David's Tip of the Day: Holding a Bullet Mic - Made Easier

When players first pic up a bullet mic they commonly bring it very deep into their cup... very close to the back of their harmonica. In doing this, they place the bottom edge of the grill into the meaty area of their left hand. This makes the mic harder to hold... they're fighting to close their cup, but the large meaty area of the thumb is fighting them. This can make a normal mic seem very large and difficult to cup tightly (not tight in the sense of muscle, but tight in the sense of air-tightness). This is illustrated in the picture labeled "1_on_meat.JPG" at https://www.facebook.com/bluesharmonica

If you pull the mic back a bit (away from your harmonica) and tilt the face of the mic downwards slightly so that the lower edge of the grill is centered in your left hand (behind the meat of the thumb and in front of the meat of the knife-edge of your hand), you move away from the meaty parts of your hand and make the diameter of the mic smaller due to the changed angle. This is illustrated in the picture labeled "2_behind_meat.JPG" at https://www.facebook.com/bluesharmonica

Give this a try... it makes a mic feel smaller, easier to hold with less tension and provides a darker sound due to the larger tone chamber in the hands (remember, the mic is further away from the harmonica now).

I'm off for the holidays. Have a great Thanksgiving and see you on Monday!