[Harp-L] re: Combs



On the "chopped air/siren" theory:
Take a low-pitched harp, hit it with a single quick blow, and pull it away from your mouth quickly.
What do you hear, and feel with your hands? It's certainly noticeable, how significant is debatable.
It seems to indicate that there is something besides chopped air happening in the comb and cover plates.
Something that lives a few seconds beyond that initial puff of air.
You might have a vibrating body that in normal use(playing) is in varying degrees of contact with skin and bones(teeth).
It might be perceived by the brain in ways that even brain-surgeons-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx will never unravel.


I also suggest that you do try playing with earplugs/earmuffs. I think that our individual physiology/technique is a huge variable here.
I was a bit puzzled about Vern's conclusion on this one(earmuffs), although I am sure that he heard what he heard.
Just try it-don't postulate, let us know what you (think you) hear.


On the "how important what the player hears vs. the audience" discussion:

Try playing with earphones on, said earphones connected to maybe a nice tube preamp/reverb/whatever-signal-processor, while the audience gets only the dry unprocessed sound. Then try again with the same dry sound through the earphones (and to the audience again). Do you play it the same way?
(Note: no real audience is required for this test.)


I would suggest that there is a real (and important) feedback loop in the player. How it responds to different comb materials is not a dead subject in my book, based on anything I have read on harp-l in the last ten years or so. I do think that the taste/weight/feel factors might be confused with a players ability to perceive differences, and a truly objective test in near impossible to construct.

disclaimers:

I accept the SPAH results on the inability of listeners to distiguish between comb materials, under the limited conditions of tha test.
I also doubt that players can identify comb materials by playing them. (with equal taste/weight/feel, etc.)


Joe










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