I do, indeed, like that way of harmonica! This is a style that, you may know, I also enjoy playing. I think only a few of the other MBH members do so as well, but perhaps they'll also chime in here.
I'll start of by saying that I think you play very well, and I like the groove and phrasing you've got going on here. I enjoyed this clip, but I'll give you some empirical critique (only meant to help you get even better than you are now).
1) Your overblows. They stand out to my ears, because you aren't always hitting them cleanly. I think you are likely aware of this and are working on it (you clearly are an OB player!). You need the notes that the OB's provide in order to sound "right" with this kind of music, so you *have* to learn to hit them precisely. Or you can do what I do, which is to use alternate tunings, bypassing the OB issue all together! Some might say it's the "lazy" way out, I suppose (lol!), but personally, I know I can't do the OB's right, so I'd much rather play an alternate tuning so that I can get the notes I need to sound "right".
2) Pauses. Or, rather, lack of pauses. I, too, have suffered from this, which, I think, is a habit born of playing to recorded tracks a lot, and/or from playing mostly instrumentals where you don't have to pause for vocals. You need to work in some pauses. The listener doesn't ever get time to catch our breath, and your phrases all start to blur together in our ears. You need to give us some time to let your phrases sink in, and become meaningful! That's really important.
3) Hooks. Or, again, lack of hooks. You had some really inspired licks here! Repeat them a couple of times! Or come back to them from time to time. Give us listeners something to hold onto, to identify with, and to feel happy when we recognize them the next time they come around again. This is also important, and I think also a product of playing a lot of instrumentals. It doesn't have to be 96 bars of solo. There can be choruses and refrains in instrumentals too.
So, those are my critiques. And, again, I'm doing this objectively, and am trying to be helpful. I'm telling you what I wish someone told me back when I first started posting videos of my attempts at playing these things! And I'm spending the time to do so because I think you are good enough that getting these critiques is important for you. I believe that you will listen to them, and will do what you need to do to get even better. Best of luck, my friend! ----------
Great stuff. I agree with the above critiques, they pretty much nail the rough points.
But listening to it I think you have a very fluid style and sense of rhythm that fit the groove really well!
I'd love to hear you lay some stuff on top a a Reggae Blues jam I did if you get a chance:
Just let it breathe with some spaces and nail the intonations some more.
Like Issac I can't do overblows so "cheat" using alternate natural minor tuning when doing reggae. I'm also in the crowd that doesn't really like the tone of most overblows so I'm not really inclined to spend the time to nail them either, especially when alternate tunings work for me. Also makes it easier playing rack harp and guitar, less to think about!
