From: James Hanson Date: Mon, 04 Mar 1996 19:14:30 -0500 Subject: Re: Popper & Dazed/Confused
Barry B. makes some sensible comments about the great John Popper debate - and what would Harp-L be without it? Any musician or composer is eligible for reasoned criticism on technique, style, and composition. But even on these aspects, opinions often differ.
I don't claim to have much insight into music based on anything other than listening to a lot of it for a few decades, and I have my own eclectic and offbeat tastes. But here is my .02 on BT and JP: I like the music in small doses. I don't have "four" but the earlier CD's I do have I don't like to listen to all the way through. When compared to most of the pop fare that they compete with, the music and the harp playing are fresh and innovative - that is why they are successful. The "message" the music presents is pretty downbeat - that is probably why I don't like to listen to it for very long. This "down" tone is about the only thing that makes BT "blues" - the music isn't all that bluesy. A big part of the vitriol on Harp-L toward BT and JP comes from some rather egotistical-sounding comments made by JP in a letter posted here second or third hand some time ago, plus with that "Blues" in the name, some people expect "blues harp": and it's not. Not really anything to get worked up about.
I tried to post privately to Mike Meadors about his chromatic/mic/amp quest, but my mail got bounced. I guess the general message is pretty relevant to everyone:
Having done a similar mic/amp quest a year or so ago, my recommendation is to start with the mic (as Tom Ellis suggested) and to start with either of the standards: Astatic or Green Bullet. I doubt if it matters too much at first which you pick. Then borrow amps from friends if you can, and go out to stores and test them, until you get in your head the sound YOU want. (Borrow mics from other harp players if you can.) If you have to buy one right away, buy something cheap, and if possible with resale value. Then once you know the sound you are looking for, find the amp (and if necessary, a different mic) that gives that SOUND. This is much of what I did, and athough my rig isn't "standard", it is MINE. I suspect the same policy will work for chromatics. I don't know what experience you have with them, but if it as little as I do, get a reasonably priced one and play it to figure out what you really want. Until then, you can't even evaluate the good advice you are getting from others on Harp-L, each of whom have their own personal tastes, generated from this same sort of procedure.
