Problem with Draw Reeds on a Harmonica
Since starting lessons here, I quickly discovered that I would want several harmonicas is keys other than C. Anyway, I've gone to mostly Lee Oskar harmonicas. The other day I was doing some tongue-blocking exercises and wanted to work with my Low F. I found that the 2 draw, 3 draw and 4 draw reeds seem to take a moment to start vibrating after I start to draw air through them. I've not noticed this on my G or any others. I thought that maybe just because of the long reeds, it might need more air (which is how it seems), but the 1 draw seems to be fine.
Is this something I'm doing incorrectly, or is it something I can change on the reed plate?
Any input would be appreciated.
John
Thanks again Winslow! After reading your reply, I worked with it a bit more. First thing I did was to compare the same note (2 draw - C on my Low F diatonic) to the same note on my 64 Chromonica and to my old ears, they sounded the same. Well, at the very first, just as it starts to play, it doesn't sound quite right, but after it starts, I relax my mouth more and it settles in to the right note. The other thing I did, which I hadn't really paid attention to when I first got the harmonica, was to try the 1-2-3 draw chord and it sounds fine. Then I tried the 2 draw with my fingers covering the other holes (not an optimal playing method, but it worked for testing this) ... it worked much better.
The upshot of all of that is that yeah, I need to be more mindful of keeping my mouth relaxed and ensuring that there is no air leakage while playing those low notes on that harp.
All of your tips were helpful, thanks again.
John
Listen to the ptich of those notes. Do they sound slightly flat when you play them?
Oral cavity resonance can cause pitch to depress and cause reeds to delay in responding. Essentially you're tuning your mouth to a pitch other than the pitch of the reed, and the reed goes a bit flat, throws off high-frequency squeals, or struggles to respond.
Try playing one of those notes, and,without changing your tongue position, removing the harmoncia from your mouth while you continue to breath, .
If you hear any air movement noise, you're hearing a constriction in the air flow, which activates a resonance change in your oral cavity. Work to make airflow through your throat and oral cavity free flowing, silent, and neutral.
Also, check the opening where the harmoncia meets your lips and tongue. The opning should always be biger than the harmonica hole, again to allow free passage of air.
It's true that longer reeds that have more added weight on them (true especially of low-pitche harps) can take more air to start. But make sure that the air delivery system is functioning optimally.