Brendan Power & Alternative Harmonicas Forum

That’s the correct method for half-valving a diminished harmonica. Since it uses uniform draw bends throughout, the valves are consistent across the entire range of the harp. One advantage of this setup is that you can bend the blow notes. For example, it's nice to be able to bend a blow note down a...

I was speaking with Ed Coogan recently, and he uses a hybrid of Powerdraw and Powerblow (and Powerbender) in holes 7-10: |AB | CD | GE | CA | The | AB | CD | in holes 7 and 8 make a whole lot sense, with chromaticism and an easy 2nd position blues scale. Both the Powerdraw and Powerbender layouts of...

Hi all, I've been playing my Dimi turbo-harp for a while now. Blow-slide bends are cool. They can serve as a more stable option than the valved blow bends. I experimented with enharmonic fingerings a bit, as Brendan has outlined above. They work but haven't really become intuitive for me yet, perhap...

Hi Edvin, Hi Brendan! Thanks for the excellent discussion. I haven't received my dimi turboslide harp yet, so nothing concrete to report at this time. But I agree with everything you both have said, and especially about the jumps necessary for major thirds. (The dimi chrom has a similar issue when i...

Well, Brendan, between Exhalaration, Diggers and Hesitation, you certainly do make a great case for the PC. Your fast, accurate and colorful bending is certainly remarkable and the chord vamping is great too!

I think I recognize the sound of the PC from many tracks on many of your albums, correct?

Hi Nidalap, The harmonica I used was a Hohner 270 classic which I retuned from a stock A harp. Wow, a 270 - cool. So did you go to a key of A Power Chromatic, or a key of C Power Chromatic starting on A? I think the half-valved Power Chromatic tuning is an upgrade of the standard chromatic harp, it ...

HI Nidalap,

Very nice playing of the half-valved! Is it based on a CX-12?

Jason