jonsparrow
555 posts
Jun 29, 2009
6:54 PM
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so do you play harp cause your poor or cause you like harp? i see alot of people bitchin about high priced harps which isnt realy alot of money. i have thousands an thousands of dollars worth of equitment. what the hell is $180? my fuckin xbox cost more then that! i aint rich. im poor as fuck. but i still get money when i need to. most of my stuff i paid for when i was workin but besides that i still get mine. what kind of sorry ass musician dont wanna spend more then $30 on there instrument. if thats the way you see it then playin music is more of a hobby for you. if you take something serious you want good quality shit. an alot of it. thats not to say theres anything wrong with playing a $30 harp. but when your saying that more then that is too much for you to even care to spend on the instrument is pathetic. that to me is on the same level as you enjoying to build model airplanes. im not speaking on any specific posts or persons. im just generalizing the attitude thats been going on about the b-rad. if i stepped on any ones toes.....go put on some steel toe boots. man up.
Last Edited by on Jun 29, 2009 6:55 PM
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ortrigger
40 posts
Jun 29, 2009
7:16 PM
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Well, seeing as I play multiple instruments, I'm going to give a little input on this. The adage that you get what you pay for has never been more true than in this day and age. But, it is still my personal opinion that a 30 dollar harp can sound just as good or better than a 180 dollar harp. I have a 600 dollar guitar and I think it plays just as well as the 1000 dollar guitar I compared it to. The differences in a MB and the B-Radical, just as with my guitar and the other, are subtle at the best. If you're a musician that's running low on cash, it's stupid to fork out the extra 150 bucks that could be used for rent or food unless you can realize and exploit those subtle nuances of the instrument.
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Trumpeter, beginning harpist, and possibly the only LDS person on this forum.
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jonsparrow
557 posts
Jun 29, 2009
7:24 PM
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"If you're a musician that's running low on cash, it's stupid to fork out the extra 150 bucks that could be used for rent or food unless you can realize and exploit those subtle nuances of the instrument."
i agree 100%
this is more towards the the notion that $180 is too much for a harp. guitar price range is a little differnt. harp to guitar you could compare a $400 guitar to a $1000 guitar. the $400 guitar will have shitty action that will hurt your fingers, the pick ups will be cheap an sound terrible etc... the more expensive guitar will have action barely off the frets, nice tone packed pickups, maybe pickups screwed directly to the body etc... its the little options that make it worth more money. same with the b-rad. you can play the same songs on a $400 guitar that you can on a $1000 one. an you can play the same songs on a $30 harp that you can on a $180 one. but its those little options that make it better to have.
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snakes
278 posts
Jun 29, 2009
7:43 PM
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jonsparrow
Right on man! To tell ya' the truth I started playing the harp because I thought it would be something easy to do with singing. SHAME ON ME! I love this thing. Wish and hope to become better at playing it. I'd also like to add that for our money we may just get good tone and easier playability. Those things are worth good money in my book. Whaddya say?
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nacoran
91 posts
Jun 29, 2009
9:52 PM
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I play the harmonica for 3 reasons:
1. It's cheap/I'm poor. I'm on disability, and not even the good SSD, just the scraping by SSI. I've got the no money blues.
2. I have chronic tendinitis problems in my wrists so lots of other instruments weren't practical.
3. Girls flock to a guy with a harmonica in his pocket. Unfortunately, they always seem to leave when I whip it out.
That said, although buying a Special 20 takes all my mad money for a month or more, I can always put a harp on my b-day and x-mas wish lists.
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Patrick Barker
345 posts
Jun 29, 2009
9:59 PM
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"girls flock to a guy with a harmonica in his pocket"
Especially if you have a 16 hole chromatic
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"Without music, life would be a mistake" -Nietzsche
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jonsparrow
558 posts
Jun 29, 2009
11:12 PM
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lol
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MrVerylongusername
371 posts
Jun 29, 2009
11:42 PM
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I have a 4-hole Lil' Lady
:-(
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gene
204 posts
Jun 29, 2009
11:47 PM
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If you could pack 6 or 7 keys into 1 harp, $180 would be fine, but who wants just one key? I'd want at least 6.
180 x 6 = 1080.
30 x 6 = 180.
Can the difference REALLY be worth it...even if it wasn't just a hobby for me?
I'd rather play harp because I'm poor than to be poor because I play harp. :)
(I have 14 Suzuki Promasters. They're more than $30.
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2009 12:50 AM
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The Gloth
122 posts
Jun 30, 2009
12:09 AM
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To me, a $180 harp is fine, but it's designed for professionals, like a $2000 guitar is. Or maybe for passionate people with a lot of money to spend.
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Kingley
138 posts
Jun 30, 2009
12:14 AM
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Do I play harmonica because I'm poor? No.
I am poor, also in the past I have bought harps, mics, small amp, etc when I should have spent that money on food or something more sensible.
Pretty stupid really, but hey it's my life. If I had kids to feed then of course I wouldn't have ever done those things.
The reason I play harmonica is not down to price though and never has been, nor will it ever be.
I play harmonica because it speaks to me in a way that no other instrument does.
It lifts me up when I feel down and through it I can express my anguish when I feel the bleakness of desperation when life gives me a kick in the gut.
The harmonica also allows me to express my joy for those times when life gives me a great big warm all enveloping hug.
As a young boy I grew up to the sounds of my dads R & B records and my mothers 60's pop and soul records. I could hear the harp in my fathers music but never knew what it was really. Then I heard a guy play harmonica (all 1st position stuff) on the street. That made me want to play, but my parents wouldn't let me have one.
Anyway life moved on and many years later my neighbour had a blues record on one day blasting out. I said to my then girlfriend "that is great music" she looked at me like I was nuts. :)
Anyway I knock on the guys door and ask him about the album which he proceeds to tape for me. Laying on his coffee table is a harmonica. So ensues that same conversation we have all had with people, "So you play the harmonica?"
Anyhow the next day I go and buy a harp (Hohner Pocket Pal) and start teaching myself how to play.
That was the beginning of the road for me.
The harmonica has for all those years been my constant companion through thick and thin.
It's become a part of me.
That's why I play it.
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2009 12:16 AM
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Andrew
386 posts
Jun 30, 2009
1:34 AM
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All Hohner need is slightly better engineered reeds and plates.
What do Harrison offer us? Cover plates that have been designed in zero gravity in a wind tunnel.
It's like my brother's $2,000 road bike. The pump is aerodynamic. I said, is your fat ass aerodynamic?
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2009 1:35 AM
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jonsparrow
559 posts
Jun 30, 2009
1:37 AM
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i like that story kingley.
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2009 1:37 AM
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jonsparrow
560 posts
Jun 30, 2009
1:39 AM
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"All Hohner need is slightly better engineered reeds and plates.
What do Harrison offer us? Cover plates that have been designed in zero gravity in a wind tunnel."
well aparently brad says these reeds are better engineered then any other reed on the market and will out last all other reeds.
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Andrew
387 posts
Jun 30, 2009
3:01 AM
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I wasn't implying that was all that Harrison offered!
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jbone
94 posts
Jun 30, 2009
4:39 AM
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i have never been really flush for long. i have spent a few bucks on chromatics, but when it comes to diatonics it has been a sort of vicious circle. sure i'd like to buy better harps esp in this day and age when there are plenty of guys doing great custom jobs out there. but when i blow out a reed- not so often these days as once upon a time- i have to replace that harp soon or wish i had when a gig comes up.
i did get a couple of custom mb's from richard sleigh about 8 years ago. one walked away when i was in the men's room at a joint, the other i killed a reed on and have no ideas what became of it after that.
i'd love to havbe that kind of disposable income where i could spend $180 on a single harp. it ain't happened as yet. and these days my wife has been very tolerant of my purchases. $1200 for a replica bassman, recently upwards of $140 on a mic. and my emphasis changed when we became a duo- amps and guitars for her, a p.a., etc etc.
making the chump change we make it's a wonder we've gotten hold of the gear we have so we can play anyplace from a street corner to a medium club. asking to spend that big a chunk of our hard earned dough on a single harp is just not possible here.
no worries, the lotto is coming! then all i have to do is win big.
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KingoBad
43 posts
Jun 30, 2009
5:40 AM
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I think you should also buy $50 cheeseburgers from McDonalds too. Damn poor people paying less than a dollar for those things! Why the hell would I prioritize the use of my money? Opportunity cost be damned, I'm gonna spend my accounts to zero! I think I'll spend the rest on lotto tickets!
Prices have a funny way of giving information. It is crazy harp people who will spend endless amounts of money on their equipment - probably true for most kinds of musicians. But how many violin players need a Stradivarius?
Hohner et. al. sell craploads of adequate harps (some good, some bad, at least a workable medium). They do it for a price that will net them the most money with the appropriate volume. We come to expect that price point as appropriate. We get a little nuts when someone tries to sell higher than that price point - and reasonably so.
So I'll continue bitching about prices because I'm reasonable and like to hold on to as much of my money as possible. Also, for a "sorry ass musician", I think I will still buy and modify the $30 harps. I'll just call myself a "reasonable sorry ass musician."
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nacoran
92 posts
Jun 30, 2009
9:10 AM
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A $180 harp that has easy to replace reeds is useful. For everyone who is saying they'd need one in every key, remember, these are designed to do draws, overdraws, blow bends and overblows. If you can get those down (overblow is still beyond me) then you can learn to play chromatically. That means getting all you key signatures down, but theoretically you only need one harp then.
(I however, have invented a a chromatic harmonica that doesn't require you to memorize keys!!! Unfortunately, I have no mechanical skill, it's probably to complicated to build and I have no budget for R&D so the harmonica world will never know it's greatness. :( lol.)
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jonsparrow
562 posts
Jun 30, 2009
10:18 AM
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"So I'll continue bitching about prices because I'm reasonable and like to hold on to as much of my money as possible. Also, for a "sorry ass musician", I think I will still buy and modify the $30 harps. I'll just call myself a "reasonable sorry ass musician."
if you can work on your own harps all the power to you man. i on the other hand just started tinkering on them an can not mod my own harps good enough to enjoy. if i was able to mod a MB as good as these customizers i dont think i would be so eager to buy an better quality more expensive harp.
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mr_so&so
147 posts
Jun 30, 2009
10:32 AM
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I don't play harmonica because I'm poor, but I don't have a huge amount of money to spend on them right now. I've learned so far on inexpensive harps, MB being the most expensive. But now I'm getting ready to try a really fine harp.
Custom sounds good, but if you mess it up, you've trashed a great harp, unless you can customize as well as the guy you bought it from. B-Radical promises a maintainable harp, as well as a fine harp. That sounds good to me. Waiting to see how it is received....
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Preston
443 posts
Jun 30, 2009
10:41 AM
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Jon,
I thought after reading your initial thread opener that I understood what you were trying to say, even tough it was a little rough around the edges. I had my steel toe redwings on when I read it, so I wasn't really offended. But now after your last post I am a little confused:
So if you can't work on your own harps and don't want to spend more than $30 on them, you are a sorry ass musician.
BUT if you can work on your own harps, then it makes it o.k. to not be so eager to buy an expensive harp?
;-)
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jonsparrow
565 posts
Jun 30, 2009
11:00 AM
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basically ya. i dont realy like that "sorry ass musician" term i used. sounds a little harsh. i think i was a little aggravated when i made that post. but i still stand by it for the most part.
any way to further answer your question, if i was buddah or spiers or rynolds or even some people on here that can customize there own harps to sound great, what would be the point of buying expensive harps other then to have nice stuff, an convenience of maintenance if referring to the b-rad. plus if you can work on your own harps im sure you get a greater feeling playing something that you worked on yourself. is more personal. like how i feel when i race my car.
edit: unless you just dont have or want to use the time to build a harp.
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2009 11:06 AM
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KingoBad
44 posts
Jun 30, 2009
11:45 AM
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Regardless if you used terminology that you might not have liked, the fact still remains that your claim is that - to paraphrase:
"I got thousands of dollars in equipment, my xbox costs more than the $180 bucks I would pay for a harmonica. You are a sorry ass for not wanting to spend money on a $180 harmonica. If you don't, you are just a hobbyist, and pathetic."
Do you race an F-1 car? The steering wheel on those things cost 25k. The engines cost about 10 million. Any serious race car driver would pony up for one of these sweet rides. You are a sorry ass if you race cars and won't spend money on an F-1 car. It is pathetic.
It is still a matter of sound economic choices, regardless of talent or resources. Choosing to be wise financially does not exclude you from being a serious musician. I site the thousands of talented bands and artists you will never hear of because they never managed their money.
Pick any pro out there and they will wipe your ass with a $30 stock harp. Will you make more progress with a $180 harp? I'm sure you could. Is it worth that? It is an individual decision and not for you to criticize because "you still get yours."
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jonsparrow
566 posts
Jun 30, 2009
12:15 PM
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i donno why you put that in quotes cause those arnt my words. an no i dont race an F-1 car. and any serious racer WOULD NOT pony up for one of those cause they would only if they were into formula one. and the people that race f-1 cars they did not pay a dime for. there sponsor did. i on the other hand, drift. the motor in my car cost $2500 not includeing the parts i put into it an it was shipped over from japan. my suspension costed a few grand as well. so before you go an make assumptions know what your talkin sbout.
"Regardless if you used terminology that you might not have liked, the fact still remains that your claim is that - to paraphrase"
and i said i stand by what i said. reread it. an dont go twistin my words around.
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2009 12:24 PM
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KingoBad
46 posts
Jun 30, 2009
12:49 PM
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Ok, if you prefer, exact quotes:
"i have thousands an thousands of dollars worth of equitment. what the hell is $180? my fuckin xbox cost more then that!"
"what kind of sorry ass musician dont wanna spend more then $30 on there instrument. if thats the way you see it then playin music is more of a hobby for you."
"thats not to say theres anything wrong with playing a $30 harp. but when your saying that more then that is too much for you to even care to spend on the instrument is pathetic"
The rest of what I added in the paraphrase was understood by your logic. That's all. Are the direct quotes twisting your words?
You said it, boot up dude.
The F-1 example was and example of the pinnacle of racing expenditure on vehicles, that's all. I did not need to know of your car's specific equipment for my argument. For that matter, why didn't you spend 10k on a motor? Wouldn't have that been better?
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Andrew
388 posts
Jun 30, 2009
1:07 PM
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DeFord, Sonny Boy, Jazz Gilllum, Sonny Terry didn't need harps built by NASA.
Harrison, I hope, has worked out their projected sales figures. A harp costs $180; a set or harps costs $2000. The market will be 99% American, of which only 50 people care enough to post regularly here. Harrison may have persuaded banks, but that doesn't make them right. You'll get replacement reeds as long as Harrison stay in business.
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2009 1:34 PM
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gene
205 posts
Jun 30, 2009
1:36 PM
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Nacoran,
Most people cannot play chromatically, and most who do sound bad. Even if everybody could play chromatically, you still need more keys. An F harp does not sound like an A harp.
JonSparrow,
I don't know you and I may be wrong, but I get the impression that you have absolutely no idea what life is like when you don't have money to spare.
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jonsparrow
567 posts
Jun 30, 2009
2:37 PM
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@ KingoBad
"The rest of what I added in the paraphrase was understood by your logic."
you understand my logic wrong.
"Are the direct quotes twisting your words?"
nope.
"I did not need to know of your car's specific equipment for my argument."
ya you did.
"why didn't you spend 10k on a motor? Wouldn't have that been better?"
no it wouldnt. i wanted to build the motor to my standards not some one elses.
"You said it, boot up dude."
i said man up. but you could be "paraphrasing" again. so ill just say im fine. your the king 'o bad right? lol
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@ gene
"I don't know you and I may be wrong, but I get the impression that you have absolutely no idea what life is like when you don't have money to spare."
your right you dont know me an you are wrong. but you would know if you read some other threads that im looseing my house and being forced to move out of jersey cause i cant afford it anymore. you know how much money i have to my name as of right now? $0.00. i am a mechanic an i do side jobs that get me a few hundred dollars from time to time. when i was working i had some good jobs that payed well an i was able to build my studio, my car etc... now im slowly selling off things i own to buy other things cause i have no money. i havnt drivin my car in weeks cause it has a flat tire an i cant afford a new tire. there have been worse times in my life that im not going to get into. point is you did get the wrong impression cause i absolutely have an idea what life is like when i dont have money to spare. but if you want something bad enough you get it. even if it means sacrificing other things.
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2009 2:41 PM
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gene
206 posts
Jun 30, 2009
2:47 PM
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WOW!! My impression certainly was wrong. Sorry to hear about the bad time you're having.
But I still think $180 for a diatonic is extravagant.
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scstrickland
101 posts
Jun 30, 2009
2:50 PM
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Wow! I think this conversation has gone about as far as it can. How about a new topic before things get childish.
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jonsparrow
568 posts
Jun 30, 2009
2:53 PM
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gene i do too. but i still think its cheap when comparing to other musical equitment. a lone wolf harp delay is $150. a 5 watt harpgear is $700. my 5 watt amp was $99. that still not to say im not going to get a harpgear when i got the money.
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2009 2:53 PM
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Preston
444 posts
Jun 30, 2009
2:57 PM
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"plus if you can work on your own harps im sure you get a greater feeling playing something that you worked on yourself. is more personal. like how i feel when i race my car."
That is too true my friend. It is your own personal creation and becomes truly yours. Not just something you bought from somebody else.
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jonsparrow
569 posts
Jun 30, 2009
2:57 PM
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ya i didnt wanna start any fights with this thread, like i said it wasnt directed towards anyone, just the general feel thats been going around an people puttin down the b-rad price. music equipment is expensive. it allways has been. the b-rad didnt even come out yet so for all you know the price could be well worth it.
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KingoBad
48 posts
Jun 30, 2009
3:04 PM
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Logic is logic. I am simply restating your use of it in my response. I have attacked your premise, not you. I continue to refer to your original argument when you started this thread. You seemed to have gone somewhere else. Perhaps I did not understand your intent, but I certainly understood your original post and the original premises and argument.
Again, I still do not need to know about you or your car (although I'd be happy to, it sounds cool) as there is always the case that you COULD have spent more on parts. You made a choice based on your preferences. Exactly what we all do when we buy harmonicas. You are not pathetic for not buying more expensive parts for your car, as we are not pathetic for not wanting to purchase a $180 harp.
My statement was that your example is a simple economic choice, and that no one is pathetic for making that kind of choice contrary to your view.
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2009 3:05 PM
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ZackPomerleau
315 posts
Jun 30, 2009
3:11 PM
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No one needs a Db harp. A G, Ab, A, and B pretty much covers it if you learn a few positions.
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jonsparrow
570 posts
Jun 30, 2009
3:18 PM
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"You made a choice based on your preferences. Exactly what we all do when we buy harmonicas. You are not pathetic for not buying more expensive parts for your car, as we are not pathetic for not wanting to purchase a $180 harp."
i never said any one was pathetic. i said the notion of thinking that paying more then $30 for an instrument is pathetic. thats what i ment. matter fact just forget i said anything. i think i worded my statements wrong an people got the wrong idea.
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Preston
445 posts
Jun 30, 2009
3:27 PM
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I need my Db harp because my guitar slave always tunes down half a step. Comes in handy for 2nd position blues in A.
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eharp
284 posts
Jun 30, 2009
3:28 PM
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"thats not to say theres anything wrong with playing a $30 harp."
"when your saying that more then that is too much for you to even care to spend on the instrument is pathetic."
if it is okay by you to play a $30 harp, why is it pathetic to not want to spend more? pick a side (which i think you will be on) and stick with it.
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jonsparrow
571 posts
Jun 30, 2009
3:33 PM
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there is no side. so your saying if some one plays a $30 harp that they have no intrest at all in owning a $180 harp? even if they had the money to spare? they wouldnt like to know what all the fuss is about? how it is to play a more expensive harp?
ok so no one wants an HD tv? or a $100,000 car. cause they still understand the movie on regular tv. an there toyota is just fine. they dont feel the need for luxury??? why install swimming pools when we can use a lake. why buy a harpgear when we can still get sound out of a pignose. why sleep with a super model when we can still bang fat chicks. come on now.
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2009 3:40 PM
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gene
207 posts
Jun 30, 2009
3:53 PM
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OH GOOD GOSH!! Now you've gotten ridiculous with that "super model" part. LOL
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jonsparrow
572 posts
Jun 30, 2009
4:04 PM
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lol seriously though. its the need for luxury and style and performance.
Last Edited by on Jun 30, 2009 4:06 PM
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KingoBad
49 posts
Jun 30, 2009
5:52 PM
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Now yer talkin'! Nothing wrong with the good stuff.
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tookatooka
263 posts
Jul 01, 2009
3:46 PM
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Just for the record, I fall into the cheapskate category. I'd rather buy the $30 harp and tinker with it to bring the spec up. I do this for these reasons.
1. If I had a $180 harp, I'd feel intimidated by it and wouldn't be able to let go and rip it up for fear of damaging it.
2. I can get spare parts easily and cheaply from a number of outlets and I'm not beholding to one supplier.
3. I can mix and match parts and build unique combinations of harp.
4. I hate the idea of being dependant on any one supplier or person. I am as self reliant as I can be. I do my own repairs, decorating, car maintenance etc, etc. The only thing I have to get expert attention for is dentistry, and yes, I've even done my own dentistry before now.
5. I enjoy tinkering with the harp, maybe a little too much because I feel I'm becoming obsessed. But on the other hand I feel I've learnt a lot from my experimentation which has given me a better insight into the physics behind it and this has helped me to understand some of the more advanced techniques better. The trouble is the tinkering is interupting my playing time which is something I need to address.
In short if I could afford the expensive harps I wouldn't enjoy and learn from them as much as those which I create myself.
This is just my opinion.
When I'm not blowing, I'm drawing.
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snakes
285 posts
Jul 01, 2009
4:02 PM
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I think tookatooka hit on something for me and maybe all of us and that is that we all have different capabilities and such that will dictate our choice in whether to buy the B-Rad, a custom harp, or what not. Personally I am going to try one, but let me give you some of my less obvious reasons.
First let me start with these facts. As short a time as 3 yrs. ago I could hit a 90 mile an hour fastball on a good day, I can build and support a mean server, I can do higher level math and science, and I got out of a shop class in high school by taking physics because I knew I could get a better grade in physics than autoshop. You guys that can work on things like harps and cars are like gifted rocket scientists to me. I don't look at myself as some smart guy - I just can do certain things and other people can do other certain things thats all. While I've been given sports coordination I damn near have to cork my fork at dinner to keep from blinding myself. Not to mention the fact that I spend 3 hrs. a day (mostly on the bus - so we can't play harp there) on my commute and don't want to supplant practice time with something like tweaking => that I am not good at and neither would I enjoy it.
So bottomline is I think we all have valid reasons for our different choices. I hope Brad H. is successful and I also hope he is able to lower the prices a little if possible to do that and stay in business. All the points made in this thread make sense given one's circumstances and preferences.
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oldwailer
799 posts
Jul 01, 2009
6:15 PM
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After I win the lotto:
What kind of guitar would I prefer? I'll take a couple of those Martins and maybe a Breedlove 12-string and one of those Gibson Hummingbird Songwriter Specials, Please.
What kind of harps do I want to play? Give me a full set of Buddha harps, a back-up full set of B-rads, and one each full sets of Joe Spiers, Filisko's, R. Sleighs--and any others I might think up while those are being made up.
Oh, and throw in a full compliment of Harpgear Amps and a couple of Blowsmeaway mics too.
Until then--I'll just play whatever I can afford and learn to make them as good as they can be. Whenever I can squeak out the bucks for a really fine instrument, I'll get one--we have a lot of choices these days in that department.
No rocket science here--just good old economics of the personal kind. I'm not a pro--but I will always want to be playing the best stuff I can possibly afford or make. . .
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scstrickland
105 posts
Jul 01, 2009
6:59 PM
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How is this for a reason: I probably won't buy one, because I think they look ridiculous.
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djm3801
166 posts
Jul 01, 2009
7:08 PM
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Play harp because I am poor...Nope. Because it is a bit easier to learn at my age that to develop finger speed enough for Alto sax. I think David Sanborn is a music god. I can list almost every major alto sax player out there. Harp is cool, easy to carry, has the same soul, opened me up to blues. 3 intruments with soul / heart - Harp, Sax, and slide guitar. I'll take harp for convenience and for an instument I can become proficient on in least time. Does not require hand and finger speed. There is a casualness about it. I heard somewhere that Little Walter wanted to play sax but could not afford one so took up harp. May be B.S...
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snakes
286 posts
Jul 02, 2009
8:21 AM
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Probably why they call the harmonica a Mississippi saxophone djm3801.
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Blackbird
92 posts
Jul 03, 2009
11:22 AM
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I first realized the brilliance of the harp around late 2004 or early '05. One of the street denziens was on the bus and hacking out some simple tunes as we rode into Ballard. The Metro route 15 was like that - so nobody really paid him any attention. If the weirdest thing that day was a harmonica playin' hobo, we had it easy. I was musically frustrated at that point - nowhere to set up and play my drums, my guitars mocked me in all of my attempts, and I was hungry to learn and create. The lightbulb came on as I listened to the guy play - these things were musical, inexpensive (or so I hoped) portable(!!!) and could give me something to do that might get me out of my rut.
While I've been poor many a time (in wallet as well as spirit), I didn't choose the harp for that reason. I found it to be a huge advantage that it was generally inexpensive (to me, 20 or 30 bucks for a non-toy/pro instrument is plenty affordable) but it was that lower cost, as well as knowing it would force me to learn some more music theory (or I went in with the belief that I would apply it, vs. just fumbling around by ear) and I could bring it nearly anywhere.
After that, I backtracked to discover (and re-discover) music, styles, and songs that featured or included the harp, which has opened up a new universe by accident. Not for being poor - but for being curious. I never thought it would be as complex as it has become, but I'm thankful for that vs. bothered by it.
I don't know if many choose the harp because they're poor - everyone I see on the city streets who is beggin' for my money with their cardboard sign and cup almost never has a harp, and wouldn't buy one to help their cause even if I gave them my pocket change. At one point, I thought about buying a case of something cheap - whatever the 5 dollar harp is these days, and passing them out to the panhandlers - encouraging them to busk over beg, but I'm afraid of what I'd do to the audio landscape of the city. At worst, I'd turn the perception of harmonicas into homeless beggar territory, and I'm not sure I want to do that.
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mickil
317 posts
Jul 03, 2009
12:04 PM
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I don't play harps 'cos I'm poor. I was completely seduced by the sound some guy called Adam in a local ex-band called Wild And Frantic made about 20 years ago. When the band - well, just double bass and guitar, really - dropped out, he sounded more like an orchestra than a harp: unbelievable.
But, I've had to rough it a few times, and, the thought did cross my mind that I could always get a crust, a beer or a smoke with this thing in my pocket; it worked in France and London.
I don't mind paying money for quality, but I do get pissed off that some harps seem to be made deliberatly sub-standard when a few extra pennies would solve the problem, e.g. partial sealing.
I know it's market forces and all that - the way of the world - but, it still hacks me off.
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'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty' - Frank Zappa
http://www.youtube.com/user/SlimHarpMick
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