Hohner releases professional quality harmonica service videos aimed at the player

The post below is copied verbatim (with permission) from a message by renowned harmonica player Steve Baker to the Harp-L list. We agree with Steve that it’s important news for harmonica players. His message follows.

Steve Baker

Demonstrated by Gabriela Hand, head of chromatic harmonica manufacture in Trossingen and presented by myself (Steve Baker), these HD videos provide detailed information on many major aspects of harmonica maintenance and also introduce the new Hohner Instant Workshop toolset, designed to enable easy reed replacement in addition to all other maintenance operations covered in the videos. The overall concept is the brainchild of Hohner Service Department head Michael Timler and the official launch will take place at NAMM.

Though primarily dealing with the chromatic harmonica, many of the subjects covered in the videos such as tuning, centering, reed offsetting or reed replacement are applicable to all types of harmonica and will undoubtedly be equally useful for diatonic players. The tools and techniques presented here will also be invaluable for harmonica technicians and may well revolutionize harmonica repair by rendering it accessible to everyman. In an era where more and more commodities are seen as being disposable, it’s a welcome sign that things don’t always have to be throwaway!

Here are the links to the individual videos:

C01 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7Dc3ssh_bM

C02 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDjJIluEX-g

C02.1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ju0FOZcCU4

C03 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c9MUfhZWJM

C04 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMlGCMwU8Ko

C05 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12cdfpp2Sg0

C06 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9-31j2nPgE

C07 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfC9OPmhyuU

C08 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fVReyQfwA8

C08.1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMj9e853zIM

RP Tip #11: It’s a very good delay and reverb box

Most people who own the Digitech RP250/255/350/355 don’t think of it as a delay and/or reverb device, but the fact is that both the delays and the reverbs in these RPs are really very good, better sounding than many dedicated devices and most amp modelers in their price range, and more versatile than practically any.

All the RPs include delay models that sound good with blues harp, such as the analog and tape delay models, and more modern delay sounds like pingpong, modulated delay, and digital delay. The 350/355 include delays modeled on specific devices like the Boss DM-2, the Echoplex (both of which are also widely used by harp players), and the Maestro Echoplex. All the delays sound very good in their own ways, and it’s enough variety to cover a wide range of styles and material.

The main feature of a pro dedicated delay that the RPs lack is tap tempo. (The RP500 and RP1000 offer tap tempo.) However, the footpedal can be assigned to control any parameter of any effect, such as delay time (which is what tap tempo controls, useful for longer tempo-synced delays) or delay level (which is very useful for shorter slapback delays) or number of repeats. Putting the delay time under footpedal control solves the same problem as a tap tempo switch, which is how to sync the delay to the beat, in a different way. Using the footpedal in this way introduces certain artifacts into the sound (like weird, cool out-of-tune modulations) with some delay models; this is actually an example of the accuracy of the modeling, because that’s what the original devices that the models are based on do when you twist their knobs while playing.

The RPs are certainly competitive in terms of value for money as a dedicated delay box, given that an RP255 can be bought new for $125-150 (an RP355 for $175-200), and it’ll sound better in a wider range of styles than most dedicated delay pedals. And they’ve got a range of good reverbs too, and you can use reverb and the delay at the same time. You essentially get both for the price of one. The alternative–adding a separate reverb pedal to a dedicated delay pedal–would cost you from half again to twice what an RP costs.

So the RPs are worth a try when you’re auditioning delay and/or reverb pedals. And if you decide to get an RP, consider adding our patch set, which includes a lot of delay- and reverb-only setups that work great in front of your amp.

What’s the best embouchure for harmonica?

A novice harmonica player posted this message to the Harp-l list:
As a beginner, I pucker for everything, and find tongue blocking to be very difficult. Is it true that the great Chicago blues tone can only come from tongue blocking? I think I read that Little Walter and others tongue blocked most of the time. Is anyone getting “that” tone while puckering?

By the way, “tongue blocking” refers to a technique for getting a single note in which the mouth covers 3-4 holes, and the tongue covers (or “blocks”) all but one. “Puckering” means narrowing your lips to get a single note. So it’s all about how you get a single note.

Butterfield was a pucker player, and Charlie Musselwhite is a self-identified pucker player too. I think both these guys sound great. That’s not a direct answer to the question, but it’s a big hint as to what the real question is.

As a beginner, I think you’re better off working on getting a big sound with whatever embouchure comes most easily to you. If you stick with the harp, sooner or later you’ll learn additional embouchures. In the meantime, making notes sound loud and clear is more important than playing a particular embouchure.

Getting a big sound is more about breathing from the gut and relaxing your throat than it is about your embouchure. See the breathing exercises at this site for more info.

A Few Words About Special Tunings

The majority of harmonica players play diatonic harmonicas almost exclusively, and most of those players have never played a harmonica that is not standard-tuned, i.e. tuned to a Richter scale in a major key where the lowest exhale note on the instrument is the root or tonic note of the scale (for example, ‘C’ on a C harmonica). These players are missing out on some big, easy fun, the kind that can be had for the price of a harmonica (from Lee Oskar, for example) tuned to a non-standard scale (such as the Lee Oskar Melody Maker, Natural Minor, or Harmonic Minor tunings, or the Hohner Country tuning).

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Here's How to Fatten a Fender Deluxe for Harp

Members of the Harp-L List regularly ask how they can achieve a “Chicago” style sound when using the PA system as the main amplifier for harmonica. This page offers a few solutions that have been tested and proved to work.

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Brendan Power: How to Play Irish Music on the Chromatic Harp

Brendan Power, as visitors to this site know, is a remarkable stylist on both diatonic and chromatic harmonicas, many of which he modifies and retunes to meet the requirements of his traditional and modern repertoire. Power plays a wide range of material — Irish jigs, the music from Riverdance (which show he toured with), blues, and amped harp that goes all the way to metal — with style and assurance. Brendan here tells us how chromatic harps are set up to play Irish and Celtic music. You can bet that he knows how.

This discussion originally appeared in a slightly different form in a message posted to the Harp-L List in May 2001.

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Alternate Tunings? Try Pat Missin's Altered States

Pat Missin is a UK-based harmonica technician and player whose modified and retuned instruments are used by some of the best players in the business. Pat’s incredible research into alternate tunings for diatonic harmonica is documented in his freeware publication Altered States, which to our knowledge is the most complete catalog of alternate tunings available anywhere.

We are certain that our readers will find this document to be thought-provoking at least! Using one or more of these tunings on your next gig may change your life. (Hey, it could happen.)

Note: readers who are undecided about alternate tunings may wish to check out the samples available at this site of Richard Hunter’s The Act of Being Free in One Act and The Second Act of Free Being, both of which make extensive use of off-the-shelf alternate tunings from Lee Oskar, including Natural Minor, Dorian Minor, Melody Maker, and Country (sharp draw 5 reed) tuning. Take it from me, the stuff works, it’s easy, and it lets you do things that can’t be done any other way.

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Got a Jones for Gear? Read This

It occurred to us recently that lots of players we know seem to constantly buy new gear, and some of those players don’t think much about how to get more out of the gear they’ve got. With that in mind, we’ve put together a few thoughts for our visitors on our philosophy for getting the most out of your gear.

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Tom Ball on Acoustic Little Walter

Tom Ball, besides being one of the top acoustic harmonica players working today (as visitors to our Pro Pages know well), is also a harp scholar, and a great student of the masters. Tom recently posted this message about Little Walter’s acoustic harp work to the Harp-L list. It’s re-posted here with Tom’s permission. Anybody who thinks Little Walter never played harp without an amp is advised to read this piece at least twice, then go out and get the records Tom names below.

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Tom Ball’s Advice on Getting a Clean Harmonica Sound

Tom Ball is one of the top acoustic harmonica players working today, as visitors to our Pro Pages know well. Tom posted this message to the Harp-L list recently; it’s re-posted here with Tom’s permission. (Don’t ask what we had to do to get it . . .) If you want a clean sound off a PA, here’s yer Bible.

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