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What's New - BlowsMeAway Shop Tour

Posted Thu, 05/18/2017 - 20:35 by David Barrett Admin
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Join Greg Heumann and me for a shop tour of BlowsMeAway Productions. In this tour we'll talk about his products, the reasoning behind the need for those products and the best part of the tour... Greg actually makes a wood microphone for us on camera! If you would like to ask Greg questions, post in the "Ask Harp Mic Expert Greg Heumann" portion of the forum. continue reading...

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David's Tip of the Day: $50 Custom Harp Case

Posted Fri, 02/19/2016 - 09:47 by David Barrett Admin
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My student (thanks Dan) came in with a new case yesterday. It was a RedHead 2-Pistol Aluminum Gun Case, and it was a real nice size and weight, and well built. $50 bucks at Bass Pro shop (http://www.basspro.com/RedHead-2Pistol-Aluminum-Gun-Case/product/1308281...). The foam is perforated so that any shape can be pinched out and it fit his harps really well. continue reading...

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David's Tip of the Day: Jason Ricci tours BlowsMeAway Productions

Posted Tue, 02/02/2016 - 09:48 by David Barrett Admin
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Join Jason Ricci as he tours Greg Heumann's shop at BlowsMeAway Productions https://youtu.be/OdeY5flcOwU

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What's New: Harmonica Recording Techniques by John Shirley

Posted Wed, 09/23/2015 - 12:22 by David Barrett Admin
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Part 1 of this series offers audio demonstrations from Professor John Shirley of various microphone types and mic placements for recording both acoustic and amplified harmonica. It also outlines issues of audio interference (comb filtering) when combining multiple signals from the same source and provides examples of the use of Direct Injects and Line Outs.

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David's Tip of the Day: 4-Point Hold on Harmonica = Less Fatigue, Part 3

Posted Wed, 07/29/2015 - 07:46 by David Barrett Admin
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And now for the fourth point of the 4-Point hold...

The webbing of skin between your thumb and forefinger creates a nice backstop for the left side of the harmonica. The location of where you place the corner of the harmonica depends on the size and shape of your left hand, but the general ideas is simple... allow a little bit of the rear, left-hand corner of the harmonica settle into that area at some point so that it prevents the harmonica from sliding away from your mouth as you play. continue reading...

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David's Tip of the Day: Vintage Bullet Harmonica Microphone User Manuels

Posted Mon, 07/20/2015 - 06:46 by David Barrett Admin
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It was a good day when Shure came out with this Discontinued Microphones PDF listing years ago http://www.shure.com/americas/support/user-guides/discontinued-products/.... This made it easy to find which microphones had good elements, but were cheap due to their awkward size or lack of cool art deco styling.

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David's Tip of the Day: Why to Like Volume Controls

Posted Mon, 06/29/2015 - 08:01 by David Barrett Admin
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Yesterday I shared some reasons of why I don't like volume controls. Here are some reasons why a volume control can be good...

1) Set your volume control to 10, and the amp as loud as it can go just before feedback. Now drop your volume on the mic to 8. This 8 will be your normal volume, even for solos (remember to play softly as your normal playing volume... you want to have dynamic range so that you can play louder for your solo). If the band gets too excited and plays too loudly, then you know you have two more notches on your volume to get louder. continue reading...

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David's Tip of the Day: What I Don't Like about Volume Controls

Posted Fri, 06/26/2015 - 07:22 by David Barrett Admin
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Why I don't like about volume controls...

1) The harmonica is a wind instrument... you control your volume with how much you breath through the instrument. Why do you need a volume control to control something that's part of the nature of the instrument? continue reading...

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David's Tip of the Day: Cutting Through on Stage

Posted Thu, 06/25/2015 - 07:39 by David Barrett Admin
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Once you've dialed in your amp to sound great for performance, turn the treble and mid up half a number. The tone we prefer is often too bassy and lacks the cut needed to be heard in performance. By bringing your treble and mid up half a number it provides a boost in the frequencies that make our sound more intelligible without sacrificing too much of the bassy tone we dig.

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TubeDepot

Posted Wed, 04/22/2015 - 08:00 by David Barrett Admin
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I often get asked where to purchase replacement tubes for an amp. Here you go: https://tubedepot.com
Thanks to Mark Overman for sharing this website with me many years ago.

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