[Harp-L] Combs!



For it's worth, I'm in the category of those believing that different comb materials have a subtle difference in tone and that cover plate design also makes a difference. My unscientific speculation is that different comb materials have different friction factors (for lack of a better term) on the air molecules as the air moves and is deflected through the channels of the comb during actual performance. This may not make a single steady note sound very much different, but I believe it does have a greater effect on the sound/tone as dynamic changes occur in breath pressure,volume of air, breath movement, air compression and shifting breath direction as the passage of the air through the channels shifts and changes while the player is playing, blowing, drawing, bending, sliding, chording, warbling, changing volume and moving from hole to hole slowly or quickly, producing different types of sounds with different types of air flow (which is what we do when we play). No, I have no empirical data to support this, but the only tests I have ever heard involved comparing the sound of a single steady note through different comb materials which is not a valid test, because that's not what we do when we actually play/perform and it may well be that the variations in the changing air flow are most dramatically affected by different comb materials, even if a single steady note is note or chord is not/ This may also be why the player responds or reacts differently to harmonicas with different comb materials. Anyway, this makes sense to me.
JP




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