going through a lot of harps.
Greetings.
I have been taking the LOA excersices for about a year now. I have been going through quite a few harmonicas. Already I had to repurchase several in the key of A and D. I am going with the recommended marine band Hohners.
I am thinking I should invest in an instrument that might hold up to my endless practicing. Its frustrating to get into a practice session ony to be held up because a note here or there is no longer accessible. I appreciate any advise from the experts.
Tom
I went through my first A harp rather quickly also. I bought a new one and things worked better (bending moslty was easier). However, I didn't get rid of my old A harp. I looked at some fo the videos for taking care of your harp (figured I would experiment with a backup) and found that over time the gapping of the reeds would go bad and that if I just took the time to fix the gapping and my old harp worked like a champ. So, if you are experiencing a similar thing, I would try that. FYI, I am use Special 20's, so same reed plates as the Marine Band.
Yes play more softly. Also think about custom harps. MBs are now at $50. A custom MB is $130- $150, a pleasure to play, last much longer, and at that price you will remember not to blow too hard.
Thanks for the advice. I'll work on playing at a softer tone. I'll consider the customized MBs once I feel a little more confident with my play.
I'm not an expert, just a fellow student. But since there are no replies to your post ... In the past I also went through a lot of harps, but in the year since I've been using this site, I've only bought one new one. I think this is mainly because I took David Barrett's advice and I play more softly - much more softy - than before. Sometimes notes do stop working but I take the harp apart and clean it and give the offending reed a gentle twang. I think any harp will go wrong if you blow it too hard, so I wouldn't recommend more expensive ones.
Nick