Playing Low F Harmonica On Stage
Last Sunday at the Swig Bar in San Francisco, the band leader called "You Never Can Tell" in C, which is a song I had played before, but this time I was armed with my Low F harmonica instead of my regular F (after seeing David's travel case post). When I was playing in the lower register, I noticed that the sound I was hearing from the PA seemed to disappear. When I played in the upper register it sounded like it always does. I was wondering if that has something to do with my my technique or if that's just a biproduct of the the microphone and the PA interacting with the low tones of the Low F harmonica?
Hi, David.
Last night at Swig, I was faced with the same situation:Same song, same key, same low F harmonica. This time, using your suggestions, I cupped the mic a bit in the lower octave. Worked like a charm!
Great!
Hello sfjorge. The lower-keyed harps will not cut as well as the higher-keyed harps... this is why the louder, more rock-based harp players like the C, D, Eb and F Harps. Assuming you were playing in front of the vocal mic, and not holding it in your hands, place your hands more around the mic when traveling to the low end... this will give you the volume you need. You can all-around cup the vocal mic if you wish, just remembering to play softer on the high end.
The next time you go to a jam session, get there way early or stay late and ask the guys if you can play a couple minutes on the vocal mic to work your technique. If it's quiet, and they're relaxed fellas, they'll let you do it.