thebluesbox
2 posts
Mar 11, 2016
2:42 PM
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I am playing a song that I need to blow bend 10 hole. The key harp is Bb its a Lee Oskar. I can blow bend and I understand that bending higher keyed harps and high holes are more difficult. My question is I think I need to tweek the reed on this one to make it bend easier, I did try gapping the reed both ways and cant get it to bend. Any tips on this would be helpful, before I break the reed.
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Thievin' Heathen
717 posts
Mar 11, 2016
4:33 PM
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Tweak the draw reed. That's where you get the other half of the Hz that make up the bent note.
A good reference point is to get both blow and draw notes gapped and playing optimally and then make minor tweaks. If you have optimally performing reeds on the blow & draw, the rest should be technique.
Note: I am not an expert. Stand by, hopefully Winslow or another expert will be along shortly.
Last Edited by Thievin' Heathen on Mar 11, 2016 5:13 PM
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The Iceman
2836 posts
Mar 11, 2016
4:42 PM
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Why not try the blow bend, but playing as softly as possible.
The energy units saved by not blowing forcefully can be redistributed to your internal tongue placement awareness with a few left over to send to your ears for better listening to what you are doing.
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The Iceman
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Martin
974 posts
Mar 11, 2016
5:48 PM
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Singing it while you´re playing it is an old tip that´s rather good: Bb-A-Ab-G-Ab-A-Bb and on and on.
But it´s a bitch.
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Greg Heumann
3194 posts
Mar 11, 2016
8:18 PM
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I never found it too difficult to bend the 10 hole down a whole step. However I am just now getting the control to bend it down 1/2 step. That is considerably more difficult on the 10 blow than anywhere else on the harp, for me, for some reason - even with fairly low harps.
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Chris L
111 posts
Mar 11, 2016
10:24 PM
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Theivin' Heathen is right on. After embouchure issues are dealt with, tightening/closing up the 10 draw just a bit can make the 10 blow bend much easier. A valuable tip I learned from this site 3 years ago!
Last Edited by Chris L on Mar 11, 2016 10:25 PM
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snowman
158 posts
Mar 14, 2016
5:47 AM
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I've had that problem with a few harps--sometimes its leakin air between the reed plate and the comb--on a Bb u should be able to get both bends--yr right though, don't overwork the reed-- when u draw or blow softly ,does it take a while for the reeds to move or maybe not move at all--with small reeds like that they should engage quickly unless air is leakin 1] between reed chamber and reed plate-2] at bass of reed may be to high, 3] reed is arced to much 'air goin everywhere-4] the reed needs to be gapped better===[when lookin at reed come dome down to plate from bottom with light --?is it closing the slot evenly ,at same time and or is there to much light shining at base when reed in slot--sometime from the factory 1 reed will have a bigger gap at base than the other reeds
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mlefree
627 posts
Mar 16, 2016
12:25 PM
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Greg, I know you're a tongue blocker. Does that include your 10 hole blow bends?
I have been working on that for years but still have to revert to lip purse to get any kind of accuracy and stability even with low keys.
Tips?
Thanks,
Michelle
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