Re: Finding your "Niche"

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

On Apr 4, 2004, at 7:50 PM, Snaruhn@xxxxxxx wrote:

> Hi Smokey-Joe,
   Hi "Sig"
>
>  the man who delivers the boxes.
>
>  Well, you wrote about a point I forgot to mention in my "On sound 
> differences"
>  but that had gone exactly with the subject.
>
>  < .......one should go that extra step and develop your OWN sound.
>  < Don't be a copy">
>
>  I have trouble to keep Harpie calm but what his father had liked to 
> say concerning
>  the "personal style" is like to slaughter a holy cow. I´m abolutely 
> aware of stitching
>  into a hornet´s nest but I´ll defend my point of view to the best of 
> my ability.

   Jeez, Seigfried, your vocabulary is a little over my head. :)
>
>  I´ve never understood why an artist has to develop his "moniker" by 
> all means.

  Well, in actuality, they don't, BUT I see it this way. Let's suppose I 
play a particular counrty-western tune and afterwards, people in the 
audience are talking amoungst themselves and think that it sounded like 
Charlie McCoy? What good does that do ME. I'm NOT McCoy. So I get NO 
name recognition. There are shows all over the U.S. where people 
imitate other (famous) people. Who are they? I don't know. No one 
remembers these people. They "shot themselves in the foot" (so to 
speak).

  There was a blues band that visited here recently. They played back in 
the swamp at a combination hardware store, bait shop, marina?. It was 
an outside gig at an old run down venue which took you back in time 50+ 
years. A dilapidated van shows up and the band (From Boston) gets out. 
They are fronted by a GIRL harp player. They are playing ONLY for TIPS. 
She is FANTASTIC and could stand right up there with the Sonnys, Little 
& Big W., Jr, & Howling.

  Here's the BOMB. 15 minutes after the evening's show, I couldn't find 
anyone who remembered her name. Soooo, while she sounded like the 
"established" players, she was a clone. She didn't have her OWN sound.
>
>  An example from the harp scenery: When Hendrik Meurkens started his 
> career
>  as a harp prof his playing style was hardly distinguishable from 
> Toots style.

   Maybe, but 'I' could tell right away that it wasn't Toots. Hendrik 
(MY opinion) is smoother and faster, and doesn't go quite as far into 
orbit.

>  I have
>  still  Winslow Yerxa´s funny report in one of his HIPs in mind.
>
>  Winslow sat in a hotel room and heard a harp player in another room 
> and was
>  impressed. He was wondering that Toots had obviously booked the very 
> same
>  hotel and was going to say hello to him. Woooh, Toots looked like 
> Hendrik
>  Meurkens there was no doubt about it.

   Tee Hee, Hendrik is 6'5" (abt 193 cm), has bushy sandy-tan hair.
>
>  That Hendrik played like Toots was no wonder because he choosed Toots 
> as
>  his harp idol with all consequences and nobody criticised his copying.

   Hendrik is quick to point out that Toots IS his idol. In our 
conversations, it became apparent that Hendrik idolizes Toots and has 
studied his every note.

>  By the
>  time Hendrik´s playing changed gradually until the folks applauded:
>  Hurrah, now he has found his style, all is OK now, we can sleep in 
> peace again.

  It would be interesting to know just WHEN Hendrik's style changed. 
Hopefully it was after I told him he had already "nailed" Toots and it 
was now time for him to move on. :) He came to Pgh. quite frequently 
and even cut some CDs with friends of mine at the Manchester 
Craftsmen's Guild. His first 4 CDs were a little TOO Brasillian and I 
told him it would hurt his sales. He DOES play the "traditional" jazz 
stuff when live.
>
>  Note: I say consciously "Hendrik´s playing changed .." and not "he 
> changed his
>  playing". I come back later to this essential difference.

  This means he was still "Growing". This is what the gist of my message 
WAS. Keep growing, don't stagnate into any particular players style, 
don't stick to one genre of music, don't cramp your style. It's like 
that famous musician once said after an illustrious career (spanning 6 
decades): "I think I ALMOST have it"
>
>  BTW, the term "own sound" if taken literally is in a certain sense a 
> contradiction
>  to the constant efforts to find "another" sound. Yeah, I know that 
> "own sound"
>  isn´t the same as "harp sound".

  Why should it be. I never used the harmonica as a harmonica. I think 
of it as a Kazoo, Comb & Cellophane, or whatever. As long as it makes 
the sound I want. It's just a music-muffin to me.
>
>  What angers me is the inconsequence of human opinions or conventional 
> wisdom.

  Well, ya got me there. Can't say as I understand this sentence.
>
>  On the one hand, people are pleased when the kids do exactly what 
> they are taught
>  or praise the national heroes as "shining examples". There are 
> thousands of warnings
>  in countless situations to avoid own activities by all means but to 
> call for the experts.
>  "Why haven´t you done as I have told you. Why did you search for your 
> own way, do
>  you mean your predecessors had been idiots?  ect.  ect.

  This may be true in a regimented society. I never was much for 
regimentation.
>
>  But when it comes to arts, everybody expects that artist have to be 
> recognized by
>  their style. Generally, artists copying others have a bad reputation. 
> However, there
>  are examples where it is an issue what is more remarkable, the 
> original or the copy.

  Herein lies my point. Even IF you or I were to be faster, smoother, 
more technically correct, exactly ON the music (as apposed to close 
enough), than, let's say, Franz Chmel, what would be the bottom line? 
We would STILL only be a SECOND Franz OR a COPY of Franz.

  You see, HE (the INITIATOR) of "That" sound, would still "OWN" that 
sound. We would be clones.
>
>  Years ago there was a scandal in Belgium about the painter van Meer 
> who was
>  able to copy the famous Dutch masters, Rembrandt, Rubens ...so 
> exactly that
>  the best art experts had been deceived for a long time.

  I like Van Meer. 'I' would have given him the credit he deserved. 
Others in this world might view him as a copy-cat.

>  van Meer not only used
>  the same colors as the masters but even took over their brushstroke. 
> Anyway,
>  the question was discussed in public whether van Meer or Rembrandt 
> performed
>  the "better" art.

  It's unfortunate that this world seems consumed by "Competition" I 
never liked contests because what qualifies someone to JUDGE someone 
else's work, Especially when it's as objective as art?
>
>
>  In this connection a German saying is interesting which unfortunately 
> can´t be
>  translated into English because it´s a play on words: Kunst kommt von 
> Können.
>
>  I´ll try it:                                  Kunst = art   
>                                         kommt von = is derived of      
>                                              Können = be able to; be 
> capable of
>
>  As is to be seen, it doesn´t work in English - "art" isn´t derived of 
> "able", but it
>  surely shows that artists do things, normal people aint capable of.
>
>  OK, here´s an example where the art of copying is an art par 
> excellence, namely,
>  the making of wrong banknotes. During WW II the nazis forced several 
> experts
>  they picked out from the concentration camps to forge English 
> L-notes. These
>  poor people (they were all killed afterwards) did such an excellent 
> job that even
>  the Bank of England considered the duds genuine. 

  They have shops in Taiwan where a dozen artists will ALL be painting 
the Mona Lisa. EACH canvas is so good that it takes an expert to 
distinguish them from the real thing. In some cases, these paintings 
have been called "better". But where does that put those artists? They 
are STILL unknown and make a meager living. Why? They are not doing 
THEIR thing.
>   
>  Back to the problem to find the "personal moniker". It is easy to say 
> " you have
>  to find your own sound but not to give the slightest hint how that 
> should work.

  Are you asking me how to get your own style? I could write a book on 
this but I will just leave you with: 1, NEVER listen to harmonica music 
when you are learning.
         2, DON't take (purchase) any HARMONICA lessons (regular music 
lessons are OK)
         3, IMITATE another instrument(s)
         4, USE harmonica like a voice.
>       5, DON't even know any other players until YOU can already play 
> marginally well.

>  Therefore, I said "Hendrik´s style changed gradually instead of " he 
> changed it".

   Just as an immigrant changes somewhat when coming to a new land, 
Hendrik left Brasil, and THAT may have started it. His wife is 
Brasillian and THAT may help hold some of what he has/feels.
>
>  Here, I can´t keep Harpie calm any longer. Hey, what´s the matter, 
> Harpie, don´t
>  you see that I´m going to find my own style?
>
>  Orrrps, Dad, excuse me that I interrupted your searching but I just 
> got an idea
>  how your "musical identy" can be found, it´s very simple. If you play 
> always the
>  same way, you got it. Recently, one said to another: "Did you hear 
> that guy? Yes,
>  he plays as terrible as usual, it must be Harpie"
>
>  Well, Harpie, that´s you but what about me? Suppose you hear my 
> playing but
>  can´t see me. Would you recognize me too? Of course, Dad, when you try
>  "Bluesette" for the 100th time you always play the same wrong notes 
> at always
>  the same spots, and that´s you. OK, Harpie, you should shut up again.

   I noticed that the upper 2 paragraphs were slanted "Negative" (i.e.: 
plays as terrible, and: same wrong notes.). Why would the idea that 
someone "sucks" at playing have a co-orelation to having one's own 
personal sound? Did I miss something?
>
>  Finally, among all my question marks about the "Niche", what 
> disconcerted me
>  most is this "you have to find".

  OK, why not if I drop the HAVE to word and change it to: I personally 
feel..AND this is only my opinion, mind you, that it sure would be 
swell if I/you/me/she/it was able to develop My/your/mine/her/it's own 
UNIQUE sound....Yeah, I like that better.

>  I say: I play my harp for my very own pleasure and
>  nobody can demand that I have to find a typical sound and that goes 
> also for the
>  case I played on stage as a prof.

  I wouldn't DREAM of demanding anything from you. :)   
......................Joey
>
>
>  Siegfried
>
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