From: Rob Paparozzi Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 13:05:26 -0800 Subject: "(thinking)Out of the Box" was Portnoy on OB
Glenn Weiser wrote:
> Great post from Paul on OB. I talked about this with Portnoy also and he > said he liked the fiddle tunes I played for him better than the OB style > becuse it "fell naturally under the harmonica." While not to negate the > potential of OB, the question should be asked: if you want to play it > like a chro, why don't you just buy a chro?
Ahhh...! But we don't want it to SOUND like a Chromatic as we know them, the distinct Timbre of each axe is at question here. As the great "Toots" has even said, there's a certain "Soul" factor that translates REAL well on the Diatonic. You can't get THAT sound on a Chromatic. Although, I'd argue that Stevie and Toots and lots of others have come pretty close! It's kinda' why Stevie used a 1st Pos Diatonic on "Boogie On Reggae Woman". The OB approach does NOT want to abandon those postive tonal characteristics of the Diatonic but seek to augment it w/ the missing notes of the scale. I've bought a Chromatic, learned to play it and fell in love w/ it....but for my own tastes could never totally be satisfied w/o my voice on the Diatonic.-))
The other question is this: if you can't OB an out of the box Marine
> Band or Blues Harp without gapping the reeds-something the first time > harmonica buyer will never have any idea of how to do-what use is it? > The practical difficulties involved with the fact the fact that > reed-gapping is a prerequisite for OB undermines the overall utlility of > this technique, it seems to me. So many here are long term players and > advanced musicians, but I deal with beginners on this instrument. You > can teach any technique on a stock harp except this. I furthermore know > of no widely available book that even teaches reed-gapping. Hit the > archives, you tell me. Fine-but what if I'm a beginner. How will I ever > learn about this? > This post raised another question-do a lot of people hear a strained > quality to OBs? This would be interesting to know. > > Glenn Weiser
Glenn, Alec Drachman is correct, you CAN learn this from your Teacher, who, (whether or not they OB) should be able to "Gap" a reed...it's really not that tuff. I also enjoyed Paul Farmer's post which BTW are always informative and insightful.
The idea that a certain technique is not cogent because it requires an adjustment to the instrument is absurd. Most practicing musicians have to deal with this obstacle once they reach the intermediate and advanced level of playing. As far as OB’s are concerned, the beginner should be aware of the concept and at some point if he/she is serious about their instrument, should learn it mechanics, and this includes tuning and gapping. Let’s remember that “Gapping” is not a procedure just used for overblows but needed to set the proper “action” of that reed.
What we are basically talking about here is “setup” of your axe (instrument). For example, a Guitar player just starting out hears Muddy or Bonnie Raitt and wants to be able to play slide on their “Out of the Box” beginner guitar.....well you can squeak out some notes but if you want it to sound smooth and clean like the masters, you must learn how to get out the proper tools and adjust your bridge “action”. You would also need to adjust your action for these techniques and styles: Harmonics, Hammering, Steve Vai(heavy Metal)....etc Even an Acoustic Piano needs these adjustments to execute proper styles of playing, however because of size of this beast you probably want a technican that can do this for you. But a Classical player really needs a “Tighter Action” to be able play the passages correctly. On the other hand a New Orleans player needs a totally different setup to roll his notes a certain way.
As a Pro Player myself, I have found that the “Out of the Box” harps during the past 15 years have progressively gotten worse for ALL styles that I want to play. For the type of live and studio projects I do, and I’m sure plenty of others would agree.....we can RARELY use a harp fresh out of the Box unless we get LUCKY! (Both Diatonic and Chromatic).
Regarding the question does an OB sound strained, answer YES if the player has to “strain” to get it will sound this way. The player must be very relaxed to get a good clear OB. - All the Best, Rob Paparozzi Email: Chromb~arthlink.net My Web page: http://home.earthlink.net/~chromboy/
