DATE: Sat, 11 Dec 1993 18:48:48 CDT From: Winslow Yerxa <76450.32~ompuServe.COM> Subject: Mostly Water Chromatics MIDI
Spence Pearson asks about chromatics, and about an electronic MIDI harmonica.
The MIDI harmonica exists, at least in prototype. That's the good news. The bad news (at least from your point of view) is that, while it was originally developed with a 12-hole chromatic "interface," the developer decided that for marketing reasons it made more sense to configure it as a 10-hole diatonic.
For more information, contact
Ron Schille 701 Mills Avenue #3 San Bruno CA 94066 415-952-2804
The problem you mention about slow response on the bottom octave of your E chromatic is typical of lower-key 12-holes, and often of sixteen hole instruments. The reeds often require very gentle activation. This can be altered somewhat by setting the gap between the reed and the reedplate (the offset) a little higher. If leakage is the problem ("around the stop" is how my download reads, and I'm not sure what that means), you might try tightening the screw that holds down the mouthpiece on the left side. If you tighten it too much, the slide won't move, so you have to find the optimal level.
Have you checked to make sure all the windsaver valves are intact? Valve removal can also cause the kind of poor response you describe. Windsavers are little strips of plastic mounted on the opposite side of the reedplate from a valve, glued down at one end. When air is blown into a hole, it pushes the draw widsaver shut, preventing air from escaping through the draw reed, and vice versa.
The whiney problem you're experiencing on your CX-12 is something that's difficult to diagnose without actually hearing it, and I don't own one, although I've tried them out. The the top octave on a chromatic has no windsaver valves (air leakage isn't a problem up there), and thus the blow and draw reeds interact as they would on a diatonic, which makes the timbre much brighter, and makes the draw reeds bend easier. This could be part of what you're hearing.
You might try playing long, soft, straight notes, with your throat open and your tongue relaxed. Concentrate on getting a large, rich sound. This will require a different resonant cavity (throat and tongue position) and different breath control from what works in the lower register.
As far as different models of chromatic, there are lots of choices.
I haven't played the Suzuki Leghorn (as in Foghorn P. Leghorn, the Rooster who wouldn't shut up?), but stories abound that it's the same as the Huang 1248, with different tellers claiming that one or the other mfr gets the good ones and leaves the bad ones to the other. I have no idea who's right about this stuff.
I had a Huang 1248 for awhile. It had a bright tone, and was very responsive - almost too much for me, as I tend to play fairly hard. Also, being used to Hohners, I found that the slide seemed to require a different length of press, which meant re-learning all my slide reflexes. After a few months I lost it in a taxicab.
Hering, a Brazilian company, has an old Hohner factory where they make 12 and 16 holes chromatics. These are inexpensive, and the 16-holers are a wood-comb (not plastic) built to the specs of pre-war 64's, and very popular with older players. I have a couple of Herings, and while they're nice in some ways (round holes, even on the 12 hole instruments), they have quality control problems, both in materials and in the musical response of the instruments (poorer tone, inconsistent response and timbre from note to note).
The Toots Hard Bopper is supposed to be better and more durable than the regular 270 Super Chromonica. It does have thicker, nicekl-plated reedplates, allowing for louder playing, and copper beryllium reeds, which are more durable. However, my experience, and that of others I've spoken with, is that they break rather quickly (reeds go bad). For the difference in price and performance, I'd choose the regular 270. By the way, Toots doesn't play this instrument - he isn't a loud player. He does play the Toots Mellow Tone, which no music store seems to carry - they all have the Hard Bopper.
16-hole instruments, made only in C, have not only that wonderful, dark bottom octave, but also have a bigger, darker sound throughout their middle range. They're the instrument of choice for blues playing, which is based on the D minor draw chord, although you will see players like William Clarke playing 12-hole instruments in the same position, in other keys - he has a Bb that that he likes to play in C, for instance.
With the exception of the Hering 64, Hohner seems to have the 16-hole market to itself. The basic #280 64 doesn't seem to be played much nowadays. (It's the classic, but in name only - Hohner keeps fiddling with the design and has pretty much ruined it.) The Larry Adler models, by the way, are just the regular 64 and the 270 in disguise - the only difference is the box and the coverplates. I see people walking around at conventions with Super 64's and the black-and-gold 64X. The Super 64 is a nice harp but tends to be leaky. I'm told you can fix this by sanding the top and the bottom of the comb - carefully, in one direction, and without rounding off the edges - to smooth it out for better contact with the reedplates.
The 64X has a clear plexiglass comb, thickened reedplates, and copper beryllium reeds. When I first got one, I sat with it in one hand and my Super 64 in the other, playing first one and then the other. I was initially underwhelmed by the difference in sound, but when I played the 64x in a gig that night, I was really pleased with the sound and response - smooth action, no problems, great sound.
Tim Moody mentioned the CBH 2016. This is no longer made, and anyone who has one to sell will probably want an astronomical price for it. It's a striking harp to look at - all matte black, futuristic angles, with finned individual air chambers on the back. It has great airtightness and slide action, and a huge sound, but some complain that the tone is too plastic-y, especially when close miked. This latter is not a problem when playing in the chordally-based D minor Chicago Blues Chromatic style, but becomes quite noticeable when playing single-note lines. I have a couple of them, and have always been somewhat ambivalent because they've always had reed and valve problems that I don't expreience on other harps. It's sort of like a Jaguar -a great car when it isn't in the shop.
