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DATE: Tue, 26 Oct 1993 10:45:05 CDT
From: WY~egacy.Calvin.EDU
Subject: New (Rats) Trix

I am crushed, utterly crushed--my one chance at harp immortality down
the tubes. Winslow, that's it; alas, Michael Carley has sabatoged my
effort to torment the rest of you further (turkey!).

Winslow's point about the Special 20 was in fact the very basis of
my discovery. I saw those cutouts on my Marine Band, and realized
air at the ends of the covers, could come out of them, and wondered
why they were there. The Special 20 didn't have them, so all the air
has to come (and go) from the back of the harp. Then I realized that
if you blocked that air completely, and blew through low holes, the
air would have to come out of the high holes.
The next step was to work on hand technique, to get a really good
seal--a "cup" like you use to wah-wah, with almost no leakage
anywhere. (I practiced holding water in my hands, under the sink, to
see where cracks are. Then I ate oreos for 8 weeks, to put more fat
on my fingers to make a better seal.) (No, this last is a lie.)
Once the seal is good, you just have to blow a good deal of air
out of the lower holes--initially, a fat chord--while using the side
of your mouth to block holes 5,6, and 7. The air
is then forced to come out of holes 8, 9, or 10--which ever one is
easiest (path of least resistance). Here is where the the right
thumb refinement comes in. You can use this to block selected holes
(say, hole 8), and also use your right index finger (say, to block
hole 10), to force the air to escape thru hole 9. Suitable use of
these digits, plus the side of your mouth, can control the air-escape
(sounding a draw note) so that it sounds any hole you want in the
upper 4 holes or so.
The same thing applies if you draw on the lower holes: the seal
forces the air-intake to come through the upper holes, which will
sound the blow reed that you select by the above digital work.
You need a seal so good that when you blow and draw, you can feel
the vacuum sucking on the palms of your hands. Once you then narrow
the escape-options, you can actually feel the airstream whizzing past
your right ear, blowing your hair.
I find I can now also do this with Marine Bands despite the
cutouts. The trick here is to keep the harp up alongside the right
side of your face, and form a seal between your left hand (the U
between thumb and index finger, holding the harp) and the left side
of your mouth. This cuts off any air escape from the left-side
cutouts.
As I say, it is easiest to make these upper register "opposing-
notes" when you are chugging chords on the lower end; you can flip
them in and out at will, by opening or closing the wah-wah seal.
Chords mean a lot of air is being used--enough to sound the opposite-
direction reeds on the upper end. However, it is also possible to
get them to sound by blowing or drawing lower end octaves or
intervals (using tongue-block), or even single notes.
I leave for the future discussion of what use this is, of when
these particular notes fit in. What makes the harp addictive are its
latent capacities, eh?