Hohner meisterclasse dilemas
Hello Winslow,
I would need your help to demistify the hohner meisterclasse "A" harmonica that I have recently bought.
The reason I have chosen that specific model was...well it was the most expensive model I saw in my local store and the fact that I had got tired of the several unpropperly gapped "marine band deluxe" A harmonicas that i had previously bought and then returned...well I kept one of the marine band deluxes but later i found out it's bamboo comb is badly shaped.
So anyways I struggle quite a lot with that meisterclasse now, because it seems that it bends the notes much easily, so I wanted to know is it just me or it is really meant to do that? For a beggining player who really wants to get that bends would be kind of fun, but now when I can get the bends I am struggling how to actualy get an unbent tone.
I especially have trouble with the 2 and 3 draw. If I need a clear unbent tone I need to inhale ever so slightly, otherwise they bend too far, eapecially when tomgue slapping.
Now I dont have the same trouble with the marine band deluxe that I had kept, so it must be the harmonica, but then the question now is what should I do about it.
I have tried gapping the reeds a little bit in order to invrease the gap so that the stronger inhale will not have such a dramatic flattening effect, but without much success.
My last resort would be trying to scrape some metal off the 2 and 3 draw reeds in order to increase the original pich of those reeds so that when i draw and they will bend I will have just the right pitch. However I have only seen youtube videos of how this is done and I am a bit scared because thats quite a pricy instrument and I would not like damaging it if there would be another way to fix my problem.
Can you please explain me how should I approach this issue?
P.s: off course I am aware I need to work on the force I am inhaling with(and I am working on that) but in that particular case this does not seem enough.
Thanks in advance!
Angel
Thank you!
Yes you may be right :). I will have to work on that breathing first and then I will revisit the subject.
I suspect that your breathing technique is the root of the problem and not any of the harmonicas.
The problem you describe with Draw 2 and 3 is common in new players. It's sometimes referred to as pre-bending - you're bending without intending to.
Re-tuning is a bad idea, and gapping probably won't help. What will serve you best is to learn to breathe in such a way that you do not experience the problems you describe.
Try this:
Play one of the notes that bends when you don't want it to.
Now, remove the harmonica from your mouth. Continue to inhale and DO NOT CHANGE anything about your lips, tongue, or throat.
Now, listen to the sound of your breath.
if your breath is silent, that's what you want.
if you hear anything, that'a a problem. it means that you are obstructing the airflow, and that is causing the pitch of the note to change.
Is the opening in your mouth smaller than the hole in the harmonica? It needs to be bigger - as big as you can make it and still get a single note.
Is your tongue raised? It should lie along the floor of your mouth like a rug, away from the roof of your mouth.
Is your throat tightened? It should be wide opening, as if you're wawning.
Try working on these things and see what results.