Do better Chromatics have faster response?
I currently play a Hohner Discovery 48, which I picked because it has the same reeds and reed plates as a Hohner 270.
I am not sure if it is typical of Chromatics, but I feel like when I blow or draw air through this harp, it takes a second for it to sound. Eventually I want to upgrade to a Seydel Steel Chromatic, but I was wondering if is even worth it…?
Thanks!
One of the various characterizing features of a quality harmonica – regardless of type (chromatic or blues harp) – is that it responds without delay to drawing or blowing air over its reeds.
Delayed response can be the result of several factors, the most common being reed gaps or air leakage.
Have you checked these two factors on the harp in question? If you feel under-qualified, then take or send it to a qualified technician to have the work performed.
I will have to check that out. I haven’t opened my Chromatic because…Well there is a lot of parts and I want to be able to put it back together again.
Thanks!
In my opinion, and I’m no chromatic expert, I know what you’re talking about and I think it’s because of the wind savers. The feeling is a little bit different. Of course there’s gonna be variation between brands. My East Top chromatic actually feels slightly more responsive than my 270.
@Hogie.Harmonica I’d love to hear your 2 cents on this subject?
It could be an airtightness issue but I had gotten used to my Discovery 48, which out of the box was plenty useable. If you’re coming from the diatonic, often from our techniques on the diatonic we just push too much air and too aggressively into a chromatic. See if you use a more gentle and slightly quieter airstream if that improves it. This is assuming you’re trying to match the volume of your diatonic harmonicas. As your technique builds up, you won’t have as much of an issue.
Boaz is likely correct here. If you play diatonic, you might be over pressuring the reed.
It could be a valve sticking. If that’s the case, air does not go through, then suddenly it does.
Could be airtightness.
But to answer the question, it depends.
Some well regarded instruments are not particularly airtight. Some pros who play these instruments enjoy the tone color And effort needed to control the reeds on a less airtight instrument. Typically this means a cage style mouthpiece like in a Hohner 270 or certain 280.
Then there is the “more responsive is better” crowd, which prefer the 2 piece mouthpiece. This includes Suzuki, JDR, and other makers from Asia.
Personally I play both styles, I prefer more responsive. My reasoning is fine control, and ergonomics. Long ago I was part of the “heavy touch pianos sound better” philosophy which led to injury for me and thousands of other piano players. Steinway even changed their touch to be lighter so that there would be less injury for piano players.
While I think injury is less likely for harmonica, I still carry the idea that an instrument should be as easy to play as possible.
More responsive harps are not necessarily more expensive. JDR GM is $100 and is very responsive. The Lyra at $150 is as well. KDR evo at $200. The Suzuki SCX also pretty airtight and costs just a little more.
As a caveat, I have not played a super 64, or other high end Hohner chromatics, and I have not been playing chromatic for that long (maybe 2 years of actual play time combined?).
“Some well regarded instruments are not particularly airtight”…
Sounds strange to me…poor tightness I think ought to be regarded as negative, or even a production defect !?
The only parts on a diatonic that CAN leak are the fittings between reed plates and comb and this should be possible to fix fairly easily. Some technicians view on that?
Chromatics are tricker with more parts and perfect tightness harder to achieve
“Response” is quite complex.Stiffness ,spec weight/mass of reeds and springiness/elasticity are important factors but the precision of the reed slot is crucial and so is the gap setting.
To judge/compare the “response” all of this better be explored with adequate lab resources. So…Has this been done? i e
Are there any “scientific” technical reports on quality parameters for harmonicas?
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I can confirm this as Rob Paparozzi told me he prefers Hohner Blues Harps because they’re not airtight and he’s “old school” and likes to play with lots of force.
Sounds funny to me. Youre supposed to get the same sound energy using less force with a tighter instrument. Only beneficial in my view. Is it true that Hohners generaĺly are less tight ?? Hard to believe and anyway tightness is expected like I said to depend on the individual harp construction - rather than the brand
You could do that lab work, but it would likely only tell you things that can be deduced by playing. Once you have played a very airtight instrument, the difference is easy to detect.
Response is complex, but airtightness is a huge factor, when an instrument leaks you have to make larger changes in yourself to affect a change in the sound.
Some people like that, some don’t, even at the pro level, some play stock instruments that are not very airtight. But others require airtight instruments and will do significant handwork to make it happen.