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Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 9:52 pm
by PetZounds
I found a harmonica and every time I get into my car I've been playing it while I drive to my destination.
It's pretty fun, honestly.
(Also I'm getting good at driving with my knee)

Any tips for getting good at this whacky instrument?
Recommendations for some good songs with harmonica?
Tell me the story about that time you ran a harmonica through a Fuzz War and a Boss flanger, or did something else cool.
Harmonica thread? :idk:

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 10:00 pm
by fcknoise
I like that they are tuned in scales so it becomes really hard to fuck up. I once played some harmonica and then used paulstretch on it and added reverb. It was very droney indeed

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 10:01 pm
by BoatRich
I've always wanted to ring mod a harmonica. I was messing with one at work the other day with a Carbon Copy and a Hoof and it was pretty rad though.

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 10:05 pm
by Chankgeez
I like where this thread's going. :D

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 10:15 pm
by DRodriguez
I have a set. I do not know how to play them properly. They are super fun. I should play them more. I need a bullet mic so I can properly play them through pedals.

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 11:31 pm
by Ugly Nora
Was considering buying one to layer drones, though I am not really interested in the harmonica sound per se, but rather more of the way it behaves if that make sense. Anyone have experience with making non- harmonica sounding drones with a harmonica?

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 11:52 pm
by Chankgeez
Ugly Nora wrote:Was considering buying one to layer drones, though I am not really interested in the harmonica sound per se, but rather more of the way it behaves if that make sense. Anyone have experience with making non- harmonica sounding drones with a harmonica?
:erm: I think you want a harmonium.

That thread is that way. ———-->

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 12:16 am
by echorec
harmonica + SOS delay + chorus = whale symphony

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 2:24 am
by HorseyBoy
First instrument I played was a harmonica, way, way back in the day. A friend of my older brother showed me some stuff and then I picked up a Sonny Terry "How to Play Blues Harp" book with a little pull-out plastic record inside and I was away. Used to play it when I was singing in bands, too, whenever a horn part or other melody line was needed. Barely pick one up at all these days but when I do it all comes rushing back and I can play just as well as I ever did (ie, well enough to get by). The only problem is I run out of breath real quick.
Hohner Special 20s (with the plastic combs) are the best harps for beginners. Get one in C (to play over G major) and another in D (to play over A) to start with because they're common keys and the easiest diatonic harps to play.
The trick is just getting the shape of your lips right and then learning how to bend a note over the reed. Once you do that, keep doing it until you pass out from lack of oxygen. Then it'll be stuck with you forever and you can chug away to your heart's content.

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 2:34 am
by coupleonapkins
The only person who I ever heard make a harmonica sound not like a harmonica was Mark Hollis of Talk Talk - his solo LP is so amazing, and it sometimes sounds like he's swallowing the daggum thing (kind of the way he sang, come to think of it), more drone than anything else, especially on that record (Talk Talk's LPs, too, but more conventionally).

He starts playing it around the 3:20 mark & onward:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw5mOJicfkA[/youtube]
Chankgeez wrote: :erm: I think you want a harmonium.

That thread is that way. ———-->
Glass Harmonica?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XPfoFZYso8[/youtube]

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 5:19 am
by Monarch
Glass harmonica and ring modulators :!!!:

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 5:42 am
by Monarch
Dudes, I got gas for glass harmonica now.

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 8:28 am
by Ugly Nora
Chankgeez wrote:
Ugly Nora wrote:Was considering buying one to layer drones, though I am not really interested in the harmonica sound per se, but rather more of the way it behaves if that make sense. Anyone have experience with making non- harmonica sounding drones with a harmonica?
:erm: I think you want a harmonium.

That thread is that way. ———-->
Of course I do, who doesn't? They don't behave the same as a harmonica though so it is a different beast. I may just pick up a cheap harmonica for cheap. Worst case scenario if I don't like it for drones, I can play Blues Traveler covers.

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 9:41 am
by Eivind August
I've got a cheap blues harmonica laying around somewhere. It's fun to blow it sometimes (eh Chank?).

I was playing in the street once, and this really old dude who walked past me pulled out a harmonica and shredded along for a few bars before silently returning to the shadows.

Re: Can any of y'all play HARMONICA?

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 11:12 am
by Chankgeez
Yeah, I like blowin' sometimes. :D

This thread delivers. :drool: