Paclin is the guy most of us know about but no one talks about. He's a genius. His lesson on 12'th position is great. He plays an exercise from Levy's "Acoustic Express" and completely nails it. His vibratto is just like Buddha's, I wonder if there is an influence there.
Is he a member of MBH?
---------- I could be bound by a nutshell and still count myself a king of infinite space
Yup, it's the russians (and poles). They have a great tradition in schooling (maths, music, etc). With this very thorough approach they surpass all of us... with 19... damn!
Gil Scott Heron was wrong: The revolution WILL be televised! Here's the evidence. I had not heard of Paclin but I'm delighted to know about him. I've only had a chance to watch the first 2/3 of the first video, but it was clear to me, even before he mentioned Jason's name, that Jason's stylistic approach--including those up-bended 6 ob's--has powerfully influenced him.
Lip pursing and overblows. My my my.
Or am I wrong? Is Paclin achieving all those overblows with TB technique? Somehow I doubt it. But I've learned never to say never, with this crowd. Harp players are ingenious.
I can't tell the difference between Buddha's, Howard's, and Carlos's vibrato. If I'm not wrong, all three players achieve their vibrato more or less the same way, by subtly raising and lowering the lower jaw. If I'm wrong about that, please correct me and clarify the technical differences.
Last Edited by on May 06, 2010 6:09 AM
i can see the fast runs being attributed to Jason, but it seems with the vocals and the tune, they are shooting for the Del Junco version of this song.
OW: I hear ya. Very impressive. If I could go back in time and I could drag back with me, Adam, Jason, Chris, etc... oh and the internet....I'd need Al Gore for that, oh well.... :-)
It's cool when a young gun can inspire me. I have no ego left. Been married 27 yrs. Lost my ego around the 20 yr mark.
edit: the way things can be misinterpreted on this forum I felt the need for this disclaimer
In no way am I implying us older folks have ego's relative to the younger players that kick our asses on harmonica. I do believe there are other things in life we can teach the little shits a thing or two about. I have been married 27+ yrs :-)
I am in the middle of year six...I am a late addition to the harp world...didn't buy my first one until 22 and didn't decide to learn to play it until almost 23. ----------
Like Adam said...He's got the Jason stance, head movements, prance, everything...he must of practiced those mannerisms in the mirror...no way all those items could be so much like Jason's! Got a good chuckle out of it...
Edit: Now I watched the first two video's and I'm sick like the rest of you. He's better than any of us.
And I've never seen a demo of embossing around the part of the reed plates he shows on any of the YouTube embossing vids.
For the "older" guys remember you aren't comparing apples to apples. He is copying his fav players who play a contemporary style that didn't exist a generation ago. He also has access to harp educational info that is 100's of times more evolved and equally as easy to access than even I had just a few years earlier.
Not implying he has taken shortcuts but he has had the resources to focus his studies and avoid a lot of pitfalls that older generations of players had to learn by trial and error.
I applaud him for taking a niche and learning to master it...obviously he has his stuff together and has stayed on course w learning modern overbend harp.
This is no different than studying trad blues or non-ob stuff. Obviously he kicks a lot of ass and has worked hard. That isn't beyond anyone here. Granted there is an x factor here as well, but it goes to show that learning that stuff is doable.
I think age - young or old - is overrated. It is about focus and time. This guy is great, no doubt, but like most young guns, should be credited for his effort and not assumed to be gifted. Tiger and MJ weren't born great...they learned to be great. ----------
"Like Adam said...He's got the Jason stance, head movements, prance, everything...he must of practiced those mannerisms in the mirror...no way all those items could be so much like Jason's! Got a good chuckle out of it.."
He's channeling.
I used to be the same way with Howard. Everybody pointed it out. I never stood in the mirror to work it out, in fact, I didn't meet him in person until I stopped trying to play/sound like him.
However, think about this, your body is an integral part in how you make music. They way your body moves help you produce notes in a certain way.
---------- "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." - Joseph Campbell
Whippersnappers--rpoe & buz--I clocked 40 years last March 18th of blissful marriage--all to the same ornery, mean--UH OH! Here she comes--to the love of my life who managed to plow my pitiful little ego into the dirt before we even got married.
That's a little overstated, I guess--she's actually the best part of me--and after 40 years, she really is part of me. . .
Last Edited by on May 06, 2010 7:28 PM
Sometimes it is a comfort thing too. When I first started gigging w harp I didn't know what to do w it while singing. Popper was the only harp player I had seen play so I just did what he did. I was used to singing empty handed. While I had heard tons of harp I didn't know the on stage legistics.
Now I see a Ben Harper thing going on. Don't know how I picked that up as I listen to a lot but have only recently seen him on film. Maybe it is just trying to capture that vibe?
After spending time watching Buddha play I started doing his little head bob when finishing phrases. It looks funky but it just started happening. I never noticed it until seeing it on film and it wasn't concious. It looks arrogant and angry. J/k
After watching Jason live the first time I made sure I wasn't doing the hip thrusts, though. Lol.
But if it is too similar to someone else, I get weary of someone imitading. ----------
Sometimes it is a comfort thing too. When I first started gigging w harp I didn't know what to do w it while singing. Popper was the only harp player I had seen play so I just did what he did. I was used to singing empty handed. While I had heard tons of harp I didn't know the on stage legistics.
Now I see a Ben Harper thing going on. Don't know how I picked that up as I listen to a lot but have only recently seen him on film. Maybe it is just trying to capture that vibe?
After spending time watching Buddha play I started doing his little head bob when finishing phrases. It looks funky but it just started happening. I never noticed it until seeing it on film and it wasn't concious. It looks arrogant and angry. J/k
After watching Jason live the first time I made sure I wasn't doing the hip thrusts, though. Lol.
But if it is too similar to someone else, I get weary of someone imitading. ----------
I caught Alex by chance a few weeks ago on youtube. Came up under recommendations via 12th pos since I watched the Howard 12th vids. I gotta say with no music training and only playing 2 years he has a great ear for getting at that sound/feeling. Actually it was his video on twelfth that's got me noodling around in twelfth the past few weeks (you know, when I'm not practicing all the other prescribed stuff ;-) ).
---------- ~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Stephen Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
I'm late to the party but just watched his 1st lesson and the performance vid. What a great kid. He's obviously talented and very smart. His english is pretty damn good too. My hat is off to him - Alex, I hope you show up here - you have a bright future - whether harmonica is part of it or not. I hope for our sake it is! ---------- /Greg
I just checked out Alex's YouTube channel. I guess one give-away that he's a 19 year old is that about 80% of the vids in his Favorites list are music related and the other 20% are some how boob related. I guess that's about right for that age!
Another note is that he has a twin brother that plays guitar pretty well.
This kid is probably the best harmonica player I've heard in a long time. The stuff he's doing is not only difficult from an overbend standpoint, but it's musical and tasteful in my opinion. And the refreshing thing is that he seems humble and willing to share info. He told me he's currently in NC so hopefully I'll get to meet and jam with him.
This young man is awesome. Just been checking out a few of his Youtubes and have been blown away by his playing. How is it that a youngster only 18 & been playing only 2 years with no prior knowledge can be that good? I think somehow that 'natural talent' has overtaken 'experience' as being the key to being a great player.
Who is his teacher?
Last Edited by on May 26, 2010 10:34 PM
I saw that Alex actually did post a brief reply above. It would be nice, Alex, if you could fill us in a little more...possibly answer the question from Aussisucker on who was your teacher? I don't know that you could have learned ALL this, including how to customize you harps, so well exclusively from watching YouTube and internet videos?
Well, actually the only teacher is myself. I've been studying by watching youtube videos, websites about harmonica, some books and the other stuff. yep. Well, I'm playing guitar also, trying to compose own songs (not good in this for now), sing. So, that's it=)
