For those that already use OB's, I recently stumbled across this method of playing (at least to my ears) a sweeter sounding overblow. I have struggled to get the OB to sound pleasant on prolonged OB's and this technique has helped me get better results.
Excuse the video quality as I had to record it on a Kindle Fire HD Tablet!
Here is an another version of the sound sample only.
I finally achieved my first overblow, this week, after a long quest. It is still at the "rusty gate" level; this video is really useful in giving a practical example of where an overblow fits, and how it should sound. The most valuable tip i learned on the way is to relax your efforts, straining will never work. Thanks, Grey Owl, now i've got more bloody work to do!
Just for fun, try playing the head, but do not bend slide up into hole 6 inhale - treat it equal to all the other notes. (I enjoy when a harmonica is used as a lyrical voice without residue of "harmonicky" popping up -- just my personal preference). ---------- The Iceman
Nice one Andy! Congrats. I took a while to get an overblow so I feel your pain! It's such a relief when you get an overblow that it doesn't matter about the quality as it's just satisfying to know that they exist and are not some cruel joke.
They will tidy up pretty quickly if the gapping is ok on the harp.
I didn't find so much use for them for blues but have used them quite a bit on melodies in general in 2nd position. It is pretty cool to find that you can now play a missing note in a song.
Thanks Todd! and :) That noise is a puzzle. I'm hoping it wasn't an accidental low octave overblow so I'm blaming it on the Kindle!
Thanks Iceman and for the suggestion as well. It's become second nature for me to do that scoop on 6 draw and I really don't need to use it as much so I'll try that out.
******************************************
Incidentally, on the SoundCloud sample I tapped my hand campfire style for the tremolo/vibrato effect and you can hear the tapping on the 1st OB although it is not noticeable on the second one. For this reason I decided to use the bouncing the harp on my lips method. The harp remains in contact with the lips BTW. ie it doesn't bounce off them.
Grey Owl - speaking from personal experience, I have for years tried to find a solution to that "plateau" in playing harmonica that we so often find ourselves habitating. One of the "Plateau Busters" I discovered was consciously eliminating all my habitual unconscious approach in playing each note.
That scoop into certain inhale notes was one of the aspects that I realized I (and many others) had ingrained into our playing..
Just the very challenge to myself in eliminating these habits woke me up to the advantage of always playing in the moment with intent - in other words, if I was to scoop into a note, it had to be by conscious intent rather than some ingrained habit.
This opened my mind up to moving forward and eliminating habitual playing. For instance, I spent long periods of practice/performance time NEVER scooping into those notes until I was able to undo that habit groove worn deeply into my brain and start a new groove of playing - by intent.
This totally busted my plateau and is one reason that I seem to have none....just a slight inclined slope upwards of evolving better and better. ---------- The Iceman
I now have a personal experience of what you are saying. The scoop has become ingrained possibly because I originally fell into it instinctively as it provided a note with 'feeling'to my ears.
I played the passage and really focused on the 6 draw and all was ok then I continued playing and when 6 draw came round again the scoop reappeared! My muscle memory beat my brain to the punch. This is going to take a bit of work.
I know these things are personal preference but I agree there is value in shaking things up and examining ingrained playing traits.
I guess we are attracted to nuances of playing that we do well or feel comfortable with and this is why we suddenly get fed up with our playing from time to time as we seem to be ploughing the same furrow over and over.
"I think if you are going to play overbends, they need to be attacked the same way any other bend or articulated single note would be."
In theory that is a good concept. The reality will fall a bit short on one's ability to do as you state, Mike.
On my own personal path towards "seamless", I found that not only would I have to master the OB/OD, but I had to subtly adjust how I played the "given" notes at times in order to help the two disparate sounds become more homogenous.
I would also consciously try to place notes created through OB/AD at certain places within a melodic line or measure to where they displayed the least amount of "unseamlessness" to the listener.
The thought process to get to this nth degree is, I'll admit, a bit beyond the usual mind set of a diatonic harmonica player, but is a fun challenge nonetheless. ---------- The Iceman
I treat them like any other note and hit them with the same level of confidence as any other note.
That is not to be confused with me saying they are seamless, I have amazing technique, or the timbre is identical to a non-bent note.
Obviously, my embouchure and body have to physically play the notes differently than a draw bend or blow bend, but my mindset is the same as when playing any other note.
Overbends work well like this for bluesy playing where you can dance around the intonation of a note.
If I were playing jazz or classical music on diatonic, I would definitely take the path of least resistance via the position I chose or tuning scheme of the harp.
I don't think any bends of any sort have the same precision as a blow or draw note. But they have their purpose and I stand by the fact that well played overbends are just as legit as traditional draw of blow bends.
Tailoring the OB to suit the style of music is I agree most important but should of course be played with conviction. I have heard a few pro players acheive OB's that blend well with the non blues music styles.
A harder ask on melodies is trying to blend the muted tones of a bent note with the ringing notes of plain blow/draw and some would say don't bother.
I'm still in two minds about this. Bent notes do stand out and if you take on a classical songs it's hard if not impossible to blend them and I am also considering alternative tunings in these extreme cases.
But this is getting away from the OP. I think the OB does sound nicer with some vibrato added on prolonged notes. I would probably use mouth/jaw vibrato on OB's for blues/rock songs as they blend well with top end vibrato blow bends.
