Brendan Power & Alternative Harmonicas Forum

After touring a lot in the past I'm now enjoying putting my time mostly into inventing/Rn'D in my home workshop in Canterbury, England. I sometimes do local pub/cafe gigs for the fun of it, and post those on my Facebook pages. Here is the music one: https://www.facebook.com/BrendanPowerMusic/ Occasi...

Getting back to 'The Dingle Angle' tuning: When I wrote the big spiel on it earlier, I had a serious case of brain fade! I mixed up that tune with another in my mind, '20 Out of 10'. It's on the same album (Tradish), and is one that uses the entire range of the harp - hence the name (which has the d...

Thanks Paris, glad you're enjoying exploring them :-) As you say, a different tuning transforms the instrument completely, and opens up all kinds of new expression and musical possibilities. But it can be a big step to either add a new tuning to your repertoire, or switch entirely from an old one. A...

I recorded 'The Dingle Angle' with a tuning I used for about 15 years and on many albums, called PowerBlow tuning. After starting with Richter, in about 1980 I made a batch of 11-hole harps with a tuning with an even breathing pattern that was reflected in its name: Regular-Breath Tuning CD. EG. GB....

IaNerd: thanks for posting that link. Re-reading my post I realised I'd made some mistakes. I've have now fixed them there and will explain here. I initially gave the tuning the wrong name. It should be called Paddy-Richter Extended. Here it is over 10 holes: CD. EG. AB. CD. EG. AB. CD. EG. AB. CD I...

Thanks all of you for your interesting and helpful contributions. Great to get a spread of ideas, impressions, suggestions. On a personal note I think I should clarify something. I created the SlipSlider as a (hopefully) useful harmonica for the biggest group of harmonica players: those who play unv...

Thanks so much to Crawforde and Roverharp for your impressions. That level of detail is really useful. The main lesson I take away from it is that, if 'early adopters' like you two found it tricky to learn in the early stages, I need to explain and demonstrate the SlipSlider in small, easily absorbe...

I think I've found the perfect grip solution. I tried many things, and have settled on 1mm neoprene foam adhesive strips that can be stuck on the top and bottom covers. They give excellent grip without being bulky , and can be repositioned many times if desired without losing adhesion. They don't ma...

Those of you who have a SlipSlider: how is it working out for you, now that you've played it for a while? My feeling after I first got it working was "Wow, if I was a player of the unvalved Richter harmonica, why would I go back to playing a standard harp after experiencing this wonderful extra bend...

Yes