From: Stephanie Denise Stevenson Date: Sun, 03 Nov 1996 13:10:35 -0600 Subject: Comments on previous posts
Howdy Folks! I've been lurking long enough, and it's time to add my own brief $.02 concerning some interesting topics. I have enjoyed reading many of your posts.
1. John Popper: I love his playing but agree with the opinion that he relies on speed for his effect. Where is the tone? I'm glad a harmonice virtuoso is being featured on Top 40 - you can't scan through the radio spectrum without hearing him. I don't want to even try to play his style; I'll stick to what I do best.
2. Mic's: I am an acoustic player, and while I love the Bullet and the distortion of the Chicago Blues harp sound, I play over the cleanest sounding mic I can find, which turns out to be the same one I use for singing. I have used several over the past 20 years, including the SM58, Beyerdynamic M300TG, and an old Shure Unisphere which my wife now uses as her vocal mic, but the one I use now is a 20 year old Zeron I unidirectional mic. I have two of them, and they seem to bring out the frequencies I want to hear in vocals and in the harmonica. I use a neck holder and my hands depending on the song, and the Zeron I reproduces the sound I want to hear. I boost the high and low frequencies on the mixing board. Good luck finding one; I lost the specs years ago and can't match it to mics still in production. I used to use a Zeron I on my guitar, but now use an AKG C1000S cardioid/hypercardioid mic, the same type our banjo/dobro player has. I've never tried it on harp or vocals, but it's hotter than hell on guitars.
3. Breathing exercises: I was a fan of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils when I was in high school, and just learning to play the harp. I was affected by Steve's playing the way young people today are affected by Popper's style. I just had to play Chicken Train. So, the challenge was to figure out the shuffle he was doing. How could he endlessly repeat it without losing his breath? I worked on it for hours a day, between school and teenage social life, for about two weeks, and hit on a balance between in and out breathing so that I never had to stop - I played for 20 minutes one time, just doing the same shuffle, without getting out of breath. Walking in step to the shuffle was good -its a natural high to play an instrument and walk in time to the rhythm. I discovered several variations to the shuffle to make it more interesting. I imagine that if this list had existed 20 years ago, everyone (especially the country players) would be talking about Steve's playing. I didn't write any tablature out in order to study and learn his shuffle, but if you spend hours a day with your instrument, you ought to be able to acheive your goal! Wish I had time to do that now.
4. Finding the key: If you play cross harp, draw on #2 and listen. The song key will be pitched above or below your note. Try a higher or lower key harp until you hit it. Basically, trial and error. It works if you have most harp keys, and if the musicians were tuned to a standard pitch, AND if the recording media stayed true to that pitch. Adjustable speed tape decks and turntables compensate for slight differences between your harp and whatever "standard" they used to tune up.
See ya!
Art Stevenson 909 E. Dayton St. Apt. 2 Madison, WI 53703
608-251-5526
"Next time you shave, son, get a little closer to the razor." ---Bill Monroe
