the_happy_honker
11 posts
Aug 27, 2010
2:37 PM
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The low harps get all the love around here and I never understood why until I hit the road for a few weeks this summer with only my Harpmaster in F in the glove compartment.
I figured that way we could become real good friends. However, after a few days on the road practicing, my nerves were shot and I was ready to throw it out the window.
OK, a Harpmaster was probably not the best choice. My question is, What high harps avoid the shrillness problem, preferably without sacrificing volume? Thanks!
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tookatooka
1687 posts
Aug 27, 2010
3:19 PM
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I found a D Sp20 good.
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jim
347 posts
Aug 27, 2010
3:24 PM
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high keys is a love or hate thing. You either dig them and learn to play them well, or avoid those.
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www.truechromatic.com
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Andrew
1151 posts
Aug 27, 2010
3:34 PM
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Somewhere I've got a track where Rice Miller plays a standard F harp.
High harps require a closer embouchure and the bends are harder to control. I don't dislike mine, but I have relegated them to a box in a cupboard. I plan to work on them one day when I can play my low harps perfectly.
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Andrew,
gentleman of leisure,
noodler extraordinaire.
Last Edited by on Aug 27, 2010 3:36 PM
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jonlaing
72 posts
Aug 27, 2010
5:44 PM
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I didn't have a stigma against them til I started playing live with them. I got so into the music that I would play them too hard and they'd lock up... very annoying. For anything higher than the key of A for the song, I'll just play 3rd position on a lower harp.
One day I'll figure them out, but it ain't today.
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hvyj
556 posts
Aug 27, 2010
5:46 PM
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I like high harps. You play them with a sharper attack and you have to be careful keep a large, open and relaxed resonance chamber. If you use a tight embouchure or shallow resonance chamber they tend to sound overly shrill.
Higher key harps require a little different technique than low key harps. It's a matter of how you apply breath pressure, and, of course, maintaining a large, open and relaxed resonance chamber to get the optimum depth of tone. But I do not agree that they require a "closer" embouchure. I use the same deep embouchure for all 12 standard keys and high G. I don't play any low tuned harps because they don't have enough "cut" IMHO. But I definitely employ different breath technique on high keys than on low keys. FWIW.
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Aussiesucker
661 posts
Aug 27, 2010
5:48 PM
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I have a love hate relationship with my high harps. Being fond of Irish & American fiddle tunes a D harp is oft used with very fast passages involving holes 8 to 10.
For years I was unable to stand the shrill or even accomplish clean sounding high notes ie sometimes I found they completely stalled on me. I got a Seydel 1847 custom in D & found it vastly improved my playing even to the extent that I can now pick up any D harp & make it work.
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Gray
116 posts
Aug 27, 2010
5:55 PM
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F# a fave of mine.Adam plays some sweeeeeet licks with a Eb on his tube with Jimi Lee.
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hvyj
557 posts
Aug 27, 2010
5:55 PM
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@jonlaing: Yes, you do need to use a sharper attack playing higher key harps, BUT you still must produce an even airflow from the diaphragm and keep an open airway, relaxed jaw and deep embouchure. One must avoid creating the air pressure with the mouth or lips--it all comes from the diaphragm. If you are doing this and they still "lock up" they are gapped too tight.
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Blown Out Reed
205 posts
Aug 27, 2010
6:02 PM
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I Dig Playing a Fb Harp in 2nd Position
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"The denial of racism is a form of racism itself." Tim Wise
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ZackPomerleau
1041 posts
Aug 27, 2010
11:21 PM
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I have never heard someone say Fb before.
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the_happy_honker
12 posts
Aug 27, 2010
11:35 PM
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It's like the "blue third:" somewhere between E# and F. Tunings for it are very rare.
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bonedog569
71 posts
Aug 28, 2010
2:06 PM
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Try a Suzuki bluesmaster , hammond or an SP20 for D on up. 3/4's of my band's songs are in A - and I'm playing cross with a D. Other than getting bored of playing in the same key, I don't mind the harp tone / sound - once I get it dialed in.
My stock harp has been a Suzuki blues master with plastic comb. The bluesmaster, sp20, hammond style plastic comb full cover harps are darker sounding and roll off some of the bite. The manji plays more like an MB and still has that bite.
I just ordered two F harps. One low, one standard. Got the high (standard) in a hammond, the low in a manji.
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swampboy
16 posts
Aug 28, 2010
2:13 PM
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Just to be a pedant, Fb is actually legit in certain circumstances...eg the Ab minor scale:-
Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, Gb
You can't call the third a B or the sixth an E because those names are already being used ;)
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harmonicanick
863 posts
Aug 28, 2010
2:45 PM
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I love high harps especially F
Use them a lot, have low F, low low F,
and use them together in solos
F has attack
low F has rythym
super low F has novelty!! (It must be amplified)
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nacoran
2637 posts
Aug 28, 2010
10:53 PM
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I actually was playing an A harp today. I'd just been playing my LLF, which is my only harp that I can get useful blow bends on, and I was wishing my A harp would blow bend (or rather that I could blow bend it. I'm pretty sure it's me not the harp). Then I was wishing I had a high A so I could just bend the notes I wanted. I suppose I should just take apart the harp and see if I can't tinker and figure out a blow bend.
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Andrew
1153 posts
Aug 29, 2010
2:00 AM
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Swampboy is right, although that would be a G natural in the harmonic minor scale.
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Andrew,
gentleman of leisure,
noodler extraordinaire.
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