HARPIN’ BY THE SEA 2012 – WE’RE BACK!

• Learn To Play Harmonica Day
• Sat 4. Feb 2012
• 11.00am-11.00pm 
• The Brunswick, 1 Holland Road, Hove, BN3 1JF

The Brighton & Hove Harmonica Society, with support from the UK National Harmonica League (NHL), is hosting it’s second annual Learn To Play Harmonica Day to brighten up your mid-winter and celebrate our favourite instrument!

Last year 70 harmonica novices and enthusiasts came along for what proved to be a very special experience.  If you’ve always wanted to know how to get music out of a harmonica,  or improve what you’ve got, this is your chance! The Beginners’ workshops will be led by Harp Surgery’s very own Good Doctor Richard Taylor, while Harp Consultants Darren Causton, Will Greener and James Aldcroft will be leading sessions for Intermediate and Advanced players.

In the evening there will be another live show with three harp-friendly bands – final line up to be announced shortly.

Here’s the programme and entrance prices:

• 11.00 Registration
• 11.30-13.00 Workshops (Beginners/Intermediates)
• 14.15-15.45 Workshops (Beginners/Intermediates)
• 16.00-17.30 Workshops (Beginners/Intermediates)
• 17.30-19.00 Open harp jam on stage

Evening Show

• 20.00-23.00 Live show with featured artists
• Paddy Byrne
• The Uncontrollables
• Will Greener
• The Blackjacks

Booking information

• Day ticket  £20.00 / £17.00 conc.    
• Workshops only £14.00 / £12.00 conc.
• Evening Concert only £6.00 / £5.00  conc.    
• Tickets available from www.brunswickpub.co.uk

For enquiries and additional details contact:

• Mobile contact – Stuart McKay 07773 270336
• E mail contact – James Aldcroft  here
• Richard Taylor can be reached via the Harp Surgery contact page

What to bring / What harmonica?

Paying participants are eligible to take part in as many workshops as they can handle. Beginners will need a Richter tuned diatonic harp in the key of C Major. That’s a regular ‘blues’ harp (as pictured). Intermediates should bring a C Major harp too and any others they have. We will not be instructing on the Chromatic harmonica. Plesae be aware that parking in the area is metered. The Brunswick has a food menu and there are other food outlets within walking distance.

The Venue 

The event will take place at The Brunswick arts pub. Set just back from Hove seafront, this friendly venue will host harmonica workshops upstairs in their teaching rooms, while the evening concert will take place in their excellent Live Music Venue on the ground floor.

Should old acquaintance be forgot..

The Harp Surgery team would like to wish all our fans a very Happy New Year 2012.

From The Good Doctor, Otis The Mailman (left), Our Monica and The Riverboat Captain, we hope the new year brings you hours of musical fun and some totally top tooting.

It’s been a quiet year down at the Harp Surgery, but we thank you all for continuing to drop by. Fittingly, here’s our final offering of 2011.. Auld Lang Syne

On a Low harp, first position on the upper octave:

6B   7B   7B..7B  

8B   8D   7B..8D

8B..8D   7B  7B..8B   9B   10D

10D..9B   8B..8B   7B   8D   7B..8D

8B..8D   7B   6D..6D   6B   7B

10D..9B   8B..8B   7B   8D   7B..8D

10D..9B   8B..8B   9B   10D

10D..9B   8B..8B   7B   8D   7B..8D

8B..8D   7B   6D..6D   6B   7B

And on a regular harp, first position on the lower octave:

2D   4B   4B..4B

5B   4D   4B..4D

5B..4D   4B   4B..5B   6B   6D

6D   6B   5B..5B   4B   4D   4B..4D

5B..4D   4B   3D”..3D”   2D    4B 

6D   6B   5B..5B   4B   4D   4B..4D

6D   6B   5B..5B   6B   6D

6D   6B   5B..5B   4B   4D   4B..4D

5B..4D   4B   3D”..3D”   2D   4B 

And never brought to mind?

We’re off to the Harp Surgery parlour to take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne! And maybe a few fire works. Happy New Year one and all!

Stevie Wonder diatonic harmonica

It was 1974. With a string of hit singles under his belt, Stevie Wonder recorded Boogie On Reggae Woman amidst some more reflective compositions for his new album, Fullfillingness’ First Finale.

The song’s title is slightly misleading. This is no Trench Town rasta vibe. There is a reggae skank for reference, but underneath it’s as fundamentally funk as Superstition and just as ground breaking.

For Harp Surgery fans, what makes the song especially interesting, is its infusion of a bluesy piano line and some highly expressive first-position blues harping. Let’s look more closely..

Can I play?

For harp players, this may come as an exciting revelation. Stevie Wonder is of course synonymous with Chromatic harping. Chi-Lites, Eurythmics, Sting and Elton John (amongst many, many others), have all embraced him on their recordings.

But Little Stevie started on the diatonic - albeit a four hole Little Lady – and listened to the likes of Jimmy Reed and Little Walter. He went on to lead the school harmonica band, before eventually falling in love with a Chromatic given to him by an uncle.

Arguably, Boogie On Reggae Woman has it’s roots in Wonder’s 1972 song Sweet Little Girl. There he uses a bluesy F# diatonic in second position, to explore a boogaloo groove. Also that Moog synth is in the mix, providing another heavy bass line.

I like to see you boogie

In his homage to the the harmonica, Harmonicas, Harps amd Heavy Breathers, Kim Field refers to the harmonica line on Boogie On Reggae Woman as textbook Jimmy Reed diatonic playing. He also points out that Stevie Wonder acknowledged Jimmy Reed in one of his 1974 Grammy acceptance speeches.

Certainly Stevie Wonder uses the same upper register configuration popularised by Jimmy Reed, but he warps it into a new dimension. Simply by injecting some unique phrasing and altered rhythm, it becomes soulful.

For my money, Gary Primich probably spotted this too. On his 2002 Dog House Music album, he recorded the title track Dog House and echoed Stevie Wonders soul fixing delivery on the upper blow bends. He uses a Bb diatonic.

Right across the floor

Time to get down to business. You’ll need an Ab diatonic to play along. This is a lower register diatonic harp, which allows us greater control on the blow bend reeds. If you don’t have one handy, get one ordered and check out the following background information in the meantime.

For instruction on how to blow bend visit our Harp Skills page. You will also find our three part series on exploring 1st Position Blues Harp useful.

I like to do it to you

Using an Ab harp, Stevie Wonder first pitches in on the harp at the 2:18 point and delivers a 30 second solo. He comes in a second time after the Moog solo at 3:45 and continues soloing on the harp for a full minute before the song fades out. Here’s the tab and sound files for the 30 second solo. ~8B denotes a bent, or scooped, note into 8 Blow.

              ~8B   ~8B    ~8B..8B’..7B..7B

8B’..~8B..8B’..7B   8B’..7B   6D..6D’..5D

6D’..6D   7B    Can I Play?!!

7B..7B  ~8B..~8B

~8B..9B..~8B   8B’..7B   ~8B..~8B..7B      Can I Play?!!

~8B   ~9B   ~8B     Ow!

7B..7B   ~8B..9B  ~9B..~9B..8B

8B   ~9B   9B’..9B’   9B’..9B.9B’

~8B..8B’..7B   ~8B..7B    Uhh!

8B   ~9B   9B’..9B’   9B’..9B.9B’

~8B..8B’..7B   ~8B..7B

~10B   ~9B..~9B   ~9B..9B’..8B     Ahh!

~9B..9B’..8B   8B   7B..7B

Till you holla for more

Now you have the feel for it, listen to the final minute-long solo for yourself and mess around on the top end of the harp. You’ll notice even Stevie’s lines get a bit ragged at one point, before he momentarily revises his input and simplifies things.

Boogie on reggae people!

Underneath the lantern, by the barrack gate

Had we been shovelled onto a grimy conveyor belt and pitched alongside millions of innocents into the inferno of the Great War (1914-18), there is a strong chance we would have had a musical companion. An emollient for the mental and physical agonies of front line duty.

Portability, cost and availability predetermined the choice of instrument. And while a variety found their way to the front, it was the humble harmonica that became the proprietary antedote to the sting of industrialised warfare. And it’s probably the reason why so many Europeans still relate stories of a family elder who played the mouth organ.

This Remembrance Day is no different to any other – they are equally important.  As Santayana famously wrote: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. It’s just that this year we have the novelty of an extra number 11. At the eleventh hour (GMT), on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month -  of the eleventh year - we remember the fallen.

Darling I remember, the way you used to wait

Following its innovation as a musical instrument, there is plenty of evidence, both documentary and archaelogical, to show that the harmonica has performed significant duty in wartime. From the American Civil War, through two World Wars and into the second millenium, the tin sandwich has withstood the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

In prelude to our The Harmonica At War series, while we could pay tribute by tabbing The Last Post, or a popular British First World War song such as Pack Up Your Troubles, we’ve chosen a song written during the First World War, but made famous in World War II; Lili Marlene.

My dad was in the 11th armored division and said when German prisoners were marched by, he would play Lily Marlene [sic] on his harmonica. Some would smile and nod, others would weep. War is hell on the soldiers no matter whose side fate puts you on. [TheDrummer51]

‘Twas there that you whispered tenderly

In 1915, shortly before leavig for the Russian front, Hans Leip – a soldier in the German Imperial Army – put pen to paper and produced a love poem which would eventually come to be known as Das Lied eines jungen Soldaten auf der Wacht, or The Song Of A Young Sentry. It was eventually published in 1937 in a poetry collection which encapsulated the melancholy of a young guardsman pining for his sweetheart.

The words were eventually put to music in 1939, with a husky Lale Andersen recording what was to become a classic wartime chanson. The tune was entitled Lile Marlene. It’s rise to popularity was almost by chance. A soldier working at Radio Belgrade, the German forces network in Europe, had happened upon it during a visit to Vienna. Upon his return, the song was broadcast by the radio station and soon became adopted amongst Axis and Allied troops alike.

Enjoyed throughout Europe and North Africa, the Allied authorities tried to discredit the song by implying that its subject was a lady of easy virtue. A take which may have been perpetuated by Marelene Dietrich’s rendition, but certainly not what Hans Leip had in mind when he first put pen to paper.

That you lov’d me, you’d always be

5B   5B..5B   5D   6B   5B

5D   5B..5D   7B..7D

4D   4D   5B..5D..6B

7D..6D   6B..5D   5B

6D   7D   7B..7D   6D

6D   6B   7B

6D..6B   5D   6D

6B..5D   5B   6B

5B   6B   5D..5D   8D   7B

5B   6B   5D..5D   3D   4B

My Lili of the lamplight

During the Second World War, Bill Mauldin enjoyed popularity with his Willie and Joe cartoon series in the Stars And Stripe magazine.

It featured two hapless GIs and a whole heap of trench humour. One particular edition depicts the two characters in a foxhole with a harmonica and reference to the tune Lili Marlene.

“Th’ krauts ain’t followin’ ya so good on ‘Lili Marlene’ tonight, Joe. Ya think maybe somethin’ happened to their tenor?” Permission for reproduction requested.    

My own Lili Marlene

In 1991, an unemployed German trucker who was lamed and partially blinded during a road accident lay in a coma. He lost his health, he lost his job and he lost his marriage. But Michael Hirte pulled through. He picked up his harmonica, busked the streets of Potsdam and went on to win Germany’s TV talent show Das Supertalent in 2008.. playing the harmonica. Here he is playing, of course, Lili Marlene!

A wireless system always consists of two parts. The transmitter stays with you, connects to your microphone and sends the signal out into the air using radio waves. The receiver is located near and connected to your amp. There are many types of wireless systems available to us. As a rule, you usually get what you pay for. But there are some practical considerations.

Some wireless transformers are small and physically connect to your mic, making a single self-contained unit. Others need a cable that connects to a “belt pack.” The belt pack systems are often of very good quality and fairly economical, but they have a drawback in that you cannot simply put your mic down and move away. Because I double on saxophone in my band, I need to switch instruments quickly and so I have to be able to just lay the mic down. Some belt-pack users will simply shove the mic in their pocket – if this is okay with you don’t rule out belt pack systems. Of the self-contained systems, there are two flavors – the “guitar bug” is a device designed for (guess what) an electric guitar. It has a 1/4″ plug on it – and can be used with a high impedance mic with a 1/4″ jack. An example of this is the AKG WMS40 Guitar Bug system. The other flavor is designed to plug into the end of a vocal mic. It therefore has an XLR connector and expects to be plugged into a low impedance microphone. A good example of this kind of system is the Samson CR77 with AX1 transmitter. There is no tonal difference due to the impedance alone – you simply have to choose the system that works with your gear.

Just about every manufacturer in the market offers a belt pack wireless system. Shure and Sennheiser are popular, high quality brands. Self-contained systems are harder to find but are available from AKG, Samson and others.

Important to users in the United States: Under FCC rules, anyone who uses a wireless microphone that operates in the 700 MHz Band, and that means almost every wireless system sold prior to late 2009, should not be operating it. All users of 700 MHz Band wireless microphones (and similar devices)—including theaters, churches, schools, conference centers, theme parks, and musicians—will need to retune (where possible) or replace their wireless microphone equipment with other microphone devices. For further information, please visit the FCC website.

And so ends our series on harmonica microphones. Our thanks go to Murray Hunter for plugging in the original concept. To Keith Shackleton for sorting out the feedback. And, of course, Greg Heumann without whom none of the content would have been audible in the first place. Now get out there and create your own reverb.

Greg Heumann is the curator of our Harmonica Microphones section. Read his previous articles here. You can find more from him at www.blowsmeaway.com.

Harpin’ By The Sea presents…

Once again, ahead of his tenure at this year’s Blues Week in Northampton, Joe Filisko will be making a one-night-only appearance on the UK’s South Coast.

• JOE FILISKO,  plus The Shoestrung and Marika Hackman
• Friday 29th July 2011
• The Brunswick, 1 Holland Road, Hove, BN3
• Doors 7.30 – music 8.00 til 11.00
• £8 / £7 concessions

Return of the Jedi

From Chicago, Joe Filisko will be returning to Brighton by special invitation. He is without question one of the best blues harmonica players in the world.

His two previous performances at The Brunswick have been to full houses and the audiences were amazed by his magical playing and the sheer range of sounds he can produce from a harmonica.

Seeing Joe perform is an unforgettable and joyful experience. His craftsmanship, musicianship and knowledge of the instrument – and all aspects of its history – are acknowledged and praised by all the best harmonica players in the world today.

Read Joe’s review of 78rpm harmonica recordings in the current issue of Harmonica World, available through the UK National Harmonica League (NHL).

Dedicated followers of fashion

Originally from Brighton and now based in London where their popularity keeps on growing, The Shoestrung are a really exciting upcoming young band. They have just supported The New York Dolls in London and for this gig will be performing a special rhythm and blues set. Carnaby Street and The Brit Invasion live on. Tastefully so.

Plus

Currently based in Brighton, Marika Hackman whose ‘folky(ish) songs with a fresh twist’ have been attracting a lot of interest recently.

Cruisin’ and playin’ the radio

Long, long ago, the Harp Surgery crew grooved to the atmospheric intonations of Radio Luxembourg/Radio My Amigo and Radio Caroline. The Boat That Rocked (Pirate Radio – US) captures the rock’n'roll spirit of this early pop radio broadcasting.

Now that hyper-space has replaced the high-seas, Harp Surgery has made a bunch of new blues DJ mates across the internet. In this series we’d like to introduce you to a few. So, silence in the studio please..we’re on air.

Blues And Son

Our newest internet blues radio buddies are the fabulous Mjka Scott and Kala Shaplin at Blues & Son on Brighton & Hove Community Radio. Convening each Friday from 5-6pm (GMT), they deliver a jolly, and very English commentary.

Of course, being local, the Good Doctor drops in from time to time for a chat and a chuckle. And next week the show’s live studio guest will be Chicago’s very own harmonica wizard, Joe Filisko. Be sure to tune in!

Here’s this week’s show, with some great offerings from Champion Jack Dupree, Memphis Slim, Johnny Copeland, Eddie Vinson and Jimmy Rogers. Plus a few extra surprises.

You can tune in to Blues & Son at Brighton & Hove Community Radio (BHCR) through their main website, or listen to past broadcasts via their Facebook page. Just scroll down to the Blues And Son entries. And, in Mjka’s own immortal words, stay tuned, stay curious.

Feedback is that awful loud screeching, humming and/or whistling sound a system makes when a microphone picks up the sound from the amplifier’s speaker and sends it back to the amplifier for further amplification. Every system (in this case a microphone plus amplifier) has a feedback threshold. Turn the volume up loud enough and feedback occurs. Keep the volume below that point and it doesn’t. Unfortunately we often need to have our volume very close to the feedback threshold in order to be loud enough, and so feedback can come and go as conditions change. But some setups are less prone to feedback than others, and some microphones are less prone than others.

Factors influencing feedback are:

1. Gain of the amplifier
2. Distance of microphone from speaker (amplifier or PA, house or monitors)
3. Tone settings
4. Player technique
5. Directionality of microphone
6. Sensitivity of the microphone

What can be done about feedback?

Believe it or not, microphone choice is not very important. Many players believe one microphone is more sensitive to feedback than another, only because that microphone is louder/hotter/more sensitive than another. The only “fair” way to judge one mic vs. another is to adjust the amplifier’s volume so that the sound out of the speakers is equally loud from mic A to mic B, and then see which one more readily produces feedback.

Vocal mics and instrument mics are designed to be “directional” – to pick up more sound from the front than from the sides or the rear, specifically to help avoid feedback on stage. So a well designed microphone can help with a feedback problem – but only when it is in free air – in a rack or on a stand, and not in your hands. Once you pick up a microphone and cup it, all bets are off. If you hand hold a mic, feedback will be more of an issue because the mic is moving around and facing different directions. When you move your “cup” away from your face, it can act like a satellite dish and can catch and reflect more sound to the mic than if it was in truly free air. Your hands also destroy a good deal of the directionality designed into the mic. Many players learn to manage this by pressing the face of the mic against their chest while not playing. Ideally, you should be set up just a little further from “the hairy edge” of feedback so it isn’t too difficult to manage.

When you play acoustically, you can help to control feedback by ensuring that little to none of your sound is coming through the monitors. Depending on the frequency of the feedback, equalization (tone control) can help as well. When you’re playing amplified, all of the above applies. However the gain of your amplifier is the most important variable in taming a specific system. A microphone is designed specifically to pick up sound waves from the air, so it is a much more sensitive and troublesome feedback device than a guitar string. Consequently guitar amplifiers (and most harp amps start out as guitar amps) are set up with much more gain than we need. This allows the guitar player to get Hendrix-like feedback when he or she wants it, but it can be a nightmare for a harp player.

A change of mic might give you, at best, 1-2 dB more volume before feedback. A change of amp might be good for 10-15 dB, or even more.

Reducing feedback by reducing gain – amplifier tube substitution

Generally you can’t adjust the gain of a solid state amplifier. However we can usually substitute lower gain tubes for higher gain ones in a tube amp’s preamp section – and this can instantly make an amp more harp friendly. The most popular preamp tunes are the 12A# series. A typical Fender guitar amp has three tubes in the pre-amp section, and all are 12AX7′s as the amp comes from the factory, set up for electric guitar. Here are the gain factors of the 12AX7 and its compatible cousins:

GAIN FACTOR 100: 12AX7 – aka ECC83, 7025, ECC803, E83CC, 6681
GAIN FACTOR 70: 5751
GAIN FACTOR 60: 12AT7 – aka ECC81, 6201, 6679
GAIN FACTOR 45: 12AY7 – aka 6072
GAIN FACTOR 41: 12AV7 – aka 5965
GAIN FACTOR 19: 12AU7 – aka ECC82, 5963, 5814, 6189

As you can see, three 12AX7′s creates a huge amount of gain. On an amp like this, you will likely not get the “normal” channel volume past 2 before feedback. If your amp has an “overdrive” channel it will be completely unusable. There are way too many combinations and permutations to describe here, but here is one recipe for success: On a Fender Bassman type amp with three preamp tubes, replace the two 12AX7′s closer to the amp’s center with 12AU7′s. This should make a significant difference. If it isn’t enough, replace the outer one with a 12AT7 or 5751. You should now be right in the ball park and grasp the concept – continue to experiment and pick what you like.

Although reducing the gain of your amp makes it more manageable, it will not perform miracles. A Fender Blues Jr. sounds ear-splittingly loud in your living room. Yet you get on stage at a jam and wonder why it can’t be heard. So you turn it up until it is feeding back and conclude that you have a feedback problem. But you don’t. You have an amplifier problem.

Get a bigger amp!

More power helps, but I’ll let you in on a little secret. More speakers is just as important, or more so. Compare the surface area of the speakers on different amps. A Blues Jr. is a 15 watt amp with a single 12” speaker – if you do your maths you’ll know it has 113 sq. in. of speaker surface area. My Sonny Jr. Cruncher is about 35 watts, and has a 12” and two 8” speakers. That’s 213.5 sq. in of speaker surface area – more than twice as much power and almost twice as much speaker area. But even that isn’t always loud enough at some of the jams I go to. I can get the volume on that amp to 9 with no feedback. If I want to be heard at a jam, I bring out the big guns. My Sonny Jr. Super Sonny amp has about 50 watts, and has four 10 inch speakers (here’s Sugar Ray Norcia using one to fine effect). A little more power, but another big jump in speaker surface area – 314 sq. inches to be exact. The difference is huge. Room filling volume, and again, no feedback!

Other feedback management tips

Avoid “overdrive” amplifier channels or pedals: generally speaking these work by adding lots of gain and will be feedback nightmares. If you’re using a PA system and your amplifier is mic’d, tell the sound guy to take you out of the monitors completely. If you can’t hear yourself on stage, and getting closer to (or further from) your amp doesn’t help, have him sneak a tiny bit back in. Change where you stand. Turn the treble or mid-range down. Use an “anti-feedback” pedal. If none of that cures your feedback problem, you are simply asking more of your amp than it can deliver. The bigger the amp and the more speakers it has, the more likely it is that you can get good volume before feedback, regardless of which mic you choose!

Volume controls

And finally, get a volume control! There is nothing worse than getting everything all set during sound check, and then encountering feedback during your performance. But this happens all the time, because room conditions change for a variety of reasons (the sound man included). You certainly don’t want to have to dive for your amp to adjust it, knowing the feedback problem will be worse when you get closer. A volume control at the mic is the perfect solution to this problem. You can instantly kill feedback from where you stand just by lowering the volume a bit. When you perform, you often can’t be sure where the feedback is coming from, and a volume control tells you whether it is you or not.

Volume controls are useful tools even if feedback isn’t an issue. Although any good player has good dynamic control over his instrument, there can still be a wider dynamic range in your playing and with the band than you can accommodate merely by playing softer. Being able to back the volume off right at the mic is really nice when you’re comping behind a quiet passage in the music. You can also use a volume control to explore the tonal range of your amp, when otherwise you’d be firmly in feedback territory. An amp turned up to 10, with the mic’s volume controlled by you to remain below the feedback threshold, will sound different than the same amp at 6 with the volume control on the mic all the way up.

Some players pooh-pooh volume controls. Don’t listen to them. Practically every pro player I have seen uses a volume control. Charlie Musselwhite, Kim Wilson, Rod Piazza, Jason Ricci, Rob Paparozzi, Billy Branch, Curtis Salgado, Mark Hummel… the list just keeps on going. All of them use volume controls.

Feeling tied to the stage by your mic lead? We have the solution: for our last article in this series, we’ll be talking about going ‘wireless’.

Greg Heumann is curating our Harmonica Microphones section. Read his previous articles here. You can find more from him at www.blowsmeaway.com.

Check him out now, the funk soul brother

If a sour mash of Alabama 3, Johnny Cash, Son of Dave, hip-hop, dub and fried green tomatoes was used for a whole new ass-kicking brew, the label would read Dave Ferguson’s Lucky No.7 Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

In our interview with The Mountain Of Love, reference was made to a New Blues music pioneered by R.L. Burnside and Little Axe in the 1980′s and 90′s. Here sequencing, sampling, dub and heavy dance beats were bulldozing the conventions of the blues.

Yet amidst the radicalism, two unalienables remained. The pathos of the slide guitar and anguish of the blues harp. Dave Ferguson is the latest settler in this new blues Heimat and an important exponent of the latter. What he does, he does extremely well. He also tackles it single-handedly. We dropped into Cape Town to check out the Lonesome Whistle Blower of New Blues.

Going down slow

You can find the official take on Dave Ferguson’s work at his own website and at his sponsor’s site Seydel Sohne. But this little piggy, The Good Doctor, went to market and he was brokering the inside story.

Cue Sunday lunchtime at La Vie bar in Cape Town, Murray Hunter (Harp Surgery’s now graduated Apprentice), an intimate table and two bottles of Peroni..

Tell us about Dave Ferguson’s connection with Son Of Dave

Dave Ferguson (DF) has been playing since he was about 17. He has travelled the world. He lived in London for about 10 years and he took an extended road trip to the United States where he learned his trade. While he was in London, he was playing as a regular front man in standard 4 and 5 piece blues bands, but he knew Son Of Dave (Benjamin Darvill/SoD). He was a friend of SoD’s who was already doing the beat boxing thing. I think DF set up a few mics for him – that’s how they knew each other.

So did they meet in the UK or America?

In the UK. DF was travelling the States for a while and then settled in London for about 10 years. During that time he met SoD and picked up some of SoD’s tricks before returning to South Africa (SA) a couple of years ago, when he started using the same stuff.

People say one of two things. Either DF learned what he does at the feet of SoD – this is not strictly true because he only started doing it once he was on his home turf, or he stole what SoD did – which is also not true (although I must admit I might have intimated that once myself).

Everywhere I’ve seen him interviewed, DF attributes the origins of his scheme to Benjamin Darvill right up front; it’s even on his own web site. He says I picked this up off SoD. But he’s expanded on it a great deal because, frankly, he’s technically a more gifted harmonica player. SoD succeeds in what he does through building on the swing and swagger, whereas DF has a masterful command of the instrument – something SoD’s sound either doesn’t have or doesn’t particularly need.

You mentioned that Dave is a full time musician here in SA

He is a graphic designer by training and was working as a sound engineer in London. But once he got back to SA he found it easier to get gigs than a new job, so naturally he went where the work was. And I got a strong sense that his one man thing, by way of the looping pedals and beat boxing, means there is nobody he needs to split the revenue with, but also he can play in all kind of venues where you could never fit a 4 or 5 piece band. He plays these little, intimate places that afford him a whole level of freedom he never had when he was with a band.

How did you first meet Dave?

When I was living in Cape Town as a student around 2005-06, I was interested in taking up the harmonica, had given it a few toots but didn’t really know what the landscape was. I went to a Johnny Cash tribute evening and Dave was in one of the bands that played. In fact he was actually playing when I walked in. I saw this guy in cowboy boots, probably in a cowboy hat, singing into one of those old microphones, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is so kitsch, so cheesy, like some Beverly Hillbilly!’.

But then I listened for a few seconds and what he was playing knocked me dead. His sound just grabbed me and I thought to myself ‘This is something impressive’.

He’s a fantastic player, he really is. I’ve heard him in other permutations, not just this one-man beat boxing stuff, when he was playing in an eight piece bluegrass band and he slots in as a sideman just so eloquently and so tastefully. He is the real deal.

I must admit that when I found out that his sound came from another person, and I started listening to SoD, I rather uncharitably thought of DF as an imitation. It took a few years when I went away to London myself, listened to SoD, developed my own understanding of the instrument and my own ear, and then came back to SA before I realised DF not only plays like Son Of Dave, but also like a son of a bitch!

I’ve seen a clip on YouTube where he drops in the head from Folsom Prison Blues or something similar..

Exactly. It probably was Folsom Prison Blues. He blends all kind of influences into his songs. I think he was playing Low Rider, which he probably picked up off SoD – he does a great version of Low Rider.

So does Dave comprise the entire live harmonica scene in Cape Town?

Certainly he’s the only professional level player that I know of here. I know a few more people who are at my level, you know, the kind of intermediates and I know loads of people who try hard, but to my knowledge DF is the only professional player and he is a world ranking man. I mean Lee Sankey, who doesn’t give praise lightly, has said to me that Dave’s a top notch player.

Lee talks about folks who not only play well but are also somehow naturally gifted..

Well you can hear it with DF. He really does some wild stuff for someone who is essentially playing over a one chord vamp all the time. He doesn’t really do changes because he can’t on his loop pedal. But he plays some wild stuff and it’s fun – that’s the main thing. It’s technically proficient, but it’s really fun, hip music.

DF lays down the rhythm first by beatboxing into a loop pedal. He than lays down the bass line by carefully playing harmonica through an octave pedal. Then he’s good to go. Vocalising through his Astatic harp mic, adding shakers to the loop and manipulating the sounds through adjustments to his pedal board. Vamps and phrases from his harp are augmented by his technical ability as a player, including proficiency in overblows and overdraws.

And even without an old tube amp, he still nails that killer tone. This is executed in part by excellent tongue blocking technique, but also by the overdriven valves which are substituted by a Harp Attack pedal.

When the beat starts popping you’re the first on the floor

The Doc and Murray turned their attention to the fabulous grooves eminating from DF’s corner of the bar. Cape chicks and beach dudes lapped up the vibes. DF granted one birthday party’s special request and performed White Girl. The song is gently mesmerising. You could be forgiven for thinking it was written by Shaggy, or perhaps Clint Eastwood & General Saint. But it’s all self-penned classic. Dave continued weaving his way through Funk Soul Brother, Low Rider, Howlin’ For My Darlin’ and more.

Trance-blues, & Country-dub and advancement of the harmonica

DF has perfected the alchemy of beat-box and looped harmonica and categorised the result trance-blues and country-dub. Which is just about right. It’s cool, it puts a smile on your face, it roots you to the spot and it resonates below the belt.

As important however, are the references Dave makes to the advancement of the harmonica. This is Harpboxing (the fusion of harp and beatbox).

The microphones we are talking about in this series of articles are referred to as either “high impedance” or “low impedance.” In general, a vintage bullet mic is a high impedance device and a modern vocal mic is a low impedance one. This is not always the case, however.

So we should find out what kind of microphone we are holding in our hand (the general rule above and a quick Google should reveal all). Once we know that, the following facts hold true:

1. Microphones and amplifiers work best with certain load or drive levels, respectively. We want to optimize the power transfer from mic to amplifier. For this reason, it is desirable to choose a microphone with an impedance that equals the impedance of the device it is connected to – an amp, a foot pedal, a wireless transmitter, a mixer, or what have you. Ideally we plug a low impedance mic into a low impedance input, or a high impedance mic into a high impedance input. If we can’t acheive this, there is an alternative…
2. We can use an impedance matching transformer: a simple device that can “match” (or adjust) a low impedance mic to a high impedance load, or vice versa.
3. Low impedance systems were developed after high impedance ones, and were designed to enable much longer cable runs and better reject noise (like hum) that is picked up by the cable.
4. There’s no difference between low impedance and high impedance microphones if you are looking to improve your tone and get better resistance to feedback. Merely switching from one kind of microphone to the other will not guarantee improvement.
5. Low impedance systems are almost always wired with XLR jacks and plugs. This is a worldwide industry standard.
6. Many different kinds of connectors are used for high impedance devices, including XLR. However when XLR is used, the cable-to-pin wiring is not the same as it is for low impedance XLR. Mixing low- and high-impedance cables and mics just because you can connect them together with XLR can lead to poor performance. When you see a 1/4″ jack or plug (like guitar players use) it’s a safe bet that you’re looking at a high impedance device. The same is true for the “screw-on” connector that was made by Switchcraft and Amphenol, which was found on many vintage mics and is still produced today.
7. There’s nothing wrong with connecting a high impedance mic with an XLR connector to a high impedance load (like an amp) with a cable that has XLR at one end and a 1/4″ connector at the other. There is something wrong, however, with using that same cable to connect a low impedance mic to the amp – because there is an impedance mismatch. In this case a proper low impedance (XLR to XLR) cable should be used, together with an impedance matching transformer.

Technical note: By definition, impedance is “a measure of the opposition to the flow of alternating current through a circuit” , that current being the signal from your mic, which in loose terms is an electrical picture of the sound going into it. POWER in electrical terms is the rate at which electrical energy is fed into or taken from a device or system. You can have the same amount of power with low voltage and high current, or high voltage and low current. Low impedance mics have a signal with more volts and less current; high impedance mics are the reverse.

Now we’re all matched up and our power transfer is optimal… SKREEEK, SKRONNK! Uh oh, feedback. If you’re a harp player with a microphone, chances are you’ve heard that awful sound. Next time around, we’ll tell you why it happens and how to manage it.

Greg Heumann is curating our Harmonica Microphones section. Read his previous articles here. You can find more from him at www.blowsmeaway.com.