[Harp-L] Brendan's "Power Tunings" now available through SEYDEL

[Brendan Power]

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve commenced a friendly partnership with
SEYDEL to offer some of my personal harmonica tunings through a special
‘Power Tunings’ page on their website:



SEYDEL PowerTunings page with Info and Ordering Links

http://www.seydel1847.de/epages/Seydel1847.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Seyde
l/Categories/Products/Specialities/PowerTunings



One of my older tunings, Paddy Richter, has become so popular that Seydel
offer it (along with standard Richter) as one of their two default tunings
when ordering diatonics. The Power Tunings page offers my more exotic
tunings, but ones that are gaining traction amongst players looking for a
fresh sound and more expression from the 10 hole diatonic.



POWERDRAW is a hot hybrid of Richter (holes 1-6) and PowerBender (holes
7-10). It’s a great tuning for lovers of the traditional Richter harp who
can keep all their familiar playing in holes 1-6, but then really wail out
on the sexy draw bends in the top end. Very easy to learn with great
expression, and retains good octave splits. Check out the video:



PowerDraw Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B2CutdcSxs



POWERBENDER is my personal favourite 10 hole harp tuning. It’s becoming
more and more popular since I launched it in 2011 with some low-cost
own-brand models. Now players can order it in quality Seydel steel-reed
harps in any key, and in un-valved or half-valved options. Check out the
video for more info and to hear how it sounds on the Seydel harps:



PowerBender Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC3CrRhkAMA



I’ve long admired the player-friendly approach of the Seydel company, and
it’s a pleasure to be working with them to offer players my tunings in
their excellent harps. More Power Tunings to come!



Brendan Power

WEBSITES: <http://www.brendan-power.com/> www.brendan-power.com ●
www.x-reed.com

FACEBOOK: <http://www.facebook.com/tethnik> www.facebook.com/tethnik

YOUTUBE: <http://www.youtube.com/BrendanPowerMusic>
www.youtube.com/BrendanPowerMusic

[Eric Miller]

As a powerdraw player, I just wanted to recommend that if you've not tried
playing one of the power tunings, it's really worth giving it a shot. And,
you don't have to drop a bunch of cash on a Seydel to give one a try...you
can acquire one of his economy harps on his site for about $50US just to
kick the tires. However, I have Seydel powerdraw harps and they are pretty
fantastic, worth the extra $$$ in my opinion. I don't play them anymore
though, because....

I personally prefer the more comfortable mouth feel of the Seydel's and S20
type recessed plate designs, but I'm a much better *player *on a MB or a
Manji due to the narrower hole spacing and the crisper comb edges. So,
I've also been picking up some crossovers and Manjis and (gulp) re-tuning
them myself with solder thanks to Richard Sleigh's toolkit and excellent
guidance. It's a huge pain in the ass. Getting them straight from Seydel
or from Brendan (with proper reeds factory installed for the right pitch,
not solder) is really the way to go. I don't notice any difference in
playing solder tuned vs. factory tuned, but they are just a huge pain to
re-tune. The only reason I do it myself it because you can't get a Manji
or crossover in power tuning direct from the factory like you can with
Seydel. If Hohner or Suzuki also adopted the tuning flexibility that
Seydel has when ordering online, then it would be fantastic. Maybe I'll
just bite the bullet in the future and start ordering the Seydel1847s
pre-tuned from Seydel. The $110 price tag is a little tough for me though,
when I can get Manjis and crossovers for substantially less.

One note on choosing powerdraw vs. powerbender: if you are primarily a 2nd
pos player, and the standard blues licks between holes 4 and 5 (such as the
standard 4 draw bend, 4draw, 5draw, repeat) are a big part of your playing,
then you might consider a powerdraw harp, which keeps richter 1-6
unchanged, but opens up 7-10 to great bluesy notes without having to OB.
You can still certainly play 2nd pos blues on a powerbender (in fact, it
was designed for 2nd position) but you lose some of the familiar and
standard lick *patterns* due to notes being separated.

My first power tuning was a powerbender, but I switched to powerdraw when I
realized the differences.

Anyway, give one a shot. If you favor holes 1-6 and just use 7-10
occasionally for embellishment, that will change with a power tuning. The
upper register plays just like the lower, so you can play with the same
confidence. In fact holes 1/2 and 8/9 are *identical. *It's pretty
liberating.

Other than having tremendous respect for him as a player and technician, I
have no association with Brendan.

[Brendan Power]

Thanks Eric Miller, for your positive assessment of PowerDraw tuning and
interesting observations. I’d love to hear what you’re playing on it! Do
you have any recordings or YouTube videos you’d like to share? BTW, tuning
will get quicker the more you do it J



My main 10 hole harp tuning is PowerBender but I have a few PowerDraw harps
in my gig bag for special performance pieces. I play my “Didgeriblues”
drone/soundscape tune in PowerDraw tuning:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ5DCe_YOGE



It’s interesting how the tunings evolved over the years! In the 1980s I
created a tuning I called Regular-Breath Tuning on 11 hole harps I made from
Hohner Special 20s. I recorded my first album ‘Country Harmonica’ in
1983/84 with them. The harps were pretty innovative in other ways too: first
half-valved diatonics, first use of BluTac for reversible retuning, possibly
the first flattened-back covers. You can see photos of those old harps and
read the story behind them here if you’re interested:



http://www.brendan-power.com/Country%20Harmonica.htm



Regular-Breath mixed a Richter bottom end with a tuning I call
PowerChromatic. I first developed PowerChromatic for my half-valved
chromatics and still use it today. It’s my default chromatic tuning, but I
use it on 12 hole diatonics too.



In the 90s I switched to a tuning called PowerBlow for most of my 10 hole
harp playing. It has holes 1-6 same as Richter, but holes 7-10 are tuned for
blow bending on the same notes that draw bend down the bottom. I recorded my
Blues album “Two Trains Running” with it:



http://www.brendan-power.com/Two%20Trains%20Running.htm



PowerBender came next, using a mirror-image of PowerBlow in holes 7-10: the
same notes but the breath directions reversed.



PowerDraw is the top end of PowerBender fused with holes 1-6 from standard
Richter. I think it is the easiest one for most players to learn, as it
retains all the main established ground that generations of harp players
have worked over, along with easy intuitive draw bends in the top octave.
Plus it retains nice octave splits, which is important for traditional
tongue-block players.



You can see the tuning diagrams for these and others of my tunings here:



http://www.brendan-power.com/Diatonic%20
<http://www.brendan-power.com/Diatonic%20&%20Chromatic%20Tunings.htm>
&%20Chromatic%20Tunings.htm



I’ve created many more obscure tunings too, but those are the main ones I
use.

[Eric Miller]

When I have a few moments this week, I'll put up a video of a song I'm
working on right now: Chitlins con Carne. Although I'm basing my study of
this tune on Pat Ramsey's version, which is all 1-6....I'll add some
upper octave 7-10 stuff to the improv segment of the arrangement.