On the Road Again
Hi Kinya. I was wondering if you new how Alan Wilson retuned his harmonica to play On the Road Again?
Subway John may be talking about the bent Draw 3, which i agree, is something Blind Owl was quite good at.
But there's another question often asked about this recording. Blind Owl plays a note one octave higher than bent Draw 3. But unlike Draw 3, Draw 7 does not bend down a semitone. Some commentators have suggested that Blind owl taped off Blow 7, allowing him to bend Draw 7 down. But that would produce a bend that sounds very different from what you hear on the record.
You could get the note by playing an overblow in Hole 6, but again the note doesn't sound like an overblow, and Blind Owl is not known for playing overblows.
Another possibility is that he simply tuned draw 6 up a semitone, and to my ear this is what he did.
I think you are right in assuming that the 6 draw is tuned up a semitone. I've done this with an A harp and you get a very accurate replication of the note this way. As you say Winslow, an overblow or taped reed would have a different sound.
Great song, great solo. Nail it with a retuned 6 draw!
Hello John,
I'm not quite certain he altered the tuning of his harmonica on this tune. Alan Wilson could nail that flatted 3rd as good as any of our harmonica heroes.
Let me give it another listen and I will get back to you ...
Kinya