Hey there, folks, has been a long time...I stopped playing for a while as bending notes while tongue-blocking was messing up my throat and destroying my singing voice. I've decided to start again now from scratch with a new relaxed approach. It's working well enough already, I can bend the four hole on my A BluesHarp by stretching the roof of my mouth instead of forcing air through and tensing my throat up.
Anyway, I reckon things will be alot easier with a harp that's been customised, less air escaping from the harp etc...so yeah, I'm wondering who does the best work, who's got the best rates and overall who's the best value. I'll probably buy one harp to begin with, then 2 or 3 more if I'm satisfied with the work. So please, make some recommendations =]
Spiers can also be quite expensive-though I do agree that he is the man. there are a few options out there that are quite good- I would try some one like Sugar Cain- He has a great selection- based out of the uk and the prices depending on your customizing choices wont break the bank. he has a YouTube page and website
Hey Deck, can't comment on custom harps, but from your description it seems you must have a very different anatomy to me, as the roof of my mouth doesn't stretch, its rigid. Also from your description of bending by forcing and tensing your throat, perhaps some instruction on good technique may serve you better than custom harps. ---------- Lucky Lester
this is kind of the opposite of what i normally say,but if you are just starting to bend notes,you don't need custom harps. sure,owning one might be nice,or a semi-custom like a bluemoon or zajac,but it really isn't necessary to improve your technique at this point. as stated by didjcripey above,your money might be better spent on a lesson or two. any harp over thirty bucks or so should bend fine out of the box.
although i am not trying to stop you from paying a customizer!
also,if the problem lies within bending while tongue blocking,why not bend while puckering and switching back to TB after the bend?
if you live near philly,i'd be happy to go over this with you.
---------- www.shakeylee.com
Last Edited by shakeylee on Dec 15, 2015 4:59 PM
Thats the way Ronnie Shellist plays. Puckered from 1-4 TB 4&up Im tryin to get there. Right now my TB is pretty much octaves n effects. N use it for some big jumps. But bending TB is tough. And apparently not necessary to play TB. So to hell with it. Edit : But Ronnie bends everything puckered. Which kinda confuses me because if your doing a run TB and u bend pucker. Dont you kinda have to plan everything out as far as your bends go? Seems like it would be hard to seemlessly flow between both.
Shakey im 45 min outside Philly. Where bouts in Philly are you? ---------- 1.21 JigaWatts N' Punch It To 88
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Dec 16, 2015 9:33 AM
"But bending TB is tough. And apparently not necessary to play TB. So to hell with it." But I (wary of piss flying) am entirely convinced that the tone quality is much better on TB bends. I committed to doing it for bends and practiced a lot and after I worked on it I was surprised at how naturally I started doing it as a primary approach. 3rd bend on 3 is still usually pucker though. I was, however, a TB player for unbent notes for many years so the transition may have been easier.
I think that it's all in how you first learn to play the harmonica. I tongue blocked EVERYTHING from the beginning (remember that little instruction sheet that came inside the cardboard Marine Band boxes?). Now when I try to play by puckering I find it incredibly difficult to hit precise bends--I over bend EVERTHING right to the floor when I pucker. And the only reason I pucker at all was to fool around with overblows on the 6 hole and blow bends on the 9 and 10 hole, which are MUCH easier when puckering. But since I almost never do this I can say I tongue block 99.9% of the time.
ahhh feck! I just wrote a feckin' long-ass comment and it deleted on me.
Yes, I'm pretty much set on trying to do it all TB, but am working away at doin' it all LPed aswell, at least as long as I can be bothered. I want the ease of using all the TB effects plus the extra tone that comes from being able to bend that way. I might take some online lessons if anybody cares to recommend a good TB instructor, though I'm usually very stubborn about such things, prefer to find my own way as much as possible!
I have spoke to a few guys about this sort of thing, the throat injuries and they've all said you gotta play relaxed and breathe from your stomach. I'm going to take my time whatever happens and hopefully I'll make it in the end.
I can usually play with some nice feelings and some nice little moves of my own so a ridiculous level of technique is not necessary for me to make an impact - I would however like to be able to practice for an hour or so every night without worrying about my singing voice, get some new moves down...
As for the custom harp, I reckon I could be doing with one, there's an unreal amount of air escaping from the only harp I own at the minute, a BluesHarp in the key of A. And anyway, I've been playing the thing on and off for about 5 or 6 years now so I'm due a treat =]
What can I tell you? I play using tb bending all over the harp and never had any problem with tending my throat and affecting my voice. It's still all about the tongue. The only difference is you keep the tip of your tongue placed near the harp, just touching it. But you are still moving the tongue to affect the bend. I know people talk about the throat and sure if that's how you perceive you control it I won't argue but it's still about the tongue. I could tell you how I learned.. It was an accident. I was tongue blocking the top of the harp for clearer staccato and I moved to 3 draw and forgot to take my tongue of the harp and played a bend. It was not good but I was surprised and played around with it until I was convinced I couldn't really do it. Later Jim Conway convinced me that Jerry Portnoy assured him no-one played the lower 3 holes with tongue blocking, so I gave up on the idea. Later again I found David Barrett advocating playing with tongue on for all the bends. I asked david about what Jim told me Jerry said...david asked Jerry about it and reported back that JP just personally felt that to TB the lower 3 holes caused him to develop an asymmetrical embouchure which bothered him so he stopped doing it. It didn't bother me so I kept doing it and within just a couple of weeks found I could bend with tongue on as well as I could with my tongue free-ranging. So yeah anyway, Dave Barrett kind of taught me but I already had the basic thing happening so idunno if I can recommend. But if you are hurting your voice, tensing your throat, that's definitely not the way to do it.
Oh and by all means spend your bread on a custom but it won't help. With this issue. It's good for lots of things but your problem is not about the harp...or maybe it is if your harp is really set up poorly but you don't need to go whole hog to get a useable instrument.
Last Edited by SuperBee on Dec 16, 2015 12:55 PM
Thanks alot, SuperBee, appreciate you taking the time to say all that. I first started playing with just the tip of my tongue touching the comb until somebody convinced me that you're supposed to block like 3 holes the left of the hole you're playing, obviously this made things a lot more difficult! Hard to know what to do with all these conflicting pieces of advice...I'm going to try and use the tongue as much as I can see how far I can get, thank you.
Yep, I like mine. So that's all cool. Yeah you know it's true about blocking holes to the left but it doesn't take a lot of tongue to do that. If you are getting a single note, good. If you lift your tongue...pull it back a little really but 'lift' is what people say...you should get the chord...so really that's what the 'block 3 to the left' thing is about..,it's just the width of your embouchure really. But you don't need to make a big effort to push lots of tongue onto the harp. You just want that single note and be able to pull your tongue back and get the chord. Or start with the chord and put your tongue forward and get the single note. That's enough tongue. And just touch the comb. If you can play a split, your on the way.
@DirtyDeck You do not need to spend extra money on customisation
The Hohner OTB harps are really good, I play Golden Melody and I have not needed to get my recent purchases tweeked, though I have spent a lot in the past on this
I agree, it would be worthwhile to get a new sp20 or Deluxe to work on your bending with while you're waiting on the custom. Hope the "you don't need that" cops show up when the discussion switches to pedals and which mic should I buy next:) ---------- www.spiersharmonicas.com
It occurs to me,that one of the best people in the area for you to hash this out with is Seth Holtsman/Zep Harpo . He gives lessons and really knows technique ---------- www.shakeylee.com
@ harpwrench oh shit, nice one, it's you lol. Ok I'll take your advice then and see if I can get me a special 20 or deluxe online, they don't have much of a selection in the shops around here...
Shakey - I would be happy to jam with you any time brother! You Rock! (and so does your guitar player) I have never before seen the technique of placing the mic on your neck/throat area. Really sounded great. ---------- Tom Halchak www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
Last Edited by florida-trader on Dec 17, 2015 7:37 AM
