From: Winslow Yerxa <76450.32~ompuServe.COM> Date: 25 Jul 96 22:14:34 EDT Subject: Big River and Magic harps
TO: internet:harp~arply.com
===== Pete Brunelli asks for comments on Big River harps.
I have a fair sampling of the recent ZA5 Big River Harps (which I find much better than the earlier, non-ZA5 instruments), and I've been using them in a production of - Big River.
I use the C-harp to start the show with the overture, the D-harp in the fast-paced bluegrass Entracte, the high F-harp for the Spiritual "Crossing to The Other Side" and the A-harp for the ballads "You Oughtta Be Here With Me" and "Leaving's Not the Only Way to Go."
I also have pre-MS Meisterklasse instruments that I use for the same tunes (except the Overture). While the Meisterklasse are louder and tolerate harder playing. I find that the BR's perform quite well, even playing acoustically to a 400-seat theater, as in the Overture and Entracte.
I have a few low-key BR's (F, D, and Eb) and I find that they are brighter and more responsive than the Marine Bands I have in the same keys. It's true that I can get more warmth and variety of tone from the MB's, but I have to work harder to get the same volume and presence that I can get fairly easily with the BR's.
One pleasant surprise is that the new BR's overblow reasonably well right out of the box. The old ones made awful noises if an overblow were attempted.
===== James Rossen asks about Magic Harps.
Magic Dick and Pierre Beauregard worked out and patented a set of tuning principles for diatonic harmonicas, then used these principles to create a set of specific tunings. These usually make modifications from standard Richter tuning (the usual tuning used in 10-hole diatonics) based on 2nd position (like G on a C harp) that make a particular scale or set of chords easier to play, and makes both tuning and availability of bends more consistent through the range of the instrument. Many of the tunings have been named after musical styles that use the scales or chords facilitated by that tuning. Magic Harps haven't yet been commercially produced, and Dick has been very hush-hush about them for the least few years. He and Pierre both asked me not to write about them in HIP, but he's used them on both the BluesTime albums, (especially the second one) and mentions them in the liner notes, so I guess it's OK to at least give this thumbnail decription on harp-l. Plow the harp-l archives and you'll find the details on how to obtain a copy of the patent.
