take care of itself.
The "rushing" thing is something I struggled with for a long time. The antidote is to listen to the Big Walter stuff where he takes his time and where he hammers smack-on-the-beat licks--repeated 2 draws and the like. The antidote to rushing is to slow down; the antidote to slight confusion is to play simpler lines and execute them more precisely while keeping the intensity high. But this is good stuff. Just keep working on the small stuff. Make incremental progress daily and in six months or a year you'll notice all sorts of difference.
Blue - jam on whatever gets you off. If it's Mercy Mercy Mercy - just do it. Forget the sacrosanct. You are not recording for the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian or on the Impulse Jazz label. Yes you should respect the music, - but you are not trying to record a new defining take of the tune, - you are exploring improvisation.. and learning. That's a good thing. ----------
hey pretty cool work. i don't disagree with comments above. good sound going on. re that amp...how are you setting it? voice, tone knobs, effects? i like the sound i'm hearing from it i think, but recorded sound on youtube through my cheap headphones...who knows what it sounds like? ----------
I listened to the first two last night. I just listened to the bottom one first thing this morning right after I woke up to go to work (which was just now). I thought the chops were good. One thing I liked tonewise were the octaves, I thought they rang out nicely. I noticed that when you went really low on the harp, your internal resonance was diminished. That's something you'll probably want to work on.
My grandfather was the greatest on brutal critique. I played some mandolin for him (I was just learning) when I was a teen, asked him what he thought and he said "if you ain't got timing, you ain't got sh.." I remember once somebody came over and played with grandpa and some of his musician cronies. The guy was out of time and grandpa's exact words to describe him were "that son of a bitch was too g...damn lazy to tap his foot." I've played music with people for a lot of years and if you're playing with good musicians, you don't have to tap your foot and most people don't, because the beat is there in the air. It is palpable. When you are playing by yourself, there is no palpable beat.
The first two I thought were awesome. I thought the third one was too. But the third one confirmed my suspicion - you're not tapping your foot. Not everybody needs to tap the foot - after 30 years playing, I don't unless I'm playing by myself. But at this stage, you really need to, especially when you are playing by yourself.
---------- David
____________________ At the time of his birth, it was widely accepted that no one man could play that much music so well or raise that much hell. He proved them all wrong. R.I.P. H. Cecil Payne
Here I will reply to everyone as I have read all of your comments very thoroughly! (Which will be a lot of work, but it is my turn to do that work) I hope you find my response well. I wanted to say thank you to everyone as all of you have played a wonderful role in my experience. I’ve never met another harmonica player in person and you guys will act as the first community I’ve ever taken this to who understands the challenges of playing the harmonica. This is the result of my 2-year woodshed and late-nights with Adam Gussow’s lessons, not being able to play a note because of the hour and just trying to philosophically understand his message. Now I can understand your messages and I swear they won’t go for granted.
@timeistight – I’ve never quite thought about a constant tempo. My whole idea was that it was important to stay on beat. This is useful. I felt everything needed dynamics, but I now understand that these dynamics need to be pieced together more delicately. I won’t let you down!
@nacoran – I actually learned how to embed the videos from your post on a relative thread with a different player asking for critique! So you did again! I haven’t even begun touching the dynamics of singing. I know that since my first instrument has been harmonica, I’ve tried really hard to make it my voice. I hope yours sings through whatever medium you choose to use whether it be vocals or harmonica.
@Martin – Your critique is original and awfully helpful. I thank you for watching that 7th note and you got me about edging the music into a blues corner. I don’t know how to play jazz; however, this was enough to get the jazz instructor at my university to include me in our Jazz combo, so I will learn! I still have Buddha’s scripts about ii chords and whatnot for things like Stormy Monday. I understand what you mean by letting it breathe. Adam talks about space all the time. You want things to seam together seamlessly, but the seams really are the space that lets the audience take in what they’ve just heard rather than bombarding them with your notes in a musical blitzkrieg. I’ll follow your advice and I thank you graciously for it.
@bonedog569 – You’ve continued a certain theme that I’m getting from my critiques that there is a sort of dynamic here that I should explore. I am relieved that my ability or chops aren’t rigid or structurally out of place. I’ll try to play and LISTEN. I’m not very loose. There are a lot of great players out there and if I want to be heard, I have to contend. But if Adam and Jason believe you’ve got to give it all away to stay on top, then that means you have to do a damn bit of taking to get from the bottom. You guys are wonderful. Thanks bonedog, my username is after Jason Ricci’s cover of John Coltrane’s cover of Mongo Santamaria’s Afro Blue. You have a nice name as well.
@Frank – I am glad to know that my technique is up to par and I can really explore the music. I figured if I work on sounding well with tone and such, I would really be able to pull of sounding good sooner. I haven’t been practicing due to lack of functioning harmonicas since August and this was recorded in October, so it’s been longer since. But I’ve been working very hard and I am glad you can see that. I haven’t learned the song all the way through, but St. Louis Blues will be the number you’re speaking of that I make my own. I like what Adam does and I am going to take that further with time. My school just let me into their Jazz Combo, more to come on these forums sir! Thank you Frank!
@capnj – You are pro-staff to me sir. You’re playing a tremendous role in my experience. You’re probably the 7th harmonica player I’ve ever heard from in my life. I don’t agree with you using “Sugar, Jason, Popper” in your critique sir. Save that for someone who could at least imitate them. Sugar is so fast I don’t even listen to him, it makes my head swirl. ;) Of course I appreciate all of it and that really puts me into perspective of what I have to do and can accomplish. It’s time for finesse in the name of capnj. :)
@kudzurunner – Adam, on July 2nd you went to Chicago to lecture in Joe Filisko’s class at the Old Town School of Music. You had completed three gigs in four days and at some point had a fever while you were heading into Columbia, Missouri. You told me you weren’t feeling well and driving nine hours wasn’t a smart idea either, however, you said “That’s the blues life.” You stated in your final words to me that night “All of which is to say, you'll get over it. Keep on enjoying your music--and mine, for that matter. :) And when things look bad, just remember: you're a lot tougher than you think you are,” July 2nd, 2012 one week prior to my 19th birthday. I’m that kid from Chicago who emailed you back and forth for a week to make sure I could see you. I’m incredibly grateful that you are reviewing my work. It is not because you’ve been my only teacher, damn, my professor these past two years and it was your videos that let me know when I picked up a harmonica from a friend on Halloween of 2010 who went as the Blues Brothers my senior year (of high school), that it could be used to not only tell a story and paint it with wonderful colors that other instruments are actually not privy to, but that it could tell my story as it had yours. My brother knows your name and imitates your voice, laughing at you (and me) more so than with you (or me). My mother knows your name and your voice; I drove them crazy with your lessons. I was listening and here’s what I could do after listening for this long. You speak of the bad times, but the answer to how to cope with those bad times is here in this forum. These last six months have plagued me with a question. “Why don’t others appreciate the harmonica in a way similar to us?” I find interest in most, if not all instruments. We harmonica players are seldom appreciated. My peers don’t hear or see what you guys here do. They don’t care that I’ve worked my ass of night in to accomplish this small feature because in the end of the day, it all sounded like “harmonica” anyway. I could tell before my first lesson the difference between Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller) and Little Walter without trying. Right now I am just ranting my frustrations to you and everyone else. But I follow your advice, just be tough. I’m looking forward to your next visit to Chicago. ~M Fourte (also your more thorough look at my video as you’ve hinted)
@bonedog569 – We’re back to you sir because you’re heart has so much to give. I look at your photo of crazy harps all in a box, disheveled and your microphone in hand and I’ve spent nights dreaming of owning all of that. I bought a Hohner Briefcase. I have 13 harmonicas. I used a Hohner Blues Harp on this recording and Marine Bands on the first two because Blues Harps are sweeter than Marine Bands. And besides, the only thing I had was a blues harp in Eb. I have however, many Marine Bands. I even got the chances to try 1 Deluxe. This is the first time I’m writing about this to anyone who may understand. I thank you for reading. I believe one should own a lot of these harps. Marine Bands are classic and fit most things if played right, but their range for tonality is great. Blues Harps are soft, easy to bend, easier to relax on if set up correctly and good for jazz arrangements. Speaking of harps, Golden Melody’s are specific. From what I observed, they are most accurate bending out of the box and are for those who want to fire off those 16th notes because they’ll carry you through. I admire your collection and versatility in the harp box. I’ve never played a Seydel, but I’ve always wanted to.
Last Edited by on Dec 11, 2012 9:52 AM
@Steamrollin Stan – That means everything to me sir. I think I am going to craft my style in harmonica similar to that of T-Bone Walker’s guitar lines and B.B. King’s guitar lines. Those are whom of which I am studying on electric guitar as we speak. Electric guitar will be my fourth instrument in 2 years and it by far is taking me off the fastest of the four, but the discipline I learned from harmonica has made me a better guitarist. I have a Les Paul 100 cherryburst body. I want to play like them on both guitar and harp because T-Bone figured where the notes were supposed to go and B.B. King figured out which notes they are supposed to be. Keep rollin’ Stan.
@SuperBee – First I’d like to say objectively what gave me that tone was from the Hohner Blues Harp MS Model. I wouldn’t have gotten the same thing with Marine Bands, that is to say, you may have even liked that better for all I know if you are a diehard Marine Band person. The mic is a V-Tech 1030 (vocal high impedance) and I turn the voicing to model a Fender Tweed Bassman. The gain is set to 4 or 5 so that the amp growls enough to let people know I am amplified on such a clean mic. The Volume has also to compensate at anywhere I can set it having sat that closely to it and avoiding eminent failure for how boomy or how much reverb that room causes. The bass is up to 8 because my amp is 5 watts and does not carry the low end of the harp far, but according to many here, I need to improve my technique instead of turning the bass up on the amp because the advance fellows here can still hear the difference even when I’m amped. (I tried. ;) ) And the treble may be tweaked a notch to 2 or 3 for clarity after loading things with so much bass. I did not use the reverb setting due to the room being so boomy and from the recording, I doubt I throw on any delay. No one has quite commented on my amp set up. No one has stated whether it was good or bad which is probably a great thing and I am grateful to hear that it was not too distorted or that it sounded like only volume. I am trying to get a clean distorted sound, but with that microphone, I am not able to touch the dynamics I get with a Shure 545SD (there is another video of that on youtube of me playing John Lee Williamson’s Slow Blues, Adam’s lesson where I feature the use of that mic). What do you think of my amplified sound? I know you like it, but this is my first rig really and I’ve only had one amp. What do you hear sir if I can ask you for even a little more? As always, thank you for contributing. I am very grateful.
@ElkRiverHarmonicas – First of all, it is dearly an honor! I watched a video of yours about how to properly gap a reed. You used a large piece of cardboard to demonstrate, I was taken aback! But I’ll tell you, due to the complexity of Tinus’s videos, my videos may not have been possible since in the last 6 months I’ve become accustomed to gapping my harmonicas properly for overblows and such which I do not actually feature in these videos (for my own safety as the one being review ;) [that being playing overblows]) Honestly, if that was not you, I apologize, but that guy was helpful. I could be wrong, but I remember ElkRiverHarmonica and that is all I could remember about that day I watched that video. So perhaps you have different videos and I am mistaking one of yours for another I saw on that day. I apologize in advance. You caught me slipping! I believe due to guitar (even though I should be tapping my foot there too if possible), I have actually been tapping my foot far less. I’ve got to get that started again and get at it. You’re grandfather sounds like the type of guy I was expecting to run into here. But his advice was wise and I simply enjoy that kind of straightforward punch that makes you lose all of your air but then suck in a gulp of brand new air that will make you stronger and better. Well here you are sir, not in the same way, but influencing me as greatly as a musician. I doubt I’ll grasp the beat and rhythm that much faster if I don’t restart tapping my foot as I had through the first year of playing. I also plan to implement a metronome because I do NOT practice harmonica using one. I do however practice guitar that way. I will start practicing harmonica that way. Thank you sir!
@ ALL – I’m sorry if my responses were very long, but you all are the first harmonica players to which I’ve ever really talked besides a few e-mails with Adam which disclosed no rituals about harmonica. You all are wonderful and helpful and I’m looking forward to anything more you have to say about my playing or my amplification. I’m looking forward to others possibly jumping in. Brandon Bailey told me “VERY nice!” on Adam’s Powerharp Groove that I did on youtube. The only thing that can top this moment is Charlie Musselwhite himself giving me a Seydel harmonica (new of course =P). I’m just a kid trying to be like you guys. Thanks for your help and if this is your last comment, happy holidays and I hope to chat with you again on another thread.
Ah, the bassman voice! Yes, that is quite a good choice on that amp, a little gainy and feedback prone I find, with my mic. But a nice sound. I used it to record a couple tracks last year i think. With that amp, I usually use the voice number 4, I think fender describe it as 'clean blackface'. Gain around 3 or 4, volume at 8. but i agree the gain:volume is dependent on how loud you need to be and how much grit you want. I run the bass on 10 and the treble on 0. I really came to like the amp. used it for a couple of years as my main practice amp. I don't know how long you have had yours or if it is new, but wanted to say I think mine changed its sound at some point, after I'd been using it awhile. It was either my playing or the sound of the amp. Less stiff. I figured the speaker loosened up a little. I did calculate how many hours of use it had at that point but I've forgotten. But I remember noticing the change. its hard to say much about how an amp sounds unless one is in the room, which may be why there's not much comment here. Fwiw I thought your sound was good in the videos. My experience with that amp is that it is really good for harp, in stock form. Much better than a stock epiphone valve junior for instance. Ive haven't used the mics you mention. You're right, a lot of folk can't tell harmonica from irritating noise. Sometimes I agree with them. Often I feel that way. There are many examples of irritating harp. Even some which is in one way very impressive, in another way can be very annoying. In the end you will be your own judge of how you sound, and you will observe whether others like what you do. It is an instrument which can easily be overdone. As my mother said, if you haven't anything good to say, don't say anything. I mean that in relation to players who keep playing for the sake of making sound, where the music would be better served if they shut up for a while. So many things are like that. ----------
Last Edited by on Dec 11, 2012 11:36 AM
@SuperBee - You definitely are on the same page that I am on. Make sure that we're talking about the same amp however. Mine is the newest model of it with solid state electronics and tubes combined. I think that is what is very unique about this amp. I know that Adam sometimes runs both a solid state Mouse and a variety of tube amps. A solid state amp that can modulate the effects of a tube amp has to be the golden grail, but not necessarily. What are you using now that you've had your golden years with your rig? (I have only been using this amp for about a year). I am glad you like my sound, but this video here definitely displays what I am currently working with which you can access in HD which will definitely give you a right idea of how that amp sounds. The room gives it that reverb, however, my video man said that the sound you hear on the video is the sound in person. The sound in person is louder because of real life acoustics. I will post it below. Be sure to tell me about your rig, I don't hear too often about others' rigs. I am very interested in what you've experimented with. I plan to buy a Boss pedal on Friday either DD3 or DD7 or some other one. Ever experimented with pedals?
I don't know if that amp has changed very recently. Mine is a vibro champ XD, about 3 years old. SS preamp chip, 12ax7 driver, 6v6 power tube. At the time I bought it there was also a SuperChamp XD which used the same preamp chip. I know the SuperChamp XD was updated and is now the SuperChamp X2, and uses a different preamp chip, the same as is used in Fender's Mustang amp series I believe. I assumed they had discontinued the Vibro Champ XD. The SuperChamp XD was promoted by David Barrett on his site, as a great value amp for harp players, and with its 10" speaker I think it was quite popular. I think the Vibro Champ was overlooked perhaps as a result. It tends to brightness, probably more noticeable with that 8" speaker. But as noted above, I found my speaker smoothed out after a while. It was probably 40 or 50 hours of playing though, before I noticed the change, and come to think of it i noticed the change sometime soon after I had lent it to a guitar player at a jam where he had it really cranked. I don't know, I THINK the speaker broke in, but I was also playing a lot at the time and it could just be that I learned to play more sensitively and get better sound from my gear. For delay I use a lone wolf pedal, though with the vibro champ I use the on board effect. I don't use this as a performance amp, just at home or quiet jams, or in studio I haven't used many pedals, but I like that LW Delay, also their Lone Wolf Octave pedal is great. It's probably not an octave pedal in the sense of most pedals that use that name but its a great pedal nonetheless. For general usefulness I think this vibro champ xd a great amp. These days I am using a 5w Legacy Valve Head with a homemade 2x8" cab, loaded with Weber 8A100s. This is a great-sounding rig IMHO. I also have an Epiphone Valve Jr combo, which I bought with intent to modify but since I scored the Legacy I have lost motivation to modify the Epi.I used the Legacy on a couple of recent recordings and really am very happy with it. I can't imagine how the Epi will be better. In stock form it is rather gainy and feedback prone, touchy on the volume. It's OK, but the Fender Vibro champ XD is a far superior harp amp, IMHO. I have a 1948 Filmosound amp which is very nice but a complete pest to keep running. Impractical I use a Fender HotRod Deville 4x10" on stage, which has been modified in line with suggestions from Mark Burness and Val King (via Aki Kumar). It's a great sounding amp, now drawing favourable comments at gigs. Many gigs I can leave it unmiked. Has great projection. With the LW Octave pedal, develops that "paper ripping" edge. I also have the Princeton Reverb, which I like but don't use much as its "in between" for what I do right now. A bit bright and demands a sensitive approach to get the best from it. It taught me a lot about mic handling. Mics: I use an EV605 shell fitted with a vintage Shure 99B86 element, and a JT30 with a '59 99G86. Also a SM57 and SM58. I've tried the SM mics for harp. I don't like them much. I use the 57 to mic my amp, the 58 for vocals. The only reservation I have with the vintage element mics is that high notes don't seem to come through very well. I'm not sure if that's my low skill though. Gotta fly! ----------
I'd say you are in the house, and lucky for you, you can own it too! You are there man. ---------- Sun, sun, sun Burn, burn, burn Soon, soon, soon Moon, moon, moon
I do not believe that the amp has changed in 3 years. I do know that it has stocked tubes and the way you describe the preamp chip, I am assuming we’ve had the same model of amps. I can’t find my sound on this amp yet to be honest. I want that washed-out sound of Jason Ricci in which it sounds like the speakers on the amp are overdriven. That is exactly the sound I hear from hear. It sounds as if the SPEAKERS are overdriven, not the amp, tubes, or preamp although those are optimized for his performance but I really doubt besides getting a great amp with great parts, does he do a lot more than turn the volume up. When he was demoing his pedals, he was very loud. I think Jason’s secret is his own acoustic tone matched up with volume that overdrives the speakers and makes that flexible metallic sound that is so hard to describe accurately. I completely changes the tone of the instrument while keeps the tonal qualities that make harmonica original and simply harmonica.
The SuperChamp XD definitely has been promoted on this forum far more than the Vibro Champ, people have called the Vibro Champ crap and argue that the Super Champ is clearly better. So you are surely right if you check this forum.
I have not had that broken in speaker sound you describe, but if played accurately, maybe one could overdrive the speakers and make that Ricci sound. I’m convinced. I look forward to my amp aging and I’ll let you know if I get that new sound because it will be easy to clock 50 hours with as much as I practice.
My pay statement for Friday is set and so I shall be going to Boss Delay pedal. It can either be analog or digital. I really don’t see the difference. I know Jason uses analog and Adam uses digital, but I like both sounds. I simply can’t decide if I do decide to go digital, will I get a DD3 or DD7? Maybe a DD7 just to differentiate from both of them. I am assuming that the DD7 must be capable of what the DD3 can do even if the tone differs slightly. We’ll see what I decide!
I understand why you make the choices you do with the mic’s you use. You must like that vintage tone a lot because you’ve got some gold there in the microphone department. I mean, you’re using a 57 to simply mic the amp, let alone the harp. I’m scared of your sound, it’ll blow me away. I want an example if you have anything to show me. I’m incredibly curious!
@Jlnx - Well, I suppose if I am in the house, Sugar Blue and Billy Branch won't send me a letter telling me I'm embarrassing the art and need to stop. Thank you so much! ---------- Hunger is the best spice.
Afro, That was me with the pizza box video. You want some honest critique, here you go... This is why you are going to be an incredible player that we're going to be paying a lot of attention to down the road. It is extremely rare that one can take an objective look at his playing. You're objective approach here, based on what's been said, has been remarkable, to the point of extremity perhaps. It has been extremely rare that I have seen such humility from a musician, real and constructive humility. So, work on your resonance on the low part of the harp. Relax your throat. I mean really relax everything. The sound energy from the harp will help you with the resonance. If you've got a really low harp - I'm a pretty tall guy, so I optimally use a low D chromatic for this demo... blow the 1 blow and take a couple of fingers from your free and feel the side of your windpipe start from the base of the collarbone and work your way up. There is a point where you can start to feel vibration in your throat. Try the 2 blow, 3, etc. and you'll feel the farthest point of vibration move up in your throat. AND Try blowing one a one blow of the lowest harp you have. Take a thumb and middle finger of the free hand and squeeze until they barely touch your cheek. Move up to the 2 blow, 3 blow, 4 blow and you'll notice that your cheeks will puff out slightly less each time as you go up... go back to the 1 blow and your cheeks will puff right to where they were before. Sound is energy. It can do much of the work. You just have to let it. If your cheeks aren't moving slightly as described above, you're probably not relaxed enough.
I would like to hear something original from you at this point. You're ready for it.
---------- David
____________________ At the time of his birth, it was widely accepted that no one man could play that much music so well or raise that much hell. He proved them all wrong. R.I.P. H. Cecil Payne
@ElkRiverHarmonicas - That was a fantastic video, you can see a bit of your video in my playing. I haven't mastered the art of gapping 6 months, but it has made a difference in my ability to use my harps. Thank you sir.
The way I take criticism from you all is similar to the way I've been critiquing myself personally. I am studying at a university to become a high school English teacher momentarily. I believe that in order to learn something right, you have to be paying very close attention. I've always paid incredible attention to my playing because many professional harmonica players on Youtube and in interview say it is about the details, especially Lee Sankey. Well, you have to be listening to hear the details which explains why most people gloss over harmonica anyway, because it is very detailed.
To my understanding, posting my videos here for feedback wouldn't only offer me a wealth of detail I may not have noticed. Such as with my embouchure on 1 hole draw and blow. I know I am not nailing it exactly as BWH's Boogie because I can hear the difference on the record. I've never been incredibly gifted at picking notes up with my ear. I can hardly tell what Little Walter is doing on his records when he plays, especially with a lot of distortion. I can tell when he uses octaves, warbles, double-stops, octave warbles, bends, draw notes versus blow notes. I can hear tonality. It's very weird.
The point is, if you're not honest with yourself in your playing, you clearly need to work there first. How can you plan to be great if you don't own up to your faults? We're not perfect and if we were, then we wouldn't need teachers. So now that I've only been practicing with my own critique and self-correction, it is time my friends and fellow players let me know what they hear since you are the only guys who can tell me to attack that 1 hole differently. I remember Adam's lessons and I learned to open up for the 2-hole, but I rarely HAVE to sit on the 1-hole and so I had to have developed a bad habit. I can't tell that by myself! It takes another. That's why I am so damn grateful that you've listened to me. You're wonderful and if I ever do become one of those players that you are looking forward to hearing, you can know you played a big difference.
As far as originality goes, I am having too much fun dancing in the Walters' shoes or simply being good at copying others. I am in that stage where I pick a guy and learn all of his licks. I unfortunately only improvise my ideas when I am not practicing and the only time I play those songs that I learn is in front of people to give them a kind of reference point. This probably has been why originality has not come to me. There is so much I don't know and since I only learn things like Adam's lessons to improve my own on the spot improvisation, then I suppose to extent I practice my originality all the time. I'm quite content, but I will upload a video of me improvising once I found I sufficiently improved my 1-hole technique for all of you guys to see. You won't have to spend the effort critiquing as I've begged for this time, but I hope I can please some of you. I know this was long, but thanks for reading! ---------- Hunger is the best spice.
Sounding very very good for the amount of time you've been playing. I notice you slouch and bend over quite a bit while playing. It might help you to keep your tone bigger if you work on curtailing that a bit. The Late Chris Michalek used to tell me to imagine a tennis ball inside my mouth, and that's the shape to keep for big tone... ----------
I'm appreciative toward all the critique I've received. I thought I'd give this one last bump before I go into the woodshed. (Winter break starts at the college, one month of harmonica)
I going to make a prediction...If Afro Blue - is able to remain focused on learning the harmonica, he will by the beginning of 2015 be concidered an advanced harmonica player in many important aspects and areas...
Very nice playing. I liked the "mercy,mercy,mercy" video best. You show real musicality and feeling. You're actually a lot better when you leave the part from Adam's lesson where you are slightly off on your timing.
Superb Tone! Keep at it. My advice (for what it's worth): Break out even further! Invert some passages. Go staccato and leave the groove and return and reesolve. Great work! ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
With so much already said, I can keep it short. Positive: Fantastic for two years. Constructive: you're missing a lot of subtle things still on the cover tunes. To be fair, it's to be expected. It just may help you develop subtleties if the subtleties are noted. It's not just the timing, but the way licks start. Many blues licks have slightly bent initial attack. Also, you miss a classic bend-heavy Walter lick. I'm on iPhone and its hard to type, so know that I don't mean to be terse. Just keep on with some more low end bending focus, and remember us when you're a big star, ok? ---------- 12gagedan's YouTube Channel
