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Post by jbone on Jul 6, 2019 5:58:09 GMT -5
A harp playing friend in Oregon sent me a couple of items he's been working on which among others will enrich a player's sound and also ability to tweak a harp to a new level of playability.
dBomb Harp MuteDave is a member of another forum and we've gotten to know each other over the past year or two. Not "only" a harp man, he is very handy with tools. Some years ago he bought a fixer upper house far out in the sticks and rehabbed it with NO power tools, all hand tools. He's an active 60-something who is always road tripping, hiking, biking, and fishing around his home state. Still, he's managed to conceive and have 3D printed some very cool things for use with harmonica. One is a tool to hold a harp comb or reed plate to allow for better control when flat sanding combs and reed plates, the Harp Plane. Flat sanding eliminates leaks and makes the air you put through a harp go to making music. The practice is to smooth out the mating parts to put the air through the reeds as intended. Mass production, while making a decent product, leaves some to be desired due to the needed throughput times and tooling limitations. For that reason a movement has built up by some individuals to customize harmonics to get them playing the best they can. While Dave does some work to optimize his own harps he is not a full blown customizer. Instead he wanted to make some products that enhanced an individual's ability to get better performance out of an existing harp, and the other line of products which enhance actual playing. Thus he began developing hand held mutes, similar in effect to what a trumpet mute does with a horn. He has several different versions, which allow deeper hand effects on the sound one can make with a harp, with ease. He even has one model that absorbs a degree of sound that's intended for quiet practice! Yesterday I received a package in the mail with a Harp Plane and a dBomb mute. In coming days and weeks I will be trying out both items and adding to this review.
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Post by whitefang on Jul 7, 2019 5:59:13 GMT -5
As one who's learned long ago to call a qualified repairman first to avoid having to pay TWICE as much to repair what I attempted to fix, I admire anyone who has that kind of talent. Whitefang
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Post by jbone on Jul 7, 2019 6:25:05 GMT -5
Some years ago I was sealing my own wood comb harps and replacing nails with screws. It took some time, effort, and particular tools. I did not do any reed work past maybe opening a reed gap here or there. Result was a harp that was sealed nicely but with short play life partly due to my hard playing. I let all that go ultimately. And changed my "attack" on harps as well. More recently I've had cause to reconsider and at least look into doing better seals once again but by a simpler method. Economics is a big word for me. If I can save $$ and keep my instruments working longer, that's a total good thing. Generally to get a harp repaired, it costs shipping and minimum $15 a reed to replace bad reeds. A few bucks in sandpaper is much more economical. Of course space and tools are an issue. But I don't need to spend any big sums to get set for this kind of operation since I have a lot of what I need already. My Suzuki Manji's I am hoping to revitalize with a flat sand job on combs and reed plates. They are my acoustic/busking harps and they take some hard use. Their composite combs should take a flattening job well. I have a couple of old school Marine bands that were flea market buys I want to experiment with as well, and possibly on a need to work basis I may do some sanding on my Marine Band Deluxes.
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Post by whitefang on Jul 8, 2019 5:43:23 GMT -5
Every time I read "combs" , I think only of putting a small piece of WAX PAPER over an actual comb for a homemade KAZOO! Remember ever doing that? (actually, many a "boomer's" first musical instrument. ). Apparently, most YT clips show just about ANY kind of paper will do. But when I was a kid, WAX paper seemed to work best(at least WE thought so)! Whitefang
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Post by jbone on Jul 8, 2019 5:56:52 GMT -5
I do remember that. In face I've had several over the years. My latest is shaped like a trumpet. Used on a couple of ragtime songs. A harmonica comb is so named for obvious reasons. I took a close look at what Doc sent me yesterday and both the mutes and the Harp Plane are high quality 3D printed items. More research is needed.
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Post by whitefang on Jul 9, 2019 5:57:51 GMT -5
DOC? Another one, eh? The only "Doc" I knew 'round here was Jim Pate, who sadly passed last month. But, he had no exclusive claim to the moniker (no pun intent) so........ Due to my long time poor record with repair attempts( with damn near anything! ) I have reluctance to take apart my harps for any decent cleaning. There must be dry spittle in them that's at LEAST near 50 years old! Back in the '70's, I wrote a little poem about "The Marching Band Of Maple Street"( just about all I remember of it) which goes on about all the kids marching down the street playing toy drums, little plastic "trumpets", plastic toy harmonicas, toy drums, plastic slide whistles, and, "..... Joey Shultz is proudly playing the Ace comb kazoo!" Your post however, makes me wonder just HOW you got the COMB and paper into the shape of a TRUMPET! ?? Or were you referring to a "store bought" kazoo made to look like one? And what were those toy music makers( Steve Allen's picture was usually on the package they came in) that one blew into and that had a short "keyboard" with maybe a dozen or so piano type "keys" a kid would finger in an attempt to create music? I notice now there are PRO looking devices that are played that way! Whitefang
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Post by jbone on Jul 9, 2019 13:32:28 GMT -5
I bought every kazoo I ever used seriously. This one I've had for some years, bought from a kazoo maker in Eden New York, not far from Buffalo. They had all sorts of shapes. I hope they are doing good these several years later. I paid like $20 for the thing with shipping. All I see these days are plastic toy looking things.
The other instrument you referred to is a melodica. Hohner makes a few models and I think others do as well. I've never owned one. Stevie Wonder used one in the 70's on "Isn't She Lovely", a song dedicated to his new daughter. I did not know that at the time and near killed myself trying to do the part with a harmonica. Nobody in my circles has ever expressed interest in covering that one. Not that I would presume to get even close to what Mr. Wonder could do. Leonard Cohen had a guy working with him who played amazing and beautiful chromatic harmonica and also had a wind instrument/keyboard hybrid made for him that was one of a kind, and man he could play the thing. Sort of a horn with keys.
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Post by whitefang on Jul 12, 2019 5:37:27 GMT -5
Interesting info about the Melodica. Thanks. The only one( up till now) I was familiar with was the old toy I saw when I was a kid in a KRESGE store made of red plastic with a picture of STEVE ALLEN on the package playing one. I too thought Stevie was blowing a harmonica on that tune. I mean, it WAS Stevie after all! But on the LP credits for the song it only claims... "Isn't She Lovely" (Wonder) – 6:34 Stevie Wonder – lead vocals, Fender Rhodes, RMI Electra Piano, percussions, harmonica, drums, bass synthesizer Greg Phillinganes – keyboards No mention of a Melodica. I've always liked that tune because it( and the LP it's on) came out near a year to the day after my 2nd daughter was born and I fully understood the emotion behind it. Whitefang
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Post by jbone on Jul 13, 2019 21:14:01 GMT -5
I saw him play it on a concert show in the mid 70's with melodica. Who knows, they guy is a master of harmonica and could well have used a harp at some point.
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Post by whitefang on Jul 14, 2019 5:39:37 GMT -5
Well I never said he didn't use one on the recording. Only that it wasn't mentioned in the album credits. But yeah, on the recording it does sound like a harp. And further thinking... We should take the time to keep the reference to a HARMONICA, lest someone looking in these threads out of curiosity gets confused and thinks we mean THIS ........ Whitefang
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Post by jbone on Jul 14, 2019 6:08:55 GMT -5
That's common. The origin of harmonica called "harp" may be from deep South players in the early 20th. It was called French harp and later Blues Harp, shortened to harp along the way.
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Post by whitefang on Jul 16, 2019 5:48:14 GMT -5
Since I've also heard the harmonica referred to as "mouth harp", I thought it came from that. Never heard the term "blues harp" until Hohner came out with their model named that. And then too, gotta make sure folks don't confuse "mouth harp" with THIS--- Also known as the "Jew's harp", a Jewish friend of mine says he doesn't recall ANY music from his culture that employs one of those. And for some strange reason we had one of those around the house when I was growing up. Never could work that thing without near breaking my front teeth! Whitefang
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Post by jbone on Jul 16, 2019 6:12:13 GMT -5
There's a trick to it. I had a set that went from one inch to about 6 inches. But the band of possibility is pretty narrow. Holding it against the teeth and not biting on it seems to be the order of the day.
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Post by jbone on Jul 17, 2019 5:46:19 GMT -5
So this Saturday, weather permitting, we'll play the farmers market up the road in town. I'm going to try out the mutes Dave sent me. Probably 2 sets or so. It's been a while since our last market gig so this should be fun!
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Post by whitefang on Jul 17, 2019 6:13:52 GMT -5
FARMER'S MARKET?? Heh---- The farmer's markets 'round here only have music that's piped in from Satellite radio. What kind of music depends on the market's owner I suppose. Makes me wonder..... Are you referring to a typical farmer's market? And do the customers have to pay a "cover" at the door to get in and buy produce 'cause there's live music provided? Or is "Farmer's Market" just the name of the place? Like the "Whiskey A-Go-Go"? which offered more than whiskey.... Whitefang
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