I finally make a decision to learn some bass harmonica and to get myself cheap but not actually bad Chinese Swan Bass, 29 notes from C2 to D4 (C#4 is omitted) on a single deck (it looks more comfortable for me than two stacked harmonicas). I can play some electric bass, very little (just for fun) double bass, I can play some bass lines using diatonic with pitch shifter. But I feel, that have to learn more on bass lines in general and especially on bass harmonica technique. There are a lot of information about bass lines over internet, while my google search failed to find anything about bass harmonica. My main questions are about inhaling: 1) as it’s all blow and I hardly understand how to play more than 3 notes in a row legato without loosing power or short break for inhale. Is it possible? 2) How to proper choose place for inhale? 3) It have rather wide dynamics, so where is my mezzo forte? ((: 4) Some excercises on proper/recommended articulation to sound good. For solo diatonic/chromatic harmonica playing I vary articulation a lot from smooth attack to hard tonguing. I understand that here it's about the same, but I don't feel yet what will be better in a context. I feel that sometimes I need lines without attack like fretless bass, but sometimes I need hard tonguing like slap bass. 5) Does any good book/dvd on bass harmonica exist?
Might it be possible to adjust the dynamics with a pedal or volume knob on the mic? I haven't played a bass harmonica but I know my LLF rattles a bit on the 1 hole if I attack too aggressively. You can still have dynamics but not as wide a range as on a higher harp. I actually kind of like the things you can do on draw notes with your mouth shape better than blows on the low reeds.
As for getting breaths on a all blow instrument, one of the hardest things for me learning harmonica was learning to do balanced breathing after having played baritone tuba as a kid. On an all blow instrument you kind of learn to get as big a breath as possible every time you can and to really focus on making it last with your diaphragm. As important as good posture is on harmonica it's even more so on an all blow instrument. I know on my LLF the reeds sound longer after I stop blowing than they do on higher harps. You may be able to sneak out for a breath at the end of some notes, but usually you just have to pace yourself carefully. 'Normal' harmonica breathing may get in your way a bit at first.
Personally, on my low tuned harps (which are, of course, only low tuned diatonics, not a bass harp) I use a lot of hard tcks to get a sort of percussive sound alternating with sshhh sounds, at least on my harmonica minor LD. The Tcks are about 50% tongue noise and 50% harp noise. Works for klezmer sounding stuff. I also like to do a lot of splits, keeping the left note the same but playing a simple melody on the right notes. I'm sure you can do that better than me, but I have noticed it sounds particularly nice on low harps.
The big thing, I think, is going to come back to not balancing your airflow the same way you would playing a blow/draw instrument. I came at it from the other direction but that used to have me just about exploding on long draw sequences.
I don't know how your circular breathing is, but that might help too, if you can maintain enough airflow doing it.
Boris, I took the liberty of posting your question on Slidemeister, a group that specializes in chromatic harmonica, as well as bass and chord harmonica. That group has a small diatonic section, but is stringent in keeping the focus on chromatic, bass, and chord unless you post in the specific diatonic section. There are some very experienced players in that group.
Anyway, before suggesting that you go to that group for assistance I explained that you needed assistance with bass harp and posted your question there. I asked if there were members of Slidemeister who could help you if you posted there, or if there is someone specifically to whom I could refer you who could answer your questions.
I think Michael Rubin is a perfect match for Boris, and he wouldn't need but a couple of Skype lessons to be a master (based on what he did to the SSCH I made him try at the Suzuki booth at SPAH). http://michaelrubinharmonica.com/
Judy Simson has a Bass Harmonica Book and there is another one that slips my mind. I play the double harmonica hohner bass. The hohners are double reeds probably for more volume. I used bass guitar books also for practice. This is my only recording of me playing bass as a sideman for an artist Juan Avila. It's a childrens song. The Bass comes in around the 55 second mark. That's me on Jaw harp. ----------
The Swan Senior Bass is an instrument with the range of a cello or baritone sax; it doesn't go down to the low E of a bass guitar or double-deck bass harmonica. But just as the cello plays bass in a string quartet, the Swan Senior can be used as a bass (and also play bari sax lines).
You can also play the Swan Senior melodically, with vibrato.
While the Swan Senior is a single deck instrument, the protruding reedplates can disturb your embouchure as you slide between the upper and lower row of holes. Some players suggest grinding the front reedplate edges back.
There are two parts to learning to play bass:
1) Learning how bass lines function and how to come up with good ones.
2) Developing technique on your chosen bass instrument.
I suspect that you're doing OK on the first but, as you indicate, are looking for some pointers on the second.
The advice I've received from most bass harmonica players is to play softly and use amplification. This conserves breath, which is the biggest single challenge in playing an all-blow instrument.
Consider the stereotypical tuba marching band "oom-pah" bass line Root! (breath) Fifth! (breath)
The two strongest notes in the chord come on the strongest beats, with the weak beats used for breathing (while other instruments play chords or drumbeats).
The opposite end of the spectrum would be a walking bass line that goes constantly, hitting every beat with no place to take a breath. That's not going to be possible unless you can circular breathe, which might be worth investigating. But you can take a beat (perhaps a weak beat) strategically to breathe instead of playing a note, or take the first part of the beat to breathe and syncopate the note onto the back half of the beat.
In between the two extremes, you can probably devise harmonically strong, rhythmically catchy bass lines that give you some breathing opportunities.
Here's a tune where I used the Swan Senior as the bass in a harmonica quintet arrangement of part of a Django Reinhardt tune called Porto Cabello:
I've got a Leo Shi "bass" harmonica (though, as Winslow mentions for the Swan, it's really a baritone), and I've been playing it, off and on, for about 4 years now. It was originally a "double decker", with the notes of a C diatonic scale on the lower harmonica, and the notes of the C# scale on the top (and, so, was "chromatic"). The interesting/frustrating thing about the Leo Shi is that it's constructed in their "Sequence Scale" layout, so that the notes alternate Blow and Draw, except for the 6th and 7th, which are both draw. So, for the C scale it goes: B D B D B D D. I should mention that there is only one note per hole, and the holes are quite wide (almost a centimeter each). The lowest note is the E that would be below the lowest E on a Low E diatonic. Because the "double decker" construction was way to awkward for me, I separated them, and really only ever play the C harmonica. I usually play it in the key of Em or the key of Am, and only occasionally in the key of C major. My approach, being untututored in the world of Bass lines, has been to play very simple arpeggiated lines over simple chord structures, or perhaps very simple pentatonic basslines. I do appreciate the fact that the Leo Shi bass harp has alternating blows and draws, because it lets me get pretty fast blow/draw bass 'chugs' going on (e.g., A and G alternating), and these sound good. The hardest thing, and what I still stumble on, is that the hole spacing is much much different than anything else I've played. It's too easy to 'miss' the hole you are going for, and get no note, and the spot with the two Draw notes next to each other is a stumbling block too. I also wish that the lowest note was the C below Low C!!! It's also only really able to play in a few keys, which is a major limitation too.
I've often wanted to get another Bass harp, but the prices are soooo steep for these things. I know Boris has the Tombo pocket bass too, but I think that would be just as limiting as the Leo Shi I already have. The Swan Senior is the only other low(ish) cost Bass harp out there, but clearly it has issues too.
BTW, I'm very curious also to learn about general Bass Harmonica instruction and techniques. As Boris discovered, I've found there to be quite few resources on the net for Bass harpists. Certainly as compared to those for diatonic and chromatic players...
EDIT: Just so folks can have an audible association with my description above, here's a looping tune of mine where I lay down a simple bassline with the Leo Shi. It's sorta Reggae.
In relation to regular harps what notes do bass harps play? Where are they compared to low tuned and super low tuned? (I know Jim made himself a LLD diatonic)
The standard bass harmonica has as its lowest note the same E as the low E string of a string bass or bass guitar. That's two octaves below the lowest E on a Low E or Low C. It's also one octave below the low E string on a guitar.
The C bass such as the Tombo Dragonfly or the Swan Senior Bass start on a C that's one octave lower than the lowest note on a Low C or a 16-hole chromatic or tenor chromatic. (The chromatics that Hering and Seydel call "Bariton" or "Baritono" are really tenors). Another way to look at it is that it's four semitones lower than the low E string on a guitar. =========== Winslow
So a Low Low Low E? Wow. That's not a reed, it's a brass plank!
There was a guy on Facebook that was taking reeds from reed organs and had rigged one up to play it with breath to experiment a bit. (Sorry Boris. Back to your post)
George Miklas played for the Harmonicats. He is awesome and a good choice for info or lessons. His web-site is: http://HarmonicaGallery.com ---------- And I Thank You !! KCz Backwoodz Bluz
@mlefree: As far as I can tell based on the info posted about both "types" of Swan Bass harps at various online retailers, they are the same harmonica. Both with 29 holes, all blow, upper row the C# scale, and bottom row the C scale. The curious thing is that when it's called the "29 hole" bass, it's sold for around $135. When it's called the "Senior" bass, it's sold for around $165. All pictures show same comb and covers, but maybe there's a difference in the reeds/reedplates that isn't specifically shown or mentioned. All the ad copy and descriptions that I've been able to find for the "29 Hole" are clearly translated from Chinese, and are not particularly informative for comparison to the few forum posts I've read about the Senior Bass, so I'm mainly guessing here... ----------
Thanks, isaasullah. That's the conclusion I have drawn as well. I had a friend point out to me that on Amazon, which is where my confusion arose, the two apparently different harps are offered from different sellers. I'll go for the $135 one. 8^)
