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Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2002 09:23:28 -0500
From: Douglas Tate
Subject: Re: Mellow Tone Reed Slot Size

At 11:49 PM 03/04/02 +1300, G. wrote:
> > I've often wondered why plating was begun anyway ... to avoid
> > corrosion, for looks, or to actually change the sound of the
> > instrument? I just don't know.
>
>Neither do I. But I'll hazard a guess that marketing had a hand in the
>decision too, along with Toot's good & respectable name.

Plating was done long before Toots got into the game. The Larry Adler
Special I had in the 50s had plated plates. Also the longslot instruments
I customised for Adler, and the plates used originally on Tommy Reilly's
instrument were all plated.

As Bobbie says, I'm not convinced one way or the other about whether the
sound is affected by the plating. (We have nice little arguments about
this :) Body stuff? yes but not so that the listener will go screaming
from the room if 0.1% of Tantalum has been added to the comb alloy mix.

I agree with G and many others...
a good player can make a complete idiot instrument sound good
the geometry of the instrument affects the sound.

I agree with some ....
the material composition of the cover plates makes a difference
(tied with that I think the 'tension' of the covers makes a difference)

I believe that the external shape of the instrument makes a difference to
the player

I believe that the appearance might give you a buzz for a while but it
won't improve your playing or make you sound better or want to practice
more (shape might )

I believe that the length, width, profile and the plate thickness have an
effect on the sound... they also have an effect on the playability

I believe that if you stop fiddling with the instrument once it is playing
pretty well and just play the durn thing, then it will get better and so
will you as a player.

I believe that Silver has positive advantages over many other coating or
base materials from a mouth and hand contact point of view when talking of
the harmonica.

Not everyone agrees with all of this stuff... good... the world would be
bland if we all agreed. Some of it is hard nosed "It Works" stuff, some is
"this is how it seems to me after a lot of playing around" stuff.

I resent remarks like... "You would say that, you have a vested interest in
(... stainless steel, Silver, Titanium etc)" , or "Anyone who has spent a
lot of money is going to say they have gained an advantage" There are many
Titanics in prototypes!

>Gotta say I wouldn't have minded having my name embossed in Chrom on a
>couple of great chromatic models by the most popular harmonica company in
>the 60s. Although I'd prefer to have it embossed in Silver plating in
>these modern times. Hey, I'm allowed to dream!

Make your own :) You can do it.

> > Some day, though, I would like to
> > get some hard evidence of these ideas with an oscilloscope or
> > something. (Bobbie quote)

Oh yes indeed... and also spectrum analysis of the sounds. I have seen
some which were very interesting but don't know how carefully the pics were
taken. I would like to do the experiment myself, biased as I obviously am
and having Bobbie ferreting out stuff that I don't notice.
Well ~I~ can dream also, can't I?

>I'd love to see solid scientific evidence published on these matters.

Yes, I'd also like to see the results before publication so that I can
prepare a statement saying that this is exactly what I expected (even if it
wasn't) then, maybe, I can become a politician.

>My opinion on all this is whilst there may be differences caused by
>materials of choice, khe biggest impact on a harmonica's tone is
>demonstratably and arguably the player and so should be the first & primary
>target of personal development.

Yup. But it helps to have a sharp knife when you are learning whittling!

>But Bobbie is an instrument technician and developer... so with that out of
>the way: the harmonica's construction, dimensions, component tolerances,
how
>the reeds behave and how well they are set up, from everything I've heard,
>read and seen to date all have a bigger impact on the instruments tone &
>behaviour than what it is actually made out of.

90% of the way with you there G

I'm not saying that materials & plating don't have an effect, but they
>require all other things to be equal to be noticed ... if you can notice
>them.QED.

No. You can notice that a car engine runs sweetly even if the thing skids
all over the road because the vehicle is top heavy (SUV rather than QED)

>Then there is also the question of how it sounds and feels to the
performer,
>... which IMHO comes back to the primary effect on a harmonica's tone...
the
>player - if the player is happy with the instrument, that is what is
>important.

Yes

> If they believe the materials of their instrument suit their
>beliefs that is going to help their confidence in their instrument and
>therefore their performance. Playing a snazzy looking instrument is
>definitely going to have a positive effect on one's self esteem in
>performing and enable the performer in believing they can do their best.

Any performer who believes that is exactly that, a performer. Any musician
who allows the look to influence their feeling about the sound needs a
brain investigation. Where (as Bobbie is wont to say frequently) Form
Follows Function and as a result a pleasing look comes about then the thing
MAY look good but it is the way it works ergonomically to produce the sound
which is of prime importance to the real musician. I knew a guy who had a
ruby embedded in his slider button... he was a pretty good player... but
there always seemed to be more emphasis about the harmonica having a ruby
than the noise which came out of the instrument / person combination.

Something which sort of goes against all the things I say! We have found a
good Silver Plating firm. I was talking to the guy who actually sees to
work being done, quality etc. The firm does a LOT of silver plating for
musical instrument firms. I said to him " It's ironic, we spend literally
HOURS to get our instrument sparkling and smooth and shiny and perfect, so
that when the customer opens the box it looks wonderful... yet it NEVER
from that moment on looks that good because it has figerprints and mouth
marks all over it"... he laughed and said that he had often had the same
thoughts about the stuff he did!
Douglas t