xb40
Sat, 12/17/2016 - 13:26
Hey Winslow,
I was watching your interview on this website, which is really interesting. I am curious about one thing - you mentioned the XB-40 is louder than a standard diatonic. Do you know why it is louder? Is it just because the holes, and the actual harmonica, is bigger? Does it have something to do with the extra reeds? If it has to do with the hole size, can we generalize that diatonics with bigger holes, or just larger diatonics in general - like seydel, have the potential to be louder?
I think what I meant is that you can play it louder without having it balk under the strain. It has nothing to do with bigger hole openings. And the ductwork inside the XB is more complex than standard diatonics and even than most chromatics.
I don't have a definitive answer, but I isuspect that having a responder reed for *every* reed in the harp, not just for half the reeds, and having that responder reed being dedicated, may have something to do with it.