Re: Mic cup

[Mudharp@xxxxxxx]

Getting that tight cup is one technique that all amplified harp players need 
to master, no doubt. I think it's also worth mentioning that good mic 
technique is important to your sound, but that doesn't always imply a "tight cup". 
And, although it's been beaten to death, it's important to remind ourselves that 
our acoustic tone is a key element in our amplified tone. Without good solid 
acoustic tone a tight cup is useless. I don't buy in to the popular notion that 
your cup has to be tight all the time to get good amplified tone either. In 
fact, experimenting with the opening of your cup can provide lots of variation 
in tone coloring and shading. Lifting one or two fingers or opening the heels 
of your hands slightly can help keep your sound interesting and 
multidimensional. Holding your mic in one hand and the harp in the other while you blow 
directly into your mic with NO cup is a cool sound too. I think SB2 did that quite 
a bit and I've seen other players like Steve Guyger and Paul deLay do it to 
great effect.

All that aside, I find that the "thumbs up" grip gives me a much better 
amplified cupping technique than holding the harp left and cup right. Try holding 
the harp so that the ends rest evenly between the lowest thumb joint and the 
fat pad of each thumb. Remember to leave space between the harp and mic and give 
yourself as big an air chamber as you can. Also remember that tight cup means 
air tight as opposed to strangle hold tight. Hope that helps.

T. Albanese