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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Dynamics
Dynamics
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colman
30 posts
Feb 25, 2011
6:36 AM
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the song EASY, done in 1954,W.Horton,has more to teach than most people and books.variation on a theme and every 12 bars it gets more intense.dynamics thats the thing that takes this EASY riff into outer space.no mic. or amp will ever get the resonance or grind out of the harp walter H. is getting here.it`s the man not the machine,i wonder why
most talk on any blues harp blog is harps and amps etc.when the real stuff is in EASY and how to know the dynamics and sing it on a harp....do it to it.
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barbequebob
1572 posts
Feb 25, 2011
7:36 AM
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A big reason why too many people talk about gear too much is partly to mask lack of playing skills and in order to have good dynamics in your playing, outside of taking TOTAL command of what the band is doing (something that learning how to be a vocalist fronting a band will teach you in a hurry), is something 75% of harp players tend to ignore and/or never consider, and something I get on people's cases a lot, and that's BREATH CONTROL, because without good breath control, you have lousy tone, no tone control at all, and no dynamics at all.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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barbequebob
1573 posts
Feb 25, 2011
7:38 AM
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A big reason why too many people talk about gear too much is partly to mask lack of playing skills and in order to have good dynamics in your playing, outside of taking TOTAL command of what the band is doing (something that learning how to be a vocalist fronting a band will teach you in a hurry), is something 75% of harp players tend to ignore and/or never consider, and something I get on people's cases a lot, and that's BREATH CONTROL, because without good breath control, you have lousy tone, no tone control at all, and no dynamics at all.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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toddlgreene
2657 posts
Feb 25, 2011
7:52 AM
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Yup. Gear CAN make you sound better, BUT what you put into it from pure technique makes the biggest difference. If you aren't getting enough harp in your piehole and have thin tone, it's gonna sound like thin tone thru all this great gear. Last night I went to a popular jam and followed a player who just won't listen to any advice he is given, and damn near runs everyone out with his shrill tone, and to make matters worse he camps out onstage and won't leave on his own, waiting to be told to do so. He stepped down to get a drink and go back up. I met him at the bar and tactfully offered him some advice and to help him, and got waved off. When the jam leader saw me, he called me up. I plugged my EV631b right into the PA, and we rolled. Sounded great. On one tune, I even switched over to a vocal mic and played 'acoustic' and sang. He kept me up til the jam was over(and, I think, to keep this other guy from coming back up again). When the jam ended, the guy wanted to talk. 'How do you sound like that? Is it the mic?'etc. etc. I said no. I made him pull out a harp, and I did the same. I said, 'Play it with your right hand out of the way so i can see something'. I let him play a riff, and I copied him. When he realized he barely had his harp near his lips and mine was well into my mouth, his questions started flowing. I was on my best behavior and forgave the fact he waved me off. I hope he learned something.
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Todd
my moderator username is Admin007
Eudora and Deep Soul
Last Edited by on Feb 25, 2011 8:42 AM
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hvyj
1259 posts
Feb 25, 2011
8:13 AM
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Interesting that the subject of gear should come up in a discussion of dynamics. Certain equipment tends to mask tone and impair articulation which, of course, inhibits the ability to play with good dynamics.
Last night I was at a blues jam and a guy was there using a bullet mic through a delay and some sort of Lone Wolf distortion box into a Sonny Junior 410. Very nice guy, but not a good player, and everything he played sounded the same. No dynamics, no articulation and no variation in tone whatsoever. Also overplayed consistently.
I had played through this guy's rig a couple of weeks earlier at the same jam and i couldn't get any articulation, variations in tone or dynamics out of it either given the way he had everything set up. But, you know, he was on stage or an extended period of time last night and as i listened closely to his very rudimentary and relatively unmusical playing, i was forced to come to the conclusion that all the distortion and masking actually improved his sound.
Personally, I prefer equipment that RESPONDS to what I am doing, instead of masking what i am doing. But, depending on what the player is capable of doing, I am forced to conclude that masking may not always be a bad thing.
Last Edited by on Feb 25, 2011 8:22 AM
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