Re: [Harp-L] does the (dis)appearance of the harp hurt its popularity?

[BostonMoeJo@xxxxxxx]

Check out this Toob of Larry Adler:
 
_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WQHuDPgbWg_ 
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WQHuDPgbWg) 
 
In a message dated 6/2/2007 12:27:46 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx writes:

It's  true, watching a harmonica player just holding and playing the
instrument  is like watching someone who has bitten into a sandwich and
then forgotten  to chew.

But try watching some video of Sonny Terry. Even though blind,  he had a
well-developed sense of the theater of using his hands and his  full
arms for dramatic effect. 

In a different way, so did Larry  Adler. Caricatures of him always
played up the activity of his hand and  especially his fingers.

Dramatic use of hands, along with such actions  as switching harps in
the middle of a lick, and just general dynamic  interaction with the
audience, can make watching a harmonica player quite  interesting to a
non-harmonica playing audience.

Winslow

---  Marc Molino <mmolino54@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I've been  thinking that listening to harmonica is wonderful, but
> watching it  
> being played is not so fun. From an audience perspective, usually  the
> 
> diatonica harmonica is mostly obscured by the hands of  the player,
> which 
> makes for a kind of awkward performance  (turn off the sound on any
> harmonica 
> video and it looks like  some one is gagging or coughing while
> covering their 
> mouth).  In rare instances, either the player's own dancing or use of
> hands  
> seems to add to the non-acoustic part of the performance or some  very
> nice 
> film & editing help. Watching Sonny Boy (II) is  pretty entertaining
> (to me 
> at least):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFRMBWgyH-M
> I also like the way this JJ  Milteau video was shot: 
> http://jjmilteau.artistes.universalmusic.fr/  (click on the little
> video 
> camera icon on the right).
>  
> But what I'm noticing about these examples is that they are  very
> close up so 
> you can see what's going on. In Sonny Boy's  case, he is also singing,
> which 
> makes for a little more  variety. Most video is either shot much
> farther away 
> or if  you're there live, you're not that close. Chromatic harp
> performances  
> seem more interesting visually to me simply because you can  usually
> see the 
> harp itself. I'm not necessarily arguing for  making the instrument
> more 
> appealing or popular, but I'm  wondering what others think of how not
> being 
> able to see the  instrument impacts its appeal and/or how the audience
> 
>  perceives it.
> 
> -Marc Molino
> 
>  _________________________________________________________________
> Need  a break? Find your escape route with Live Search Maps.  
>
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?ss=Restaurants~Hotels~Amusement%20Park&cp=33
.832922~-117.915659&style=r&lvl=13&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=1118863&encT
ype=1&FORM=MGAC01
>  
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is  sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
>  http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l
> 




______________________________________________________________________________
______
Choose  the right car based on your needs.  Check out Yahoo! Autos new Car 
Finder  tool.
http://autos.yahoo.com/carfinder/
_______________________________________________
Harp-L  is sponsored by SPAH,  http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l







************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.