Three questions in one about chromatic harmonicas
Hi Winslow.
I have three questions for you:
I have quit half of the valves of my 270 deluxe, and I have to say that I love to bend the chromatic this way, and the harmonica it is not now as leaky as supposed, but:
How can I make my harmonica more airtight?
I have quit the outside valves 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 (the harp didn't have the eleventh) but I am thinking about retuning the 4th blow reed(C) to a B and the 4th draw reed (B) to a C and to quit the 4th outside valve and then to have the Bb (such and important note for blues) just bending (drawing) that hole. Is this new tuning called in any manner before?
I think this change won't interfere with future songs because I want to do it in every octave, and the B octave will be just five holes apart like before, but Do you think the same?
Thanks Winslow.
1. You can make your harmonica more airtight by:
--Reducing the gap between the edge of the reed and the edge of its slot (called sizing or embossing)
-- Ensuring flatness of the comb so that the reedplates can touch the comb without leaking.
-- Ensuring flatness of the surface that the slide rests one.
- -Reducing the space above and below the slide so that less air leaks through this area.
2. I'm not familiar with that tuning. You could check the Altered States list of tunings a Pat Missin's website, paymissin.com. Maybe someone has thought of this before, maybe not.
3. Think about the chords, not just the single notes. Your blow chord, C E G B, will be pretty but will not sound very bluesy; it's a C major 7 chord. Your draw chord will be a D minor 7 chord. If you play those two chords in alternation, they will sound very nice, but not like blues. Maybe you're not thinking about this for blues, though.
Being able to bend B down to Bb will work for some keys and not others. Also, you have Bb anyway as a slide-in draw note. But if you really like the sound of bent-down Bb, then this is a good way to get it.