tolga7t
13 posts
Dec 04, 2009
1:06 PM
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Hi,
I have recently blown out one of my reeds of the harp (4 draw) and while trying to fix it, I actually broke the reed; I mean it literally came off and there is a blank space instead of where the reed should be. What to do in such a situation?
Also, I have blown out 4 draw's before, is there anything to prevent it? Do all harps break sooner or later?
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barbequebob
163 posts
Dec 04, 2009
1:14 PM
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The first thing you need to do to prevent that kind of blowout to the point that a reed can break is this: play with considerably LESS breath force, especially when bending notes are this problem will only get MUCH worse regardless of the make/model/manufacturer.
Reed transplants are possible, and I have done them, but it does take some practice and I'd only practice doing this on a really crappy cheapo harp. There are several books and videos with this information, but it does take some patience to do it correctly and if you're always in a hurry trying to force things to happen, BAD NEWS!!!!
Again, if you want to prevent reed blowout, you have to completely reasses your entire playing technique and work on playing considerably softer and the best advice for that is this: play just loud enough that you don't wake up a baby sleeping in the next room.
The average player often plays quite a lot harder than they think, and most players NEVER think they play too hard and what you've been doing is a classic example of exactly that.
Playing with too much breath force is flat out bad playing technique and you really don't need to be doing that, or the amount blown out harps you will have will pile up pretty rapidly, which can be a financial burdern, plus too much breath force amkes your playing sound thin, leaves you winded, playing with a wet mouth, kills any accuracy of the articulation of all of your bends, and that's for starters.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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tookatooka
831 posts
Dec 06, 2009
1:33 PM
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Hey BBQBob you keep saying " play just loud enough that you don't wake up a baby sleeping in the next room."
What do you do when the little buggers always crying and you can't hear what you're playing?
Only Kidding ;)
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scstrickland
332 posts
Dec 06, 2009
1:54 PM
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I use Honer MS harps and just replace the reeds.
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belfast_harper
83 posts
Dec 06, 2009
3:16 PM
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Replacing reeds is a lot easier than you think, I learnt to do it from some information that Richard Sleigh sent me and Rupert Oysler's harp repair DVD.
I prefair to use rivets rather than screws. I got given a herring anvil and punch that is good enough to get the job done. I am not sure if it comes with rivets or not, but you can reuse the old rivets if you need to.
I have used screws to put a reed from a suzuki promaster into a firebreath and that worked ok too.
I don't know why anyone would ever buy replacment reed plates or throw away a reed plate with a broken reed.
Richard Sleigh can do harp tech instruction through skype, a half hour lesson with him would get you changing reeds in no time.
If people still want to throw away reed plates I would be quite happy to pay the postage to have them sent to me.
Last Edited by on Dec 06, 2009 3:23 PM
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scstrickland
333 posts
Dec 06, 2009
3:21 PM
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I have a pile of them but the have gotten all mixed up so I don't know which key is which. Still want them?
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belfast_harper
84 posts
Dec 06, 2009
3:30 PM
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Yes, it is quite easy to find out the key. All you need is a tunner, if you put your lips around a single reed and draw you will be able to play that note with out having to assemble the harp.
Last Edited by on Dec 06, 2009 3:30 PM
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scstrickland
334 posts
Dec 06, 2009
3:54 PM
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Send me your mailing address to scstrickland125@gmail.com
Last Edited by on Dec 06, 2009 3:54 PM
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belfast_harper
86 posts
Dec 06, 2009
4:03 PM
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Ok, I have something that I can send you in return.
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