Robert Booth Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 This morning I heard an Irish sounding tune on the radio that used a harmonica to fill the free reed spot. Can anyone tell me who are some harmonica players in this style, or suggest some music titles to look for? How about information about what models of harmonica are most commonly used? Curiously, Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Crossland Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 Brendan Power is one of the leading proponents of the harmonica in this style, with several CD's on Greentrax records Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henk van Aalten Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 Brendan Power is one of the leading proponents of the harmonica in this style, with several CD's on Greentrax records <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Have a look at Brendan Power's web site and listen to tracks like: Drag Her Round the Roads, etc. The Sailor's Bonnet/The Banshee The Bird in the Bush, etc. Si Bheag, Si Mhor Great stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musical priest Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 "Mouthbox" by James Conway is great stuff on the harmonica too. You can contact James here: harp3333@hotmail.com Cheers Claus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2maur Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 Can anyone tell me who are some harmonica players in this style, or suggest some music titles to look for? Curiously, Rob <{POST_SNAPBACK}> http://www.concertina.net/forums/style_ima...ns/icon1.gifRob, Robert Malcom from "The Old Blind Dogs" band (http://www.oldblinddogs.co.uk/lineup.asp sets the standard for playing celtic tunes on the harmonica for me. He also has a very unique singing voice as well. They have played in my area several times over the last 3 years and it appears that he is playing a Hohner diatonic which could be altered so that the fifth usually drawn in the 2 hole and blown in the 3 hole has been changed to a blow sixth in the 3 hole so that the melody can be played with one less draw bend and I think that in addition sometimes the fourth drawn in the 5 hole is raised a half step. This way the major scale can be played from the cross harp position which adds an additional fifth scale below the root and the melody can be played an additonal fifth above the before getting into the top register where playing the scale crosses over from blow/draw per hole to draw/blow. I have both of those alterations in the same key just so I could see if there would be any advantage. I found that the chording is changed and that it is hard to get used to. I guess the only alteration I might think to be an advantage would be to just raise the note in the 6 hole half a pitch that way most of the chording on the bottom end would stay in tact. This way the D maj key could be played cross harp on a G harp which would lower the scale register one octave. I going to have to stop writing and thinking about this before I get anymore pathways in my brain crisscrossed from thinking about this. I have started playing the Hohner XB40 in which the XB stands for Extreme Bender. A reed in each chamber is valved to eliminate air loss so that bending in draw is easier without the extra air passing through the dormant reed. Also a third reed is placed in each hole so that blow bends can be played as easily as any draw bend. With these hot rodded alterations it is now possible to play the minor and dominant blues scale in the first position with the use of the blow bends. At around $69.00 the XB's are not much more expensive that the regular diatonics with the retuned reed plates and the extra riveting and gaskets added to help eliminate air loss. I believe I paid around $60.00 for those. The XB's are for sale at www.coast2coastmusic.com with quick delivery and if you search the sale items you can pick up the slow seller keys. I bought A and C on sale for $59.00. I certainly hope that after you digest this long response that it is helpflu. Sincerely, Steve Maurice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter Laban Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 The Irish Harmonica discography at http://www.irishmusicreview.com/ has some good information and so does harmoicaplayer Steve Shaw's site : http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/trad_irish_harmonica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akeller Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 Andy Irvine. One of the grand statesmen of the Irish Folk Music revitalization. http://www.andyirvine.com/ It's not his primary instrument so he uses the harmonica to fill in the gaps, so to speak. He does occasionally use it to lead a fiddle tune. Good stuff. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Booth Posted April 8, 2005 Author Share Posted April 8, 2005 Thanks for the wealth of information, especially the stuff on the Hohner XB. Gives me a lot to look for. I had not heard about the new harp from Hohner; Most of what I have tried has been on an Echo Harp, which has a note layout pretty similar to my Erica melodeon. The sound is much the same. Does playing Irish style require as much bending as blues, etc., or is it dictated by which harp one chooses? Having made tentative stabs at it, I can say that it's devilish hard and that I'd better double my yoga sessions to keep up with the breathwork...and I thought breathing with the concertina bellows was a workout! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter Laban Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 You may wantto check out Mick Kinsella who plays both concertina and harmonica, often at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2maur Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 :huh:Peter, I can hardly play the concertina and breath properly without trying to think about playing harmonica at the same time. I think that my breathing curse is that all my life I played wind instruments with my breath until the concertina came along and I had learnt the harmonica prior to that. I am forever caught up in breathing along with the bellows direction just as if I were playing the harmonica since they are both the same diatonic layout---in/out in/out in/out out/in. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henk van Aalten Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 I think that my breathing curse is that all my life I played wind instruments with my breath until the concertina came along and I had learnt the harmonica prior to that. I am forever caught up in breathing along with the bellows direction just as if I were playing the harmonica since they are both the same diatonic layout---in/out in/out in/out out/in.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Steve From my own experience I can tell you that it will disappear in time (about 5 years). Playing tunes in cross row style (in order to leave the well known home-key pattern) helped me very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2maur Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 Henk, I've been playing for about 5 years now under the tutelage of Noel Hill's NHICS classes here in the USA. It didn't take long to see the benefits in speed and efficiency in cross row fingering but it is the diatonic similarity of air going out and in that I can't conquer. I have tried talking while playing the simplist of tunes, breathing in one direction for as long as I can while playing, singing and playing familiar kids songs and I haven't been able to over come it yet. I will keep trying but I think that after playing wind (brass, reed and flute) instruments since fifth grade which is forty years now, I don't hold out much hope for being able to stop this behavior now. I will have to resign myself to the fact that I will look like some of those musical artists that contort, grunt, twitch, etc while they play but in my case I will just look like I am going to pass out from hyperventilation. Maybe I should consider the help of a hypnotist combined with some accupuncture! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 Steve, Just be sure the bellows don't get punctured! Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Winters Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 Check out Joel Berstein's harmonica playing with Randal Bays (fiddle). Cd titled 'Pigtown Fling'. Great harmonica playing on standard session tunes. He also does a few tracks on english concertina in a very convincing anglo style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harpomatic Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 harmonica is the only "breath" instrument that works in and out, and I think due to that is the most natural, as you never run out of air. It does take time to get used to. Great companion to anglo, as the layout logic is the same - song learnt on one, is a song learnt on the other. About XB40 - what do you think of applying this technology to concertinas, so they can bend notes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2maur Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 Harpo (if I may refer to you as that), I have been able to get a little fluctuation on several of the reeds on my concertinas for great emotional effect but never to the extent of a blues harp bend. I have also often wondered about the very same thing as you stated "About XB40 - what do you think of applying this technology to concertinas, so they can bend notes?" I have done some teaching of how to bend notes on the harmonica to local kids in my small city and have realized that to do an effectively controlled bend I have to emulate the physical bend of the reed with my tongue which, in my opinion, seems to affect the airflow dramatically enough to create the tone and the quality of that tone I desire. I could and most likely am completely wrong about this but I don't think the desired bend effect can be achieved without a controlable apparatus similar to the tongue mounted somewhere around the intake and exhaust air holes of the bellows.....although, it sure would be a wonderful addtion to the versatility of the concertina. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boney Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 "About XB40 - what do you think of applying this technology to concertinas, so they can bend notes?" There is a guy who has made a pitch-bending accordion. It bends up to a half-step down, using extra key pressure, using purely acoustic technology. Check out the website, which has audio samples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harpomatic Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 Steve, i agree that the tongue plays an important role in bending, although I bend easily, while "tongue-blocking"(no tongue involved in the bend, just change in pressure and change in airflow direction). You may be right about the importance of "air-direction-changing" apparatus, like a tongue, in order to facilitate this bend. While xb40 offers more with its "enabler" reed plate, we know that chromatic harps are easily bent even more than diatonics,and those are "single reed" bends - thus no real need to incorporate the "enabler plate". Bony, the site, and its product looks and sounds cool, but seems to be a costly and complicated technology, and it is unclear when and how it will be applied to concertinas. I think the guy's work is good and inspiring, but when will I be able to put my fingers on it? That's the only problem I have with it. I suspect there must be a simple way, only because it is so easy to do on harmonica, but I may be wrong - sometimes simple goals become super complex engineering problems. I just wish we could unlock this beautiful capability of reeds for button box players soon. Harpo (if I may refer to you as that), I have been able to get a little fluctuation on several of the reeds on my concertinas for great emotional effect but never to the extent of a blues harp bend. I have also often wondered about the very same thing as you stated "About XB40 - what do you think of applying this technology to concertinas, so they can bend notes?" I have done some teaching of how to bend notes on the harmonica to local kids in my small city and have realized that to do an effectively controlled bend I have to emulate the physical bend of the reed with my tongue which, in my opinion, seems to affect the airflow dramatically enough to create the tone and the quality of that tone I desire. I could and most likely am completely wrong about this but I don't think the desired bend effect can be achieved without a controlable apparatus similar to the tongue mounted somewhere around the intake and exhaust air holes of the bellows.....although, it sure would be a wonderful addtion to the versatility of the concertina. Steve <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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