Ask Instructor David Barrett

Hi David,
Thank you .... i did not realize there was some info on mics on the website.
Can you recommend a hand held mic for accoustic?
The one Joe mentioned is $699.
Steve

Practicing on Solo Harmonica Study 2, exercise 1.7, I'm having some trouble on the IV chord. I've had this trouble crop up in some other areas of my practice as well. continue reading...

Hi David,
In the case of non blues songs...Lovely May....would you use a bullet mic and loosen the cup or is it better to hold a condenser mic in hand or mount it on a stand?
Thank you...
Steve

David, can you sometime amend the mic and amp setup portions of the equipment videos you made to include the "Butterfield" style of amplification and Shure mics? Or are the setups identical?

Hi David,
on Ex. 1.10...the James Cotton piece.
is it better to tongue switch here or just go all the way to the left and hit the 1 draw before going back to the 2 draw on a tongue block?
Thank you!
Steve

David,

Working on Temperature, I love the 6th chorus - especially the dipped 6 draw into the resolution. On my Special 20s, though, the transition from 6 draw to 7 draw is a little awkward. In particular, it seems to take a lot more air pressure to sound the 7 draw than the 6 draw - and this seems to be the case up the scale past 7 as well.

Is this common across all harps? Is this something that customizers do when they work a harp (make the reeds all generally the same feel from bottom to top)? I ask because I'm ordering some customized Crossovers shortly. continue reading...

I'm still practicing Temperature and trying to get the feel of holding the mic while I'm playing. As tight as I hold it, I don't get much of a Wa-Wa effect. I noticed in the Mp3 example that you played, you skipped the Wa-Wa and just went for the notes. Can one get a good Wa-Wa effect with a bullet mic?

David, I can tongue block bend somewhat fairly on the low end of the harp now, but not without some difficulty. Most of my difficulty seems to be centered around my embouchure. When bending, I tend to bear down on the harp with my mouth, my embouchure tight. The resulting bend most times sounds pinched (for want of a better description) and sometimes leaky from the right corner of my mouth. If I relax my embouchure, I can't bend. I didn't really have this problem when I used to pucker bend (my embouchure was tighter than my normal playing, but still somewhat loose). continue reading...

I just tried to send a recording and immediately afterwords a screen came up ith only the words "invalid address" with my name on it. Nothing has changed on my end since I joined and I been able to send other songs. When you havethe time, please let me know if it made the trip.

Thanks1

Bob Freeze

I just tried to send a recording and immediately afterwords a screen came up ith only the words "invalid address" with my name on it. Nothing has changed on my end since I joined and I been able to send other songs. When you havethe time, please let me know if it made the trip.

Thanks1

Bob Freeze