Re: Hello all!

Hi Russ and all

There's nothing much wrong with a "quiet list" - it's the quality of 
discussion that counts.  I've left a couple of lists in recent times because 
of excessive "noise" but I'm sticking with Harp-l and HarpOn because I've 
picked up a huge amount of knowledge from them and you never know what's 
going to crop up that could be useful.

I didn't expect a big response to the mic question.  It seems that the 
"easiest" solutions to getting yourself heard with a tremolo are to play 
down a vocal mic on a stand or to have a "built-in" mic of the type that 
Richard Smith makes in the UK (I think his firm is called Harmonic 
Solutions).  I don't know whether anyone has ever addressed this in relation 
to tremolo harps.  I have arthritis in my fingers and have had to abandon my 
Green Bullet with my blues harps, so I've taken to using a tiny hand-held 
mic that was designed for recording with camcorders and minidisc recorders 
(is that a lav mic, Russ - I'm not certain of the terminology?).  With the 
big tremolos though I have to keep moving the harmonica through my hands so 
that the holes I'm playing are close to the mic - a weird technique, but it 
kind of works!!  I need something hand-held in my session situations, rather 
than something on a mic stand.  I've occasionally seen harp-players in pub 
sessions who seem content to let themselves be drowned out by the other 
instruments and the background noise, but I've convinced my co-conspirators 
that I have as much right to be heard and to contribute to the blend as they 
have!  I only use a small battery amp and don't go in for special effects.  
The big problem is with my double-sided Echos - the mic has to held on the 
non-played side of the harp, away from my face, so the volume has to be 
turned up for tremolo-playing.  Then I usually forget to turn it back down 
again for blues harp and end up nearly giving everyone in the pub a heart 
attack.  A little while ago I looked into the Microvox mics.  There's a 
dedicated harmonica mic in their range, and you can get a control unit with 
a volume control.  You have to make sure it's compatible with your amp setup 
though, and the other thing is the expense....

It's always very rewarding to get to play with just one or two others in a 
church or large hall, unamplified, but there's no getting away from the fact 
that there are some settings in which you'll be drowned out unless you do 
something about it, no matter how good your tone and projection.

Steve

Ps. In my last post I said "All this work could have been avoided had I 
known about the Suzuki tremolos!"  when I actually meant to say "Tombo 
tremolos."


http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/trad_irish_harmonica
HEAR my CD clips: http://www.gjk2.com/steveshaw/cd.htm
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>Hey Steve,
>
>Glad you are here. Not too much going on here.  Never seems to keep going.
>Maybe you can start something? Although it seems you have tried and no one
>has answered. I have no experience with playing a larger harp with a mic 
>but
>don't you use a lav mic anyway? I'm about to start using a lav mic with my 
>10
>holers to see how well it sounds with the rest of the set up.
>
>Russ




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