Draw 2 "locking up" and "windsaver" noise
I'm new to the chromatic after playing blues on diatonic harps for 25 years. I was gifted an inexpensive Swan 1040 and started messing around with it. It did play pretty smoothly and although the slide was a little clunky it sounded good except that it wasn't very loud and apparently not very air tight. You could actually bend some of the draw notes like a diatonic as well. Looking in it you can tell there are no "windsavers".
So I looked to upgrade and decided on a Suzuki SCX-48. Still not too expensive but around $200. It has a much better tone and the slide is great. One problem I'm having with it is on the draw 2. If I try repeated draw 2 notes it will just "lock up" the reed and not sound. My cheap Swan does not do this. So I contacted Suzuki about it and they said it was all in my technique that is common to blues diatonic players using too much air and that I would need to learn to play with the instrument. It does make sense and I have tried to play around it backing off some and it seems to mostly have worked but not totally to my liking. So I was wondering if there was someting more I could try to modify the harp to make it a bit more responsive on the draw 2 and occasionally on the draw 1.
The only other thing I have started to notice with it is a bit of a buzz from the "windsavers" especially on the draw 1. In fact if you play in a quiet spot you can really notice the "windsavers" popping up and down on both blows and draws on holes 1 to 4. Maybe this is just the way chromatic harmonicas work or maybe the Suzuki I have is still on the cheap end of things but it's a bit distracting
Looking for a bit of advice and direction on learning better technique if that's the issue or on modifying or setting up the Suzuki SCX-48 to sound better or trying another Chromatic.
Thanks! Craig
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I will look for the "Ask Winslow" Forum and post this there.
Actually, as it's a chromatic question, asking here is the right place, as I'm the one responsible for it.
A more airtight instrument will reveal technique problems, as will one that is valved vs. unvalved. I'll get to valving problems, but first, let's talk about technique, and then about reed adjustment.
Breathing lightly is not the optimal solution, although hitting a valved reed with too much force in the attack can make the reed clam up. But that's not all.
How you position your tongue in your mouth affects the tuning of your mouth, just as it does in whistling. Many new players, perhaps most, experience a problem with Draw 2 due to this. If you've been playing diatonic for 25 years and don't have that particular problem, it doesn't mean it won't show up on chromatic. again, vavling directs all the air to a single reed without letting any leak through the slot of the oppsite reed and act as a shock absorber.
So, what do you do? Check how air is flowing through your mouth and throat. When you inhale, air should move freely and silently, with no noise and no feeling of suction or drag. Before trying anything else, I'd work on that for awhile. THis solution is easy to describe but can take some time to put into effect.
You can always raise the gap on the reed a little, which can improve response to stronger attacks, but can also make it unresponsible to soft breathing and low volume playing.
Valves are a pain - they can stick, buzz and bray. But they play a huge role in airtightness and also help give the crhoamtic its smooth, even tone. They even make notes on the chromatic *more* bendable rather than less, counter to the popular misconception.
When you play a draw note, the inside valve, the one mounted under the draw reed, gets pulled away from the slot, allowing air to pass into the harmonica through the draw reed. If this is stuck to the plate, it may be prevent the reed from sound, or may suddenly pop off the plate giving the note a sudden and late start. That means unscrewing the reedplates from the comb and cleaning the valve - more on that leter.
What also happens when you play that draw note is that the outside valve, the one mounted over the blow reed, gets pulled flat to the reedplate, preventing any air from leaking in through the blow reed slot and compromising airtightness. If the reed is twiester, creased, or otherwise misshapen, it may bounce around and buzz. If it's merely dirty int can be cleaned without removing the reedplate from the comb.
Cleaning valves
Your first line of defense against a whole plateful of problems is to play with a mouth free of food and drink residues that can gum up the slide and valves.
But when you clean a valve, you clean bother the bottom of the valve that contacts the reedplate, and the space between the two layers of the valve.
You do this by taking a piece of rough-textured paper, like strip cut from a brown grocery bag, dipping it in water, sliding it under the valve, the sliding it out whole applying figer pressure from above. Discard that piece after one cleaning so it doesn't jsut move the dirt to the next place.
Craig:
This is a really good one to post on the "Ask Harmonica Expert Winslow Yerxa" part of the Forum. He'll definitely have excellent and useful infomation and insight.
What you're experiencing on the 2-draw may be what is sometimes referred to as "freezing." If you're trying to bend notes the way one is able to on a diatonic, with certain notes if the bend goes too deep, the reed can "freeze." Bends on chromatics tend to be pretty shallow, and used as expressions between the semi-tone changes one can play on the chromatic without bends.
And yes, diatonic and chromatic are two really different instruments. I play both, and one of my chromatics is an SCX-48 (key of Bb). I also have an SCX-64 in C. Both excellent harps. But the technique differences take a while to adapt to.