Re: Future of the Marine Band

[icepick@xxxxxxxx (Christian Laferriere)]

>Christian, you're giving Hohner WAY too much credit. Hohner's shift from
>wood to plastic had a lot less--if anything--to do with improving quality
[...]
>Instead of going back to seasoning the wood properly, they started making
>chromatic combs and the combs of the newer diatonic models out of plastic
>instead. I'll admit that the plastic combs with screwed-on cover plates
>sometimes provides a better seal, but part of the reason that the Marine
>Bands leak more than their plastic cousins is that the wood combs are
>milled pretty crudely and unevenly. Hohner went to plastic to cut costs
>and to get away from the difficulties of working with wood.
>
>It just doesn't follow that plastic is a superior material for harmonicas
>just because it's a more modern substance.

Now that I think of it, you are absolutely right about the plastic. I am not 
really experienced in harp matters so I said what I said based on my limited 
experience. I am an amateur woodworker and nobody would make me build 
furniture out of plastic! Although machining synthetic substances is, as you 
say, a lot easier and a lot less of a hassle.

>I'm glad to hear that you're working on not playing quite so hard. Over
>Overplaying is far and away the most common problem among harp players.
>It's especially apparent in a lot of the Little Walter imitators; it's
>very obvious from his recordings that Walter played very relaxed and at
>a fairly low volume most of the time and let the amp do the work.
 I cam to that realization a little while ago as I found that I could get a 
much better sound of the amplified harp without pushing it too much and 
letting the amp do the work. I do however get carried away in the music and 
tend to forget all the little technical things one has to remember. You end 
up playing by feeling and only experience will make a player do things 
mechanically without having to think about it. So more practice is needed to 
completely assimilate the proper technique and not think about it anymore.

>I caught Tim Moody's suggestion to you to park both thumbs on either
>side of your embouchure to get a better seal and with all respect to
>Tim I think it's bad advice. It's not true that there is no "right"
>way to hold a harp. The classic grip is the way to go.
At one point I was looking at a photo of Charlie Musselwhite on the cover of 
one of his CD's and he was holding his harp with both thumbs on the mouth 
side of the comb. I tried it but found that for manoeuvering into the high 
notes required more dexterity ie: moving the thumbs and changing grip. So I 
have stayed with the classic grip and it works. I think that the air leaks 
occur because my mouth is too tense and I am playing too hard. Since I now 
polish my hohner harps (ie: protruding reed plates and edges) on a jewler's 
wheel, they feel great. So I may try Marine bands again. I must admit that 
they do sound great.
THanks for your advise and time.
Later
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                          Christian Laferriere
                           Gatineau, Quebec
                          Icepick@xxxxxxxx
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