Valves; Tone (was WHAT IS A VALVED HARP?) HarpL Archives

Other web Sites
Harmonica Blues Harmonica Amps
Harmonica Links Harmonica Pages

• Archives Home

• Years
· 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997	· 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003

Ebay Searches:

Amps:
Microphones:
Effects:
Harmonicas and Gear:
Harmonica Music and Instruction:

Harp-L Archives

[Previous Message] [Next Message]
[Next in Thread]
[Start of Thread] [End of Thread]

From: Mike Curtis
Date: Mon, 8 Jul 1996 14:08:18 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Valves; Tone (was WHAT IS A VALVED HARP?)

> As I started playing harp a month ago, I am listening in on your
> discussions to learn from all you heroes. Sometimes the term 'valved
> harp' is used. Is that the same as a chromatic, or what?

Valves, also known as windsavers, are little plastic flaps that are attached
to the reedplate, opposite the reeds. When the OTHER reed is played, the
unused reed is sealed off, thus saving wind.

Valves are used on chromatics, because they tend to be excessively leaky.

On diatonics, we can bend the higher reed down to within a semitone of the
lower reed. This means that the lower reed in each hole is unbendable.
Windsavers used on the bendable reeds "Fix" this problem. Because the
opposite reed is removed form the equation, it no longer affects the reed
being played. By valving draw 1-6 and blow 7-10, we can now bend blow 1-6
and draw 7-10, normally unbendable.

BUT - to do this requires that you the player are resonant at the frequency
of the reed to be bent. Many diatonic players are not resonant, and
therefore find it impossible to bend valved harps except for the "normal"
bends.

I am firmly convinced that a valved diatonic is the best way to teach
resonance. It tells you immediately (and rudely) whether you're resonant.
It also forces you to have absolute control over bending, and to use a lot
less wind. Once you've mastered valved diatonic, you will be MUCH louder,
your tone will be big and fat and resonant, and your bending will be greatly
improved - especially multiple note bends such as 2D and 3D.

BTW, in regard to "tone", there has been a lot of mention of "tongue slaps",
"octaves", etc, as factors in "tone". IMHO these are not part of "tone".
They are more properly "techniques", or "embellishments". While they
produce a particular "sound", and may be done in a way that makes them hard
to discern (e.g. very fast tongue slaps, very subtle octaves where one note
is played very softly, etc.), I don't view these as "tone", any more so than
I would view a bluringly fast arpeggio or trill as "tone". If we take the
extreme example of a nonsounding reed with an opening tongue slap, we end up
missing the desired note! I consider these "embellishments" rather than
components of "tone".

The dictionary seemingly concurs, with TONE (musical) being defined as "the
distinctive sound of any voice or instrument; a pure or fundamental note
without overtones or harmonics; ... timbre". "Timbre" is defined: That
distinctiv quality having to do with the mixture and intensity of harmonics
in a sound which sets it apart from another sound of the same pitch and
volume, as between vocal and instrumntal tones or voiced sounds in speech."

This is why I, while I certainly recognize (and appreciate!) multiple note
effects, and wholeheartedly agree that they improve the overall quality of
the music (just as trills, arpeggios, runs, licks, and riffs do), I don't
personally categorize them as "tone". To me, "tone" defines 1. the note
being played (middle C, etc.), 2. the interval (whole tone, semitone, etc.),
or (in this discussion) 3. the timbre or sonic quality of the note being played.

I also feel there are technical and instructional benefits to making firm
and concise distinctions between these. By making a distinction between
embellishment techniques and pure timbral techniques, it's easier to focus
on getting exactly what we want from a song, or an area we'd like a student
to work on, etc. One example might be the recent queries as to "William
Clarkes Tone" when referring to the tongue slaps and octaves (well - CLOSE
to octaves, anyway :-)

-- IronMan Mike Curtis