Re: [Harp-L] Comb Material

["Vern Smith" <jevern@xxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "B Boggs" <ceudoazul@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 10:46 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] Comb Material


> Forgive me for posting when I have not followed all of the discussion of 
> comb materials.
>  I use Bushman and Hohner Special 20 harps most often.
>  When  players I respect said they prefer wood comb Marine Bands I would 
> wonder if I was missing something.
>  I thought part of the sound the player hears is partly due to bone 
> conduction and the quality of feel of the comb as it relates to the 
> different senses (sight, touch, feel in mouth-lips-tongue) which form a 
> perception (in the brain/soul).
>  Even the term music can be argued. Some in a discussion would require 
> that to be music, the sounds must have certain form and follow certain 
> rules. Others would call some sounds music without the same requirements.
>  My point is that a lot of communication leads to misunderstanding because 
> the basic terms are not defined explicitly in the context of the 
> discussion. Many arguments I have had were based on asssumptions of what a 
> word or term meant to me which is not always the same for another.
>  My interest here is in harmony, I am a little fish in a big pond.

I regard the harmonica as a machine whose behavior, though complex, is 
capable of being understood through physics and acoustics. I try to 
understand that behavior by scientific methods and describe it in 
engineering terms.  I always support any claims that I make with empirical 
data and/or acoustical theory.  My purpose is better harmonicas and more 
effective maintenance.  I have found that cherished harmonica myths exist 
and need IMO to be debunked.  This is interpreted as arrogance by some. 
Even if you disagree, I give you somthing definite to argue against. 
Occasionally, I assert the authority of books and technical articles on 
musical acoustics.  I resist the notion that the instrument has an 
impenetrable mystique, or a gauzy link to the "human soul."  The musicians 
have the biases, emotions, mystiques, and memories.

Vern
Visit my harmonica website www.Hands-Free-Chromatic.7p.com