In 'Blues Harmonica for Dummies' Ch. 19 Winslow mentions Driven Acoustic Technique as cupping the harp tightly but leaving a small gap directed into the mic. He says Gary Primich and Phil Wiggins use it - does anyone have classic examples of this sound, e.g. some specific tracks or your own recordings? Thanks.
A lot of Phil Wiggins recordings have this sound...
It's not hard to imagine or achieve the effect yourself as long as your mic cupping technique is efficient.
Some read "cup the harp tightly" and translate it to mean you have to really use a lot of muscle tension. The opposite is actually better. Hold the harmonica loosely, but make sure it is somewhat "air tight" in regards to the sound. Look in the mirror and see if there are any gaps in your hands or along the high end of the harmonica (which I like to rest on my right cheek to close off the gap there).
The sound will be very bassy and a little muffled. Now, if you open a pinhole type area where your palms meet, this is what is directed towards the mic.
The sound will be like a muted trumpet - Phil has an amazing Miles Davis tone. ---------- The Iceman
Thanks all, that's a perfect answer: how to do it and what to listen for. Definitely has the quality of a muted trumpet to it.
Diggsblues - that's a lovely song and some soulful playing with those hand effects. A technical question - how close are you to the mic when doing that? And do you need a vocal mic with mesh ball like in the Phil Wiggins video above - or can you use an SM57? I could imagine getting too close with that.
I just tried a bit quickly myself, and it seems the proximity to the mic hugely magnifies the hand effects, so I guess it needs some finesse not to overdo it.
That was a studio cut and I had a lot of control using a great mics and a head set. I suggest for live playing as close as possible and back off as needed. Playing live using that technique cam be hard because bands play so loud. I think sometimes like a trumpet player with a plunger. ----------
This is brilliant - I can finally start to get the kind of big difference between cupped and open sound I hear at the start of the Walter Horton song 'Now Tell Me Baby'. (I can't find a YT version of it to put here unfortunately). I'm not saying that's how he did it or anything, how dare I, but it gives that pronounced effect. I can see the trace height in Audacity.
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Feb 25, 2015 12:07 PM
