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Slide Diatonic questions

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 12:55 am
by rlb
Hi Brendan, I recently got the two Slider Diatonics in D & G, taking advantage of your special. They are delightful to play Irish music on. Thanks! I do have a few questions/comments on the D harmonica:
  • 1. The D Slider Diatonic is an octave lower than typical diatonic harmonicas. I like the low-D and would not want to part with it, but I miss the higher octave on some songs. I originally learned Irish from your "Play Irish Music on the Blues Harp" using Paddy Richter tuning, and I still mostly play from that--and it often sounds good in higher octave. Is there a similar Slide Diatonic in higher octave? What is your thinking about low-D vs. typical-D for Celtic?
  • 2. One side-effect of being in low-D is that the valves go all the way to the top reed of the harmonica--unlike the G harmonica that you used in the video for removing valves. To figure out which valves to remove from the top octave of the D, you can just imitate the middle octave. That might be a good tip to add to the video.
  • 3. On the G harmonica, you left the valves on the lower 2 holes. Is that because you'd leak too much air down there? Or some other reason? I left the valves on the entire lower octave of the D, but not sure if that's best?
Thanks again for enriching our lives with wonderful instruments!