[Harp-L] Bent overbends (was Suzuki Pure harp review)



Chris M. wrote:

>Bending the OBs up is a true problem because of the
>short reeds. There are so few people that can 1.)
>actually do it or 2.) hit the correct pitch or 3) can
>do it but can't use it musically that I thought it
>wasn't necessary to mention.

I've loved the verstility of both the Overdrive and
Discrete Comb. I use overbends for hitting a note
crisply and 'valve' style bends for sliding into a
note. Of course both these harp designs have their own
quirks which make them a challenge to play.

On regular harps I really miss the expressiveness of
the isolated reed bends. Assume a 'C' harp. I can OB
Hole 4 for the Eb. I can even bend it up to E natural
(depending on the particular harp). I can't sustain it
however and what I don't think feasible would be to
hit that bent OB from a standstill. This is so
desireable because musically, one would want to slide
down from E to Eb just as much as slide up.

Yeah, I've tried valved harps too. I like 'em on the
blow bends but couldn't make any headway on the valved
draw bends.

I guess my question is for Chris or any other OB
heavyweights that might be lurking. Is this something
that can be done or do you just not bother with, say,
the given example of a bend from E to Eb?

Since I'm only looking for expression and would use OB
to hit the missing notes one other approach might be
to employ prebends. Just the slight, quartertone bends
on Blows 4,5,6. How 'bout this option?

Paul

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