Like Adam, I'm getting into more solo performances, but incorporating harp rhythm with a bit of technology (loops and stuff). This is a new rap song about a favourite English pub. Enjoy!
Brendan Power WEBSITE: http://www.brendan-power.com YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/BrendanPowerMusic
Thought that I would never be able to say it but if this is Rap I loved it. It wasn't crap like other rap. Very very enjoyable. Great playing and incredible technology.
cool music Brendan,I like it,it has a fresh feel,but also has kinda bluesy feel to,it and sounds like a cool pub to visit.I need a beer now:-) got me thirsty.
I really like that idea of using those finger rings to create a percussion part. It seems to work perfectly with holding the mic and playing the harp, it's really clever. Maybe this is a stupid question, but are those just normal finger rings, or are they something you made (or found) specifically for that purpose? Thanks
@Brendan. I'm enjoying watching your experimentation and the direction you are going with the harp. I think it's great the way you are opening up new possibilities and new sounds. Look forward to your next endeavours.
@Ryan. I reckon they are special blues percussion finger rings. Just so happens I may have some spare should you be interested :) (Thinks. Hmmm! I could just make my fortune on this site).
Ryan: They're just home-made bits of bent metal. One is a strip of chromatic reedplate bent into a circle, the other a bit of thin steel pipe sliced so I could bend it smaller. Rough and ready: I mean to make some better ones at some stage.
JJ Red pedal is boss RC-2, blue pedal is some Boss Harmonizer (PS-3? PS-2? HR-2?).
It?seems that Brendan also use some overdrive effect at floor, while playing harmonica, as vocal sounds clean, while harmonica sounds a? bit overdriven with the same mic. I've asked Brendan at youtube, but he didn't answer yet. ----------
Sorry Boris, I didn't realise you'd asked about the other effects box already. It's a Korg Pandora PX5-D, a small unit that sits behind the two Boss pedals (the blue one is a PS-5 Super Shifter, by the way).
The Korg is small (about the size of a cigarette box) but packed with all sorts of goodies. Check it out here:
It has 99 pre-set sounds, but I don't use many of them (they're for guitar and don't sound great with harp). I like the small size, the way you can program your own patches (up to 8 effects simultaneously), and the 4 buttons for favourite sounds that you can access with just one touch. There's lots more (tuner, drum machine, one-layer looper, music recorder & slow-downer...) Amazing what they can pack in something that small! But, as with anything housing so much stuff, it takes time to get comfortable with.
Man, I LOVE that tapping style. It sounds really great, and let's you get a little bit of percussion into the first loop as you lay down the chord rhythm. With beatboxing, you CAN "harpbox" getting both beat and harp sounds at the same time, but "harpboxing" means you can't do complicated beatboxing OR complicated harp. You can (as I do) beatbox FIRST, and then lay some harp over that, but it takes time (you have to do the beatbox and then you have to let it loop though at least one whole time to start at the beginning with the the second layer). Having so much "bare" beatbox at the start sounds odd when compared with traditional ways of playing songs (ie. with a band). The tapping lets you get some chords and beats in there for the first time around, which sounds real nice, and then you can add your layers.
My English is far from perfect (((: Thanks for response! It seems you tap your small pandora by the leg? Am I right? Do you compare your pandora with Richard Hunter's favorite Digitech RP series? ----------
The Pandora is on the same tray as the other two pedals, behind the PS-5. I change patches with my finger (you can see me doing it before and after the harp instrumental parts in the intro and solo).
I prefer to operate the knobs/buttons on all the effects units by hand close-up, so I can change parameters quickly and easily. If you operate by foot you have to keep bending down to the floor.
I exchanged weak springs for the heavy ones on the Boss pedals so they operate with a light tap, and also added a one-touch cut-off button on the RC-2 (normally it needs two taps to stop the loop). I could post a photo here (how do you do that by the way?).
I haven't checked out the Digitech in detail, but Richard gets some great sounds with it. The Korg is basically the same thing but MUCH smaller. That suits me better for travelling, and I like the functionality/sounds/tracking etc.
Hi Isaac - yes, the mic-tapping is great for augementing and beefing up your initial loop with a good solid bottom end pulse. You get two instruments at once, basically.
It's also cool with solo harp; I'll post a video on that soon.
Brendan, thanks for comments! You can post pic using html tag [img src="direct image URL"], but use "<" instead of "[" ----------
Last Edited by on Jul 20, 2010 4:48 AM
