Microphone Choices: The Sonic Spitball...

At The Harmonica Microphone Bench

Yep, baseball season's in full swing, and so it's no accident that our top-down Harpmobile's rolling by the (fill-in your favorite city/team)'s ballpark. Why? Hungry for a tank-top tan, a hotdog, and a beer? Maybe watching the lazy sway of the bugs in the field lights at a night game? NO! It's time for a harmonica (applicable) lesson from that Baseball Hall of Famer and pitching legend, Gaylord Perry. "HEY FRITZ! DID YOU EVER HEAR GAYLORD PERRY BLOW HARP?" Nope. I can't even say for certain that Mr. Perry ever played harmonica at all... "THEN WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?" We'll learn by example, my friend, that so very often it can be the little details, the unknown, the X-FACTOR that makes the BIG DIFFERENCE in the performance.

In Gaylord Perry's case, the X-FACTOR happened to be what he was adding during his performance, that he was often "doctoring" the baseball's surface while he was on the pitcher's mound. Although illegal by the rules of America's Pastime, Gaylord was an acknowledged master at applying "stuff" (saliva, hair oil, Silly Putty) to the ball in order to produce a less predictable-and thus a less hit-able-pitch: The "SPITBALL." After over three hundred Major League wins, he was even willing to share his trade secrets.

With the Tin Sandwich, as with baseball, getting a grip on the obvious is certainly a chief concern: Sure, a Big Leaguer knows which bat to pick-up; A harp player knows which key harp to pick-up in a given situation. However, beyond the obvious lies the No-man's Land of creative opportunity, the space to throw that Sonic Spitball. Relax, there's no Ump to throw you out of the game for breaking the rules. Come to think of it, there AREN'T ANY RULES! There are only results and consequences here...

Gear that can enable your playing or enhance your sound should always be considered. After all, we're not talking Silly Putty here... The last time out in the Harpmobile we looked at the essential-if subtle-need for your harp-gear to be "speaking the same language" in terms of electrical impedances, and how the knowledgeable application of a simple matching transformer can dramatically affect your sound in a positive and audible way. The world of the more specialized harp-friendly gear is populated by pre amps and processors by people with names like Kinder and Holmes. Gear specifically designed to suppress feedback, increase compression, and expand the tonal muscle for harp players who want to interface directly with the PA or utilize it as a pre-pre amp.

Through experimentation, trial and error, even some of the most unlikely EQ candidates can become allies. Richard Hunter is an example of someone who's taken a standard multi-effects devise and made it work wonders for his particular array of creative applications. A variety of the inexpensive stomp boxes produced for guitar by DanElectro have found favor with purveyors of the Mississippi Saxophone, though these units and many like them will benefit by having their input impedances upped if used with an ultra-HI-Z crystal or ceramic element. A number of shops can perform the mods required to clear the signal path. Just like pitching: With a load of practice and experimentation, you too could be throwing The Sonic Spitball toward new horizons. Thank you, Gaylord Perry...

Next month some specific examples...

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED (Email them to me at HARPMICMAN@earthlink.net)
Next time, on THE MIC BENCH.

For pictures and descriptions of most of the microphones listed visit http://www.harmonicamasterclass.com/vintage_collection.htm

To contact Fritz for his Custom Mics or Repair email him at harpmicman@earthlink.net