How to Sweeten Your Harmonica Sound
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 พ.ย. 2023
- Hidden in plain sight are things you can do with your harmonicas to dramatically improve your sound. In this episode, I will show you how to make those changes with little effort.
- แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
I’m glad you enjoyed it! You’ll really dig Part 2 of the Elusive Obvious. Stay tuned 😉
The player, THE PLAYER
That was amazing !
Thanks so much🎶
Good stuff! Thanks!!
Excellent info thank you
You are very welcome. Thanx for watching. Keeping watching this space for new episodes
Great video
Thank you Crush. Enjoy my next videos, starting with th-cam.com/video/jiSmpZV6EsY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=-8kVYCDHQlmRpUI9
Such exceptional info
as long as people like yourself find my content useful, I will continue to produce more episodes of HARPSMITH Benchcraft
@@HARPSMITH900 true Master , you are : passion driven.
Fascinating info!!!!! I'm guessing it's been said before but this guy is the George Gruhn of harmonicas!
I understand George Gruhn's work is phenomenal, so thank you for the reference.
Hi Kinya, Sunny here. This is some really cool stuff. I dont like the sidevents a lot, I ve been stuffing soft silicone inside the coverplates to get the vents to close. But, this painters blue tape looks much less tedious and reversible.
I ll also try to get the tape to close off the high end to see what that sounds like. A sound test on a bullet with these three coverplates would have been really awesome.
I just blocked with tape a Johnson Harmonica ( half the back opening on the lower register) and I was amazed how easier it was to play (less air loss) .The sound just so improved.I have a set of 12 and I will now hold on to them.
Of course I now use Hohner these days
Congratulations! Fun--right?
Thank you so much for generously sharing your knowledge here.
Thanks
That's awesome!!
Thanx for watching Charlie. Feel free to check out these episodes that you may find informative:
th-cam.com/video/jiSmpZV6EsY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=da60Hc-izjlusH2v
th-cam.com/video/d-oyKgqUAKY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=mwgnAqaRHXiJrRMV
th-cam.com/video/eI3aS_5HD34/w-d-xo.htmlsi=tTJluER-3vtGvCDI
@@charlieburns1385
I blocked the lower register because that's where generally most of the tunes I play are within this area.Seems to work better ,as the Johnson Harmonicas just leaks like a sieve !
here we go and thanks
Thank you William. Please enjoy Part 2 th-cam.com/video/jiSmpZV6EsY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=cSRv_wbJs5swJwTb
Hello Charles, the HOHNER Marine Band 1896 side vents measure 0.3735" Long x 0.1255" Top of Arc | the HOHNER Crossover side vents measure 0.349" Long x 0.1175 Top of Arc | the HOHNER Rocket side vents measure 0.6055" Long x 0.1215" Top of Arc
The original" Old Standby" -one of my favorites-is a Marine band inside too
Ha! You are lucky to still have yours. Thanx for watching!
I love the pre-MS Blues Harp covers. I've got a couple other harps with the same cover shape... the Lancer and the Fr. Hotz Atta Boy... I'm pretty sure I've got at least one other, but I don't have them all accessible. My goal is eventually to have a full set on upgraded, rounded end combs.
I don't like how Hohner labels their harp categories. We get tons of people on the forums who get confused by the charts that say, "This harmonica is good for folk, this one is good for rock". Just yesterday someone was worried they couldn't play country on a MB.
I'm not sure with the new screws, but with the MB/Sp20s you could steal a comb from a Piedmont or Blues Harp if you had a damaged comb and it would cost you less than buying a new comb from Hohner.
Lancer and Atta Boy Harmonicas---no kidding? Wow!
Generally speaking, labeling harmonicas into music types can be confusing...
Upcoming in Part 2 of the Elusive Obvious, I will take a deep dive into the tonal specifics of harmonicas and (hopefully) demystify the harmonica selection process.
HOHNER Piedmont Harmonicas (built in Asia I believe) share the same comb architecture as the HOHNER Special 20. Similarly, all the harmonicas in HOHNER's "ENTHUSIAST" category, including Blues Bender, Silver Star, Blues Band, Hot Metal and those cute Clear Colorful harmonicas for the Kiddos. Swapping HOHNER Special 20 reed plates onto an ENTHUSIAST comb will require some modifications, but it is definetly doable.
As for the HOHNER Marine Band, factory comb choices are Pearwood and Bamboo. Today's MS Blues Harp components can be swapped with MS ProHarp and Big River Harp.
Крутое видео!!! 👍☘️
Thank you John, I am glad you found it to your liking and invite you to watch the other episodes of HARPSMITH Benchcraft.
Can you tell me what size screws hold the tees plates onto the comb? I only have 5 holding my tees plates on my special 20 so I need another.
Also can you recommend sometimes I can send my harp to and have them set it up for overflows and to gap all the reeds properly?
I had a bit too much confidence in my abilities and even though it plays, I can tell some of the notes dont bend properly and don’t play as well as others.
Contact me at and I will answer all your questions
I'm new to the harmonica and I can't seem to get any sound from my East top 008k in C on the blow in 8, 9, and 10 holes unless I blow extremely hard the draw seems okay. What should I do?
Hello Ace, and welcome to the wonderful world of harmonicas. Rarely is a new out-of-the box harmonica defective. Reeds 8,9,10 are quite small and require different breath dynamics than the larger, lower octave reeds.
The architecture of the harmonica is simple with ten reeds on the BLOW reed plate and ten reeds on the DRAW reed plate, fastened onto a comb and finished with the cover plates to create the mouthpiece. In the beginning, learning to play the harmonica ; trying to figure out what combination of holes can be BLOWN and DRAWN to make music.
Breath pressure is a consideration, but mostly how you position your mouth onto the mouthpiece will set you up for many hours of enjoyment.
TRY THIS:
(1) Hold the harmonica with the lowest numbers to your left (low notes)
(2) Similar to sipping a coffee-to-go, we place the opening of the lid onto our bottom lip, with the top lip (relaxed) serving as the upper gasket against
(3) Position the harmonica so that your mouth envelopes Holes #4, #5, #6, and SUCK (Draw) twice, then breathe out (Blow) twice--REPEAT. Congratulations you just emulated a train chugging down the tracks!
(4) Repeat this pattern by moving your mouth to the left (lower octave), then move to the right (upper octave)
(5) My hunch is you were able to get a better sounding 8,9,10
(6) The thrill for all harmonica players, is to play Melodies. This will require single note techniques. There are two popular methods;
#1 Lip Blocking: tilt the back of the harmonica upward (about 45deg) and the front mouthpiece will nest into a natural funnel created by your bottom lip. Remember the coffee cup analogy? The fleshy part of your bottom left lip will block the unwanted holes on the left, and the fleshy part of the right bottom lip will block the unwanted hole to the right. The middle funnel part of your bottom lip will channel air only to one hole!
#2 Tongue Blocking: place the harmonica into your mouth and position the front of your tongue against the mouthpiece of the harmonica. Leaving a hole between your tongue and the right corner of your mouth. This will enable you to channel air for single note playing
Arguably the best harmonica teacher on planet Earth is David Barrett. His online and private instructions will accelerate your entry into harmonica playing. . Of course you can contact me privately at kinya@harpsmith.com for more information. Thank you!
Thank you so much.
tried to comment on the last video pour not allowed by your settings , i think.
feel free to email me at kinya@harpsmith.com. Thank you
@@HARPSMITH900 thank you Sir!
Can you play it and let us hear the difference.
I am going to attempt it but sure would feel better hearing the difference of the custom cover plates.
Thanks great video
Hi Joseph, thanx for checking in! I sample a view harmonica with various Cover Plates on my new video. Enjoy. th-cam.com/video/jiSmpZV6EsY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=-8kVYCDHQlmRpUI9
I have some hohner harmonicas that need to be tuned. Is it worth the time, money and effort to get them tuned? Also, who can tune them? Thanks 👍😊. Great video!
Hi Antonio, thanks for watching. Tuning is definetly doable. For a primer, I cover the fundamentals of tuning here:
th-cam.com/video/jiSmpZV6EsY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=7o2m83xCOnV9RvAw
th-cam.com/video/d-oyKgqUAKY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=ZGSdvjJCq7Y-KHEP
I will go much deeper in future episodes of TH-cam HARPSMITH Benchcraft, but if you can't wait, go to David Barrett's [bluesharmonica.com] where I have a numerous articles under FORUM and videos under EQUIPMENT/Harpsmith Bench and Harp Tech Study
It would’ve been nice if you played back to back sounds before and after taping or with different cover plates, otherwise nice, informative video
Thanx for watching Geo. Did you get an opportunity to experiment on your harmonicas yet? If so, was it acoustic and/or amplified?
19:08 index comb … ?
25:07 I understand more why the people playing with amps prefer SP20. That said … still don’t like it .
7:28 oh!!! Circlip plier!
7:03 really really don’t like closed vents (well …no vents 😂)
My 2 hole draw doesn't work..which harmonica should I get lol (jk)
Hi Yoav, are you pulling me into a conversation where I must choose the root cause of the problem, to be either the Tool, or the Mechanic? 😉
5:09 Sir: why Hohner didn’t fold the back from the start ??
My hunch was that before HOHNER switched from the softer Chrome over Tin material to now--Stainless Steel Cover, management decided the straight break fold was a sufficient solution for stiffening the back crests of the cover plates. P.s. it also prevented one less tooling procedure that is required with pressing flat the folds.
@@HARPSMITH900 i was going to point out the later point …!;)) less expensive
🎉9 /64ths or #28 drill bit 3/16th end wrench
right on!
Rocket must sound like hell!
Так жаль стало коллекционный hoosier boy, но он нам реально зачем-то хотел показать, что те же платы, что и на Марин бэнд. Мы бы и на слово поверили, жаль
Not to worry, the Hoosier cover plates were very malleable and was easily restored.
@@HARPSMITH900 ok, thanks s lot for your video, cheers from Russia 🤝
Great video, so glad I came across your channel....Hit Subscribe right away.
Hello Vinnie, thanx for stopping by! There are eight more episodes for you to binge on.
I don't know about that, the comb and reed plate
Hi William, as Master Harp Tech Rick Epping would say, "a terrific playing harmonica is a result of a lot of little details done right". As you mentioned the comb and reed plates are certainly important parts of the harmonica. Swapping cover plates is sort of like the low hanging fruit of modifications that practically anyone with a screwdriver can try.
I am in the process of filming the next episode of HARPSMITH Benchcraft. Here I will discuss and demonstrate Temperament. Tunings that give our harmonica their personality and character.