Video of the Week, 21 January 2011: JJ Milteau with Soul Conversation
The great French harp player JJ Milteau with Soul Conversation, in a live concert performance of “Rock ‘n Roll Will Never Die” from 2009. The rhythm section in this band drives very hard, and Milteau responds with some electrifying rhythm work on acoustic harp. Love…
Video of the week 15 January 2011: Marcos Coll plays hiphop with my patch set
Here’s Spanish harmonica player Marcos Coll with his latest hiphop project. Plenty of harp in this performance, all played through a Digitech RP250 running my patch set. The sound of the harp is cool and ambient, fits great with the music.
Comin Home Baby with Richard Hunter and Annie Raines
RP Tip #6: Don’t step on the RP (unless you really mean it)
About a week ago, I played a gig that involved six bands, of which I played with two. I used my Fireball mic and an RP355, and I ran the output from the 355 straight to the PA. It worked great–after a song or two…
Video of the Week 23 Dec. 2010: Chris Michalek, RIP
Chris Michalek, a dedicated harmonica artist, died last week unexpectedly and too young. (Which is the case for most of us, I guess.) This video shows Chris playing with a solid band, without his usual battery of effects, all the better to hear his beautiful…
Vote for Alexander Paclin in the Youtube Symphony Contest!
I got a message from the young Russian harmonica player Alexander Paclin today, to wit: Hey Richard! Would you do me a favor? Vote for me right here please! http://www.facebook.com/l/9450fFzru_zNRyYpwTaig6Zftrg;goo.gl/5ErVH It’s Youtube Symphony Contest, in which I’m participating! Thank you in advance! I checked out…
A New Contender for Low-Watt Tube Amp King: VHT Special 6
Every harp player who plays lots of blues will sooner or later own a small tube amp–a 5 or 6 watter with an 8″ or 10″ speaker, typically with a 12AX7 preamp tube and an EL84 or 6V6 amp tube. I own a Crate VC508…
The ringtones are going up
I’ve started making ringtones out of some of my recent pieces, including my 30-second blues explosion “The Ripper”, as well as some less aggressive (still harp-saturated) pieces. You can hear them all (and buy one for yourself or someone else, if you like) right here…
About playing fast
There are plenty of players who can play fast on the harmonica, and in the forty-plus years I’ve been playing the general ability of harp players to execute fast lines has gone way up. Players like Sugar Blue, John Popper, and Howard Levy showed pretty…
Video of the Week 1 Dec 2010, version 2: Boris Plotnikov and Howard Levy
Two extremely original and compelling harmonica players throwing down. Love it. This is Boris’s second Video of the Week for us. Here’s the first. It’s Howard’s second too. Here’s his first.
