#Diatonic vs chromatic harmonica free#

This is getting lesser but it is still there. Is this due to the wind sleeves flapping or just my poor blow and draw technique?

My new chromatic produces a fluttering sound. This will slightly rinse the slide, and not clean as thoroughly as #1. Hold the harmonica with the holes facing down, and tilt it slightly so that the button end of the slide is slightly higher, and using a eyedropper, allow a little bit of water into the button end of the slide, again making sure that no water can run into the chambers but only out the holes or the other end of the slide. Then let it dry again with the holes facing down.Ģ. The water will dissolve and loosen any material in the slide/mouthpiece area, and you can remove the harmonica, making sure to hold it always so that the holes are facing down and all the water runs out of the holes, and not into the main chambers, and while holding it like this you can gently push the slide in and out to help clean and then put it back in the pan, and repeat a few times. Make sure there is only enough water so that the mouthpiece and slide are getting wet, but not enough to get into the chambers. Using a pan or dish that is big enough for the harmonica, put about 1/2 inch water in pan and place the harmonica with the mouthpiece holes facing down, and the mouthpiece resting on the bottom of the pan. In both it is VERY important to always have the mouthpiece, and holes pointing downward, facing the ground, so that NO water will run into the chambers or reed/valve areas of the reedplates.ġ. Other than taking the mouthpiece assembly apart, and cleaning everything, water can be used to clean the slide in two ways. It is very important to NEVER allow water into the Chromatic harmonica in any way that it will contact the valves. (click on TIPS, which you will find in the box under the 'add to basket' button, and choose TIP#2) If you will go to TIP#2, on the Saxony page of our website, you will be able to view a video of this process:

#Diatonic vs chromatic harmonica free#

There is a spring which goes through the small hole in the slide, and when re-assembling you will need to make sure that the spring is in place through that hole, and that the indented area of the mouthpiece back is over the spring, so the spring tip is free to move. There are bumpers on the ends of the screws, so you do not remove the screws from the mouthpiece, but just back them out enough to be able to lift the mouthpiece off the harp, with the screws still going through the mouthpiece. This is a procedure that every chromatic player needs to learn and be able to do. The most thorough way to clean the slide and assembly is to loosen those 2 screws and take the mouthpiece and slide off.

Whats the best way to clean a chromatic slide? So my advise to you is ease up your breath on the #5 draw, and/or increase the gap to around.

This means I can bend down the G note and play: Ab, A, and Bb. On the #3 hole it gets more interesting, because there are actually 1 and a half steps (1.5 half steps) G on the blow reed and B on the draw reed. This is why you can bend D down to the note that lives in between the D and the C, which would be Db. So let's check out hole #4, for example: C is a blow reed and D is a draw reed, which is a whole step apart. This is a natural half step (same as between B & C), not a whole step. On the #5 hole, the blow reed is E and the draw reed is F. You can only bend down notes that are a 'whole step' or more apart from each other in the same chamber (blow reed and draw reed). Ten Second Music Theory (relative to a C harmonica): It's almost as if we are 'willing' the note to magically appear o) Until we discover this, we tend to 'over draw' (over stress) this poor reed until it fractures and goes flat. The reason for this is that there are no bendable notes on the #5 draw (a little bit for expression, but not a real note). It is a common occurrence to have the #5 draw reed poop out before the other reeds on our harmonicas. Tuners, Strings, Cables, Stands, & Other Guitar Related ItemsĪdapters, Cables, Interconnects, and Stereo Breakouts Apparel: Shirts, Hats, Jewelry, & Keychains