[Harp-L] Terminology: overblow, overdraw, overbend, blow-bend

[Robert Hale]

Can anyone link me to the briefest, definitive definitions?

draw bend
overdraw
blow bend
overblow
overbend

Just when I think I've got it, I read something that doesn't match my
understanding. (sigh)

Does this site: http://www.harmotab.com/?action=soft use overblow
accurately?

Robert Hale
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[Winslow Yerxa]

A bend (draw or blow) lowers the pitch of the reed being played. The reed being played is vibrating in closing mode, whereby it moves into its slot in the reedplate and then swings back for a full vibration. A bend may involve an isolated blow or draw reed, or may involve the other reed in the same hole (blow reed with a draw bend, draw reed with a blow bend) operating in opening mode (see below).

Overblow, overdraw, and overbend (a term which includes both overblow and overdraw) are terms that refer to an action in which the player
raises the pitch of a reed, and does so by making it push away from the reedplate before it springs back, thereby playing the reed in opening mode. For instance, in Hole 6 of a diatonic C harmonica, Blow 6 is G and Draw 6 is A. You can produce B-flat by making the draw reed respond to an exhaled breath, playing it in opening mode and thereby sounding a semitone higher than its closing pitch.
 
Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Harmonica Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance

________________________________
From: Robert Hale <rob...@dukeofwail.com>
To: harp-L list <har...@harp-l.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 31, 2013 4:27 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] Terminology: overblow, overdraw, overbend, blow-bend

[phil...@aol.com]

The HarmoTab page shows harp tablature/notation for a line of blow notes on a D major harp at the top of the page. It does not define symbols but appears to show a blow 6 as D and a circled blow 6 as G# (aka Ab) which would make the rendering a bent note (G to Ab/G# is a half=step lower, thus bend). Unless you are playing a harmonica with helper reeds (XB40, SUB30) there is no way to blow bend hole six to a lower pitch. A draw bend on hole 6 would bend half a step to Bb.


So the tab in the illustration is wrong.



The diagram below showing the layout of the harmonica is also mislabeled. What are labeled "half overblow" and "full overblow" are actually blow bends. The draw reeds are labeled correctly at "half bend" and "full bend" on the harmonica described as a 10-hole in the key of D "Diatonique Richter Standart" which is French for Diatonic Richter Standard (tuning).


The graphics are poor quality (low resolution) and they get even fuzzier when I enlarge them on my 27-inch iMac monitor.


Now a half-valved 10-hole richter harp would produce a blow bend on hole 6 and to my way of thinking is a lot easier to execute (and closer to pitch). Half-valved means holes 1-6 have valves (windsavers) on draw reeds allows blow bends on 1-6. Blow reeds 7-10 have valves allowing draw bends on those holes. All reeds are half-valved so the timbre is constant; otherwise the unvalved reeds would sound a little different than the valved ones.


Other than the mislabeling, the program looks interesting. However, the Mac version requires the JRE Java Runtime Environment on your system for manual installation. Has anybody installed HarmoTab 3.1 on a snow leopard Mac? The download for a PC requires no prep.


Hope this helps,
Phil Lloyd

[Winslow Yerxa]

I have designed tow very highly praised harmonica tab fonts, Fletch Diatonic and Chromatic Sans.

They require no special installation, provide complete symbol sets in each font, and work on both Windows and OSX. 

The Fletch Diatonic font provides for extreme bends and overblows on harmonicas with up to 14 holes, allowing tabbing for valved harps, XB-40, and SUB30 among others.

Each font is $10, paid by Paypal to harmonica...@yahoo.com.

Want to check out how the fonts work and what they look like? Download the user manuals here:

http://www.angelfire.com/music2/harmonicainfo/products/Fletch_Manual.pdf

http://www.angelfire.com/music2/harmonicainfo/products/Chromatic_Sans_Manual.pdf

Winslow

 
Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Harmonica Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance

________________________________
From: "phil...@aol.com" <phil...@aol.com>
To: har...@harp-l.org
Sent: Tuesday, April 2, 2013 9:50 AM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Terminology: overblow, overdraw, overbend, blow-bend

[Robert Hale]

On Mon, Apr 1, 2013 at 1:47 PM, Winslow Yerxa <winslo...@yahoo.com>
wrote:

> A bend (draw or blow) lowers the pitch of the reed being played.
>

> Thank you, Winslow. I'm saving this message as the concise summary I was
looking for!

[Robert Hale]

On Tue, Apr 2, 2013 at 9:50 AM, <phil...@aol.com> wrote:

> The HarmoTab page shows harp tablature/notation

Hi Phil,

Thanks for the detailed analysis! That helps.