What's the secret to clean bends?
Hi everyone.
I've been frustrated for a long time by the "muted" sound of bends.
They sound very different than clean notes, and all the advice I could get on the internet was to keep practicing. But I'm not sure that's the problem (maybe just a part of it).
For example, Amazing Grace, which featuers extensive 3 hole full-step bends.
If you listen to Buddy Greene's recording <a>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcpYKvi-tIQ</a> - you can barely hear the bend. Its sound is very very close to a non-bent notes. From his website I can tell he plays a Hohner diatonic harmonica in 2nd position, so I'm guessing it's not a matter of some exotic tuning.
In other live performances of Mr. Greene, his bends are barely noticeable as well.
On the other hand, with some other harmonica players the bend sounds quite different than other notes, for example Indiana Sfair - <a>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KofLtkSmC4</a>. The bend is very noticeable.
Also, on David Barret's lessons, when he plays single notes and emphasizes the bends, you can hear they are very different than the non-bent notes.
So, what's the secret to clean rich bends?
Do different harmonica brands or models sound different? For example, do Seydel sound better on bends?
Is this related to harmonica modifications? Recording magic?
Would love to hear some expert opinions on that matter. Thanks!
Regarding the difference between both artists you mentioned, I think it is mainly a stylistic choice, both in how they play and how the track is produced. Also for us non professionals that don't necessarily have our harmonicas very well adjusted to our way of playing (or not well adjusted period), I'd say reed gapping does make a difference. Regarding practicing it obviously makes a huge difference in various ways, but a very identifiable one I think is the ability to hit the right pitch (almost) straight away when the bend is played, so not coming from above or below the desired pitch. And the ability to make it sound strong without playing it louder than an unbent note.
tshuval:
What Winslow is talking about when he says "You can exert this pull or push while breathing gently, but using the mass of air in your entire air column, all the way from the bottom of your lungs through your throat, mouth, and the harmonica," can be expanded with two of my own observations:
1. Relax, relax, relax. The idea that you have to draw harder or scrunch your mouth and face to bend is baloney.
2. Always remember that while the reeds are setting what we might call the "index" for the note, it really isn't the reeds that make the sound. Sort of like guitar strings, which don't really sound like anything if you pull them out of the packet, string them up in the garage between two pegs, and pluck them. With the guitar, it's the soundbox, the vibration of the top, etc. With the harmonica it's the player's mouth, sinuses, nasal and throat cavities, and in effect his or her whole body that's actually making the sound.
Still working diligently on my intonation on bends. But items 1 and 2, above, literally took me years to understand.
You don't need anything mroe than a decent quality out-of-the-box harp to bend well, no adjustment needed. Most stock harps are gapped well enough to bend decently. I learned on much worse harps than you can but nowadays. That said, a well-ajdusted aftermarket harp will always give you more flexibility, better tuning, more even and quick response, and so on.
Hitting the pitch straight away without bending down from the unbent note is what I call a Stage 4 bend. And you're right, it's an essential playing skill but can take awhile to develop.
I guess I mentioned bend accuracy in relation to tshuval’s question because I feel that in my case it’s one of the main things preventing it to sound as close as possible to an unbent note. Very often I hit the pitch with 80% accuracy, then it fluctuates a bit until the right pitch. And sometimes I don't hit the right pitch at all haha.
I’ve heard many times that stock harps have improved a lot and I’m glad about that because I’ve benefitted from that from the start. Indeed I don’t have any problems to bend well on a quality stock harp but by doing some adjustments I have been able to get slightly better results. It’s not huge but if we’re talking about getting a really clean bend, at least in my (little) experience, it helped. Mainly on it being easier to play softer bends, which is also something that I feel sometimes prevents my bends to sound closer to an unbent note, the volume difference.
On a personal note, I must say that I prefer to embrace their tonal difference and not necessarily aim for as close as possible a resemblance. Seems like a lot of work for little results it the end because as Winslow says, they will never sound exaclty the same and artists have different approaches. Now tshuval you say that you’re frustrated by the “muted” sound of bends but would you say that Indiana Sfair’s bends sound muted? We could maybe say that they don’t sound as “clean” as Buddy Greene’s (to me it would be more accurate to say that they sound more expressive) but they definitely sound ritch and full. She’s just a bit blusier than Greene.
"And, of course, tuning your mouth using your tongue. Some claim they bend using the throat, but the available medical imaging we have, from both David Barrett and Howard Levy, shows the tongue doing the work."
This has been one of the most fascinating parts of immersing in the online world of harmonica instruction, which didn't exist when I started playing: I keep finding out that evidently the way I learned to do things is not the norm, and I never even realized it.:)
My tongue does absolutely nothing when I bend, and just to test it I literally rolled my tongue up and immobilized it completely by scrunching it against my lower teeth. Felt a bit awkward but didn't affect my bending at all.:)
What I've also learned about bending recently is how much mastery some have achieved with it - far beyond what I'd realized was possible. I've been a bit obsessed recently with Tom Ball's version of "don't get around much anymore" where, to walk down to the 6 chord he hits all 3 bends on 3 draw in a row, each perfectly cleanly and precisely. (on a Bb harp this is the notes Ab, G and Gb). Sounds easy but to do it and sound as musical as he does is no easy feat for me, and I thought bending was something I'd mastered years ago. Live and learn!:)
Bent notes will never sound identical to unbent notes, but they can be made to sound full and resonant.
Different players may have different approaches to how they want their bends to sound, but the fundamental technique remains the same, and brand or model of harmonica makes no essential difference to the sound of bending as long as they are of decent quality
Consider that an unbent note is sounded by a single reed, doing what it was designed to do - play the note that comes out when you set it to vibration. You'll get the same note if you pluck the reed with your fingernail, though your breath will lower the pitch very slightly.
When you bend, you're making both reeds do something they're not designed for. Ona draw bend, the draw nreed is being lowered in pitch, so it vibrates less efficiently and has a different tonal color. The blow reed is being pulled backwards and sounds a higher note than it's designed for, again with a different tonal color. The resulting sound of the bent note is tonally complex.
When you bend a note, you're persuading both reeds to sound the note that your mouth is tuned to.
If I bent an note, than pull the harmonica away while still breathing and leaving my tongue in place, I can hear the same note in the air moving through my mouth, because my mouth is tuned to the note.
It's possible to force a bend, either by breathing hard or scrunching up your lips, but the sound won't be very nice, and the bend will be harder to control.
Bending a note is a lot like whistling, except that it requires a bit of pull (or push in the case of blow bends) on the mass of the reeds by the mass of the air moving through them from your air column. You can exert this pull or push while breathing gently, but using the mass of air in your entire air column, all the way from the bottom of your lungs through your throat, mouth, and the harmonica. And, of course, tuning your mouth using your tongue. Some claim they bend using the throat, but the available medical imaging we have, from both David Barrett and Howard Levy, shows the tongue doing the work.
Here's a an interview I did with David some years ago where we discuss bending technique, among other thigns:
https://www.bluesharmonica.com/winslow_yerxa