It's happened  So…. take  the following actions:

1. Open the "Control Panel" at Start
2.dabble click on "Sound and Audio Devices
3. click on "advance
4. At the Volume Control - Mixer panel make sure all sliders are at the mid way up (not more) especially SW Synth (the MIDI that play the sounds) and the Volume Control:
5. Close all Windows
6. Open the speakers, play the SCORCH note Player !          - and  walla!!!

Maintaining your own harps can give you longer lasting harps that play and sound better.  Just as guitar players have to change their strings and constantly tune, or sax players have to work with their mouthpiece, harmonica players should be able to set up their instruments to sound good and play well.  Maintenance of a harp most often centers around the reeds, as shown in this picture.  The rivets attach the reeds to the reed plates, and the reeds vibrate through slots in the reed plates to generate the sound.  The action of the reeds depends on the gap between the reed and its slot in the reed plate.

Diatonic Harmonica Reeds

 Tuning

Tuning reeds is done by either removing (normally) or adding (infrequently) metal from/to the reeds.  Here's how it works

• To raise the pitch of a reed, remove metal from near the reed tip (see above picture).  This lightens the tip of the reed, allowing it to vibrate faster, which raises the pitch.
• To lower the pitch of a reed, remove metal from near the reed base (see above picture).  This weakens the reed and makes its tip heavier relative to its base, which slows the vibration and lowers the pitch.
• Alternately, to lower the pitch of a reed add lead-free solder to the tip of the reed to increase the weight at the tip and cause the reed to vibrate more slowly.  It is also possible to increase the weight near the base of the reed to raise the pitch.

You are removing metal from the flat surface of the reed, not at the edges, which would increase the air gap around the reed and cause air loss in the chamber.  Various tools can be used for removing metal from the reeds, and different people have their own preferences.

• Small jeweler file
• Small chisel
• Wet-dry emery type (usually black) fine grained sandpaper
• Dremel-type rotary tool
• Fish-hook sharpener
• Sandpaper pencil

I prefer a Dremel-type rotary tool with a hard rubber disk, which results in a smooth surface, and doesn't remove material as fast as a stone or burr.  The Lee Oskar tool kit (around $30) has all the tools you need for tuning reeds, including a small chisel.  Some people feel that filing a reed (i.e. using a file) can cause striations in the reed that can shorten its life, but manufacturers like Hohner file the reeds to tune them at the factory.  I suggest removing small amounts of metal from a large area, minimizing any gouging or scratching or the reeds.

Before attempting to remove metal from a reed, you need to support the reed so you don't push it through the slot.  A thin shim like a .003 spark plug feeler gauge works well, as does a razor blade.  You can even use a business card--anything small and thin will do.

Be careful not to push the reed sideways in its slot, or the reed won't vibrate freely.  Also, be careful about filing the reed edges, which can cause burrs that catch on the slot-edges as the reed vibrates through the slot.  If you get a burr you can shave it off gently with a razor blade, or carefully file it off.  Support the other side of the reed so you don't get it misaligned when you apply pressure to the reed's edge with the blade or file.

You need to use a chromatic tuner to check the pitch of the note.  You may notice small pitch differences between a note played with the cover off and when the cover is in place.  As you get experience doing it you'll be able to judge how to read your tuner and end up with the right note.  A popular tuner for harp is the Seiko Chromatic AutoTuner model ST-1000.  There are lots of others, both more and less expensive, and even software tuners that use a microphone plugged into your sound card.  Many small digital tuners have a mic input, which provides a better signal to the tuner and can help stabilize a "dancing needle" type problem.  If you seldom tune your harps, an inexpensive model is probably just fine, but if you tune a lot it's no good being frustrated by a poor tool.  No matter what tuner you use, don't forget to use your ears.  Your ears are the final judge as to whether a note is properly in tune...  if the tuner says it's perfect but it sounds off to you, you'll probably be happier if you make it sound right to you.

Harmonica reeds often go flat, and sometimes you can tune the reed back up to pitch.  However, if the reed has gone flat by a semitone or more, it is probably fractured, and tuning the reed may not work.  In fact, it may stress the reed enough to cause it to break--but don't worry, it was broken already.

Many harp players do not tune their harps often enough.  With a little practice you'll know just how much metal to remove, and where, and it won't take long at all to get your harp all tuned up.

Caution: be sure to check the tuning with a chromatic tuner first to see what the reference ptich frequency is.  Historically, the frequency of an A note is used as the reference frequency, but not everywhere uses the same reference!  A=440 cycles per second is very common, but harps are often tuned to A=441 or 442 or even higher, because harps are often played slightly flat, so tuning them sharp makes the resultant note fit better with other instruments.

If you tune each note exactly to pitch according to your tuner, the result will be in so-called equal temperament.  Equal temperament is common on many models of harps, such as the Lee Oskar Major Diatonic and the Hohner Golden Melody.  This tuning is optimized for playing single notes and melodies, but the chords will sound a bit out.  To make certain chords sound better, many harps are tuned to a justified (or just) intonation.  Just intonation involves modifying the pitch of certain notes to make some chords sound better--but melody notes may sound flat or off key.  Various compromised intonations that aren't quite just intonation and aren't equal temperament have been devised to try to work as well as possible for both melody notes and chords.

In addition to keeping your harp in tune, various special tunings can be done to provide different notes (without requiring special bending or overbending techniques) and different chords.  Examples include the Natural Minor, country tuning, and Lee Oskar's Melody Maker tuning.  Using the above procedures, it is relatively easy to build your own specially tuned harps.  Pat Missin's web page contains his "Altered States" document, which contains hundreds of different tunings for both the diatonic and chromatic harps.

Just Intonation

Just intonation is a modification to equal temperament that makes chords blend together and sound better. There are many variations to just intonation and an extensive discussion is beyond the scope of these pages. For an extensive discussion of tunings and temperaments, see Pat Missin's web page at: http://patmissin.com/tunings.html.

The following table shows one tuning alteration that produces a just intonation. The values are cents deviations from equal temperament (the raw readings of your chromatic tuner) where negative values mean cents flat and positive values mean cents sharp.

Notice how much flatter the dominant (flat) 7 (5 draw) note is-almost half a semitone. That?s pretty flat and can sound off when playing melodies instead of chords. There are lots of ways to compromise between pure equal temperament and just intonation. The idea is to achieve a compromise tuning that sounds good for melodies without rough sounding chords, or analogously, sounds good for chords without melody notes sounding out of tune. Here?s one such compromise:

For the draw reeds, the thirds are 3 and 7, the fifths are 4 and 8, the flat 7ths are 5 and 9, and the ninths are 6 and 10. (The root notes have no adjustments.)

Reed Gapping

A reed gap is the gap between the reed and the slot in the reed plate (see the picture above).  The gap height (and shape, or profile) greatly influences how the reed plays: how the harp responds to your breath.  A wider gap requires more playing pressure to make the reed sound, and allows more aggressive play before the reed sticks or chokes.  If you attack notes hard, a relatively wide gap can help keep the reed from missing or refusing to sound.  A narrower gap allows less air to activate the reed.  If you play softly, a relatively small gap will help the reed activate with a soft attack.  If the gap is too small, for instance with the reed tip inside the slot, the reed will refuse to play.  Since the reed gaps are so important to the harp action, each player should learn to set the gaps for his/her own style of play.

The reed gaps need to be wider for longer reeds than shorter ones for consistent action.  In other words, the low notes should have slightly more gap between the reed and the reed plate than the high notes.  In order for the harmonica to play smoothly and uniformly, the response must be consistent for every reed, with the slight gap differences applied for different length reeds. The nominal adjustment is for the gap of the reed tip above the slot to be about the same as the thickness of the reed.  Fine tune the gap adjustments from there.

The reed's gap is really the totality of it's distance above the slot along its entire length.  This is the area that lets the air flow under the reed and start its vibration.  Every bit of the reed should be above the slot in the reed plate, and the distance between the reed and the slot (the gap) should continually increase from the base of the reed to the tip.  If any of the reed dips into the slot, or if the reed arches up and then back down it will not respond properly.  If the shape of a reed is wrong, correcting the problem is more difficult and requires more care than the normal setting of the height of the reed tip.  You can use small tools to support the reed at different points and work through the slot when necessary to gently bend the reed to make it as flat as you can.  The best shape for the reed is probably as flat as you can get it, though some players prefer a very slight arc up toward the tip.  You should be pretty well practiced at gapping your reeds at the tip before you try to work on the reed shape--and as always, it's a good idea to practice on junk harps.  Never throw out a broken harmonica.. they're great for practicing gapping and tuning, and they can be used to provide parts you need to fix other harps later.

Harmonica reeds are essentially just brass springs that vibrate through slots in the reed plates to chop the air stream, which produces the sound. To adjust the reed gaps, just use your fingernails or a small tool to gently press the reed down, to close the gap, or up to increase the gap.  After an adjustment is made, flick the tip of the reed a few times to get the reed to settle to its rest position--if you don't you can get fooled by the reed position.  It can look one way, but revert back to where it was after you play a little--remember, it's a spring.  Flicking the reed tip a few times is a good way to get the reed to settle so you can correctly determine its gap.  It's best to bend the reed in very small increments, and not make over adjustments.  Slight over adjustments are inevitable, but repeated bending one way, then the other, will weaken the reed and could even cause it to break.  The more you do it the more familiar you will become with the characteristics of the brass, and the easier it will be to set the gaps quickly.

By the way, when you go to increase the gap you may want to slide something thin under the reed tip to get hold of the reed.  Be careful not to slide anything too far back toward the rivet.  If you lift the base of the reed out of the slot you'll probably end up making the reed pitch flat.  It is always a good idea to make sure your harps are in tune, and after gapping is a good time to check since you've got the harp open anyway.

Gapping is easy, safe, and a basic requirement for making a harp play well.  Factory reeds are set to some average beginner gap, and are usually too wide--and most often inconsistent across the harp.  I strongly recommend re-gapping your harps according to your personal playing style and needs.

For overblows, the reeds should be gapped close to the reed plate, i.e. with a small or tight gap.   This can be crucial for getting the overblow to sound!  An improperly gapped reed will simply refuse to overblow, or at the very least make the overblow difficult and temperamental.  I recommend setting the gap as tight as possible without causing the reed to feel "sticky" (slow to respond) when attacked moderately hard.  There is a trade-off between overblow ease and reed action for fast loud play, and you need to find the gap that works best for you.  There is no visible difference between a gap that seems perfect and one that just doesn't quite work, so you pretty much have to experiment--gap and try, gap and try.

Misaligned Reeds

Misaligned reeds are not straight along the length of their slot, causing part of the reed to catch on the slot, preventing the reed from vibrating properly.  You need to get the reed centered in its slot along its entire length, and there is very little clearance.  Trying to use a tool to torque the reed back into place can be tricky since the tolerances are so tight, and sideways twisting can easily damage the reed.  A small piece of cigarette paper (or a feeler guage about the same thickness) can be slid between the side of the reed and the edge of the slot to gently nudge the reed back into place.  I feel that a very thin piece of paper like that is more likely to break than the reed if something goes wrong, so its less risky than using a tool.  You can hold the reed plate up to a light to try to peek at the location of the misalignment.

 Embossing Reed Slots

Embossing a reed slot is a narrowing of the slot in order to reduce the air loss around the sides of the reed. This can make the harp more air tight and increase the responsiveness of the reed. It can also help overblows to respond better.

Embossing is relatively simple. Use a smooth round item harder than brass as a tool (like a socket, the round end of a tuning fork or silverware, or even a penny) and run it along the edges of the reed-side of the reed slots a few times. If you happen to get the slot too tight so the reed won't vibrate freely or buzzes, run a small "exacto"-type knife or screwdriver blade along the inside of the slot to open it back up a little. Be careful not to mis-align the reed or you'll have to adjust it back so it's centered. A thin shim (0.002") can be used to straighten the reed in the slot and also remove any small burrs that the embossing may have created.

Reed Replacement

This section has been graciously provided by master harmonica customizer Bill Romel.

"I find it troublesome that any harmonica tech or instrument modifier would present information that discourages players from performing simple maintenance on their own instruments. Replacing a reed on a diatonic or chromatic harmonica is a relatively simple technique and it does not require any sophisticated equipment.

Equipment can be obtained from most any hardware store or can be purchased for a few dollars from persons technically competent to make the tools.

•  A bar of steel about 2 inches wide and perhaps an inch thick with a hole drilled the size of the rivet head will suffice.
• Two pins made of steel, one with a sharp point and one with a flat head will work very well.
  
• A small ball peen hammer and some spare reed plates,
  

or today you can purchase new reeds from your Hohner district office. All Hohner reed plates use reeds that are the same in width, that eliminates one problem. Hering has reeds that are within a fraction of a thousandth of fitting on a Hohner plate if necessary. Run a small diamond file along the slide of the reed just once on both sides and you have a replacement reed from a Hering.

I advocate the rivet reed replacement method. Nine out of 10 times it works perfectly. The tenth time there is usually a problem with reed alignment but you can solve that problem with a screw.

The key to the rivet method is removing the reed used as a replacement from a spare reed plate without removing the rivet. Not a problem. Set the rivet head in the hole in the metal block and tap the rivet on the opposite side gently with your ball peen hammer a few times. The rivet will move. Turn the plate over and grasp the head of the rivet with a needle nose pliers and gently twist back and forth a few times and the rivet will release with the reed attached. It works every time.

Once you have obtained the reed you required, remove the old reed that is fractured or broken from your working reed plate.

To install the replacement reed, place the reed plate on the metal block and place the sharp pointed pin into the receiving hole and tap it once with the hammer. Why? It will spread the sides of the rivet hole outward just a very small amount without distorting the hole and allow you to start the new reed and rivet into the hole in the plate. You may be all fingers at this point.

Once the rivet has been started in the hole slide a thin shim under the reed so it will not fall into the slot and will remain relatively straight while you tap the rivet into the plate with the flat head steel pin and your trusty ball peen hammer. The reed will be loose in the hole.

Next is to set the rivet as my machinist friend use to say. Turn the plate over and place it on the flat surface of the metal block so the rivet head is flat on the surface. If the shaft of the rivet is protruding in the opposite side of the plate, then we must flatten it out with the flat head steel pin.

Turn the plate over and lay the head of the rivet on the metal block. Hold the plate steady and with the flat head pin resting on the protruding rivet body strike the pin a few times until the rivet is flat.

Now we will set the rivet with the sharp pointed pin. Place the point of the steel pin on the rear end of the rivet as close to the center as you can. Secure the reed plate and steel pin with one hand and strike the sharp pointed steel pin about two to three times with the hammer. This will cause the body of the rivet to expand sufficiently to be tight in the hole. Check the reed to ascertain that it is secure and tight. You may have to align the reed with a reed wrench and generally you will have to do some touch up tuning.

Thirty years of experience and trying all methods has convinced me that this is still the best method of reed replacement. Granted there will be times when a screw is necessary due to misalignment but it is the rare occurrence. I like the 0-80 Phillips Round Head stainless steels screws for this problem. Just tap the plate and drill out the reed. It is done in a few minutes.
Regards,
Bill"

Valves

On harmonicas, "valves" are flaps attached to the reed plate at the rivet over the slot opposite the reed.  See the picture above.  They are made out of a thin plastic strip, or pair of strips, though they used to be made of other materials such as leather.

Valves are most often found on chromatic harmonicas, on which they are usually called windsavers. They do indeed function as valves, blocking the air stream during a draw from entering through the blow reeds (and vice versa for draw reeds) while allowing the air stream during a blow to exit via the blow-reed slot (again vice versa for draw reeds). And since they block the air stream from the opposite reed, less air is required overall to play a reed--thus they save wind, which is important on most chromatics because their mouthpieces and slide assemblies typically leak substantial amounts of air.  Windsavers on chromatic are normally present for every reed, sometimes with the exception of the very highest notes.

Such is not the case on diatonics, which are generally much more air tight than their chromatic cousins. The valves on diatonics are not used as windsavers. They are used to facilitate valved bends.

A valved-bend is simply a bend on a reed whose paired-reed (i.e. in the same chamber) is valved.  On the diatonic, not all reeds are valved. The valves are used to obtain bends not normally available on the diatonic harp.  Normal bends are draw bends on holes 1 through 6, and blow bends on holes 7 through 10.  A valved diatonic allows all the regular bends, plus blow bends on holds 1 through 6, and draw bends on holes 7 through 10.  So, when valving a diatonic harp, the flaps are placed as follows:

• Over the slots opposite the draw reeds on holes 1-6
• Over the slots opposite the blow reeds on holes 7-10.

The valves for holes 1-6 are inside the reed chambers, so the bottom reed plate must be removed before the valves can be installed.

Installation is simply a matter of using super glue to attach the plastic flaps to the reed plate at the rivet point on the other side of the plate from where the reed is attached.  Only a tiny amount of super glue should be applied to the valve, and care must be taken not to get glue on the reeds!  A small amount of glue should be put on a small slip of paper or plastic, and the end of valve should be dipped into the glue in order to control the amount of glue applied and make sure you don?t get too much.  If you try to squeeze the glue out of a tube onto the reed plate, you're sure to get too much and have problems!

There are both single layer and double layer valves. Double layer valves have a slightly shorter, stiffer, usually clear plastic "spring" to help keep the actual valve layer flat over the slot. The double-layer valves are installed stiff side up. A good tip is to put a small kink about one third the way back from the tip of the stiff plastic layer so that the tip bends in to push harder on the actual flap layer, holding it down tighter so it lies flatter. Some single layer valves have one side textured and one side smooth. The textured side goes toward the reed plate to help keep the valve from sticking to the plate. If there a dimple in one end of the valve, that sits over the rivet to help put the valve as close to the reed plate as possible.

You can buy valves from Hohner, Bill Romel, John Infande, and probably other harp customizers, or you can make your own.  In some sense, valves have not been perfected, and they frequently can rattle or buzz.  One of the best materials to use for valving is a thin (0.003) mylar covered with 3M Micropore tape.  The tape side goes down, toward the plate, which helps reduce sticking, popping, buzzing, etc. The valves should be trimmed to just barely cover the slot they're on top of.

Take care when reassembling the harmonica that the comb does not interfere with the free operation of the valves.  If the comb keeps the valve from lifting during play, the reed won't sound, or won't sound right.

Valved bends are a little different than normal diatonic bends. During a normal bend, both reeds in the chamber can participate to produce the characteristic gutsy sound. These dual-reed bends tend to "snap" into place at the lowest note available.  Valved bends are more delicate and require more control to execute cleanly and clearly on pitch.  Only one reed participates in the generation of the sound, since the other reed is blocked by the valve.  It is especially important not to attack the bend hard when you initiate it, otherwise it will choke off and not sound.  It is also very important to bend "from your diaphragm" using resonance for valved bends.  A pinching of the lips will not produce a good valved bend. Valved bends can be done on the chromatic, as well as a valved diatonic.

The only commercially available valved diatonic at this time is the valved Suzuki ProMaster (or the semi-chromatic Hohner Slide Harp). But, with a little practice valving your own harp will only take 5 or 10 minutes.

Valve Problems

Valve can stick, buzz, rattle, and generally be a nuisance. Cleaning harps with valves takes extra care to avoid knocking off the flaps. Many valve problems are caused by twisted, curled, or bent flaps that don?t lie flat. Many times replacing the valve is the only way to fix a problem. Be careful when you install new valves that any textured side is toward the reed plate, and that the flap is as flat as possible. If it is a 2-layer valve, the stiff plastic goes on top to act as a spring to return the softer flap so it lies flat over the slot.

If the valve is sticking (possibly making a popping sound) there are a couple of things to try. First, tear a small piece of newspaper, moisten it, and slide it between the valve and the reed plate. Sometimes dried saliva is causing the flap to stick, and the wet rough paper can dissolve the "glue" and clean the flap without pulling it off. It sometimes seems to help to make small scratches in the reed plate where the valve hits it to break up the smooth surface to help prevent sticking due to "suction" (surface tension).

Since many sticking problems are due to moisture condensation of your warm breath on the cool harp, it greatly helps to warm up the harmonica before you play it. There are many ways to do that, including wrapping your harp in a warm heating pad for 10 or 15 minutes before you play, or even setting the harp on a warm stereo or TV monitor for a few minutes.

 Harp Setup for Chromatic Play Using Valves And Overblows

Overblows and overdraws (overbends) work by choking the reed that normally plays for the airflow direction (blow or draw) and activating the other reed to play as an opening reed.  For overblows, this means the blow reed is choked so as not to sound, and the draw reed is activated to produce the sound.  Using overblows and overdraws it is possible to get full chromatic capability out of a diatonic harp, just as with valved bends.

Valves interfere with overbends.  For example, if a draw reed has been valved, an overblow is not possible in that chamber because the airflow cannot reach the draw reed during a blow.  The bottom line is that you can't play valved bends and overbends in the same chamber.

Valving the draw reeds in holes 1, 2, 3, and the blow reed in hole 8, is the optimal way to valve a harp while still allowing full chromatic play without losing the most useful overblows.

Storage

Your harps should be stored so that they dry out thoroughly after being played.  It is a good idea to tap the harp on the palm of your hand first, to get out as much moisture as you can before putting the harp away.  Don't store your harps in unvented plastic boxes, which unfortunately some of them come in.  This keeps them from drying out quickly and can lead to corrosion and reed fatigue.  If you store them with the holes down the moisture will be able to run down out of the harp instead of drying inside it.  Dried saliva is the primary culprit in gunked-up harps, and can keep the harp from playing right and sounding its best.

 Cleaning

Occasionally it is a good idea to clean your harps since gunk (the official name..) builds up inside the holes and on the reeds and reed plates.  Saliva is sticky stuff, but fortunately it's water based and so is best dissolved in water.  You don't need to use alcohol or harsh chemicals to clean your harp, and you certainly shouldn't use anything you wouldn't want anywhere near your mouth--just use water to clean your harps.

I don't think how you clean your harp is particularly critical, or recommend any specific period of time between cleanings.  Each person's playing habits, body chemistry, and tolerance for gunk is different.  Obviously, if something is interfering with the way the harp plays you need to take care of it.  If that means some fuzz is lodged in there causing a reed not to respond you need to remove the foreign material.  If you use a brush, make sure to stroke in the direction of the reeds so you don't cause them to be misaligned by pushing them sideways (not along the slot length).  An electric-shaver type brush works well for brushing out the dried gunk from inside the harp holes, but even a toothpick can be used pluck out any offending material.

Caution: wood comb harps (mainly the Hohner Marine Band) are not good to get wet, certainly not for very long.  Some people swear by soaking their wood comb harps , and others swear at it--bottom line, the comb will swell and dry out, and upon drying be more inclined to crack, split, or warp.  The swelling sometimes will push the comb teeth out beyond the mouthpiece making it very uncomfortable to play.  A swollen comb probably eliminates some air leaks, but once soaked you pretty much have to soak it every time or it won't be playable, and the life of the harp is greatly reduced. I recommend against soaking wood comb harps.

Soaking plastic or metal comb harps presents no such problems, since neither the plastic nor metal absorb moisture, swell, or shrink.  Prolonged or very frequent soaking can increase corrosion on the reeds and may reduce their overall life, but periodic cleanings shouldn't cause problems.  Some people report good success putting their harps (not wood!) in a dishwasher for a short time, say 5 minutes or so, using only a small amount of dishwasher detergent (like a tablespoon).  I've found that a quick soak in some denture cleaning solution does a pretty good job.  Be sure to shake the excess water out of harp when you're done.

Sharp Edges

Some harps have reed plates that extend slightly beyond the comb and covers, and sometimes these plates have sharp edges that bother people's lips.  The outside parts of the harp are not that delicate.. if there's a sharp edge, file it smooth or sand it with fine grained emery type wet/dry paper.  If a corner feels too sharp or rough you can safely sand it down or round it out by pressing it firmly onto a hard surface.

Bending

Bending is a basic diatonic harmonica playing technique used to produce notes not otherwise available in the standard tuning of the harp, and to provide various sliding-note effects.  Bends are, in large part, what give the diatonic harp its unique character, and are intimately related to the blues tradition.

Bends, whether draw bends or blow bends, produce notes lower in pitch than the natural, unbent note.  I think that part of the "trick" to bending is knowing what note will result, and unconsciously anticipating that sound. If you think about singing for a second, paying attention to your vocal tract, when you sing a low note versus a high note your body sort-of automatically adjusts according to the pitch of the note. You get the note in your "mind's ear" and your body tends to adjust without thinking about what you're doing. Try to feel how there are more physical actions than merely your vocal cords buzzing at a different frequency. You tend to "sink" lower and open up "bigger" for singing low notes as opposed to high notes, and it's similar for harp. What is happening is that your body is naturally adjusting to a shape that is more suitable to the pitch you know ahead of time you want to sing. Bending notes on the harp is much the same way. You have to adjust your vocal tract shape-the position of your mouth, tongue, jaw, throat, and soft palette, to be suitable for the pitch of the bent note. It's easier to do that if you have a mental idea of what the note will sound like ahead of time. If you've never done bends before, that can be tough! How do you know what the note will sound like? It helps to play the note on another instrument, like a piano or guitar, to get it in your ear while you are working on trying to bend. Various computer programs can play different pitches, so that's another way to try to get the pitch in your ear if you don't have any other instruments available.

The amount you can bend a note depends on the pitches of the two reeds in the hole.  The higher pitch note in the hole can be bent down to just above the lower pitch note in the hole.  For example, the notes on a C harp in hole 2 are: blow-E, draw-G.  The higher G note can be bent down to Gb and F--and just a little lower.  It is best to only bend down to the desired note, and not further, in order to minimize stress on the reeds.  When you practice your bends, it is good to use a piano, guitar, pitch pipe, electronic tuner or whatever to check that you're hitting the correct pitch.

Bending is not something that is easy to describe how to do-and it is difficult to show because all the movements are hidden inside the mouth and throat.  It takes practice to be able to do bends at all, and lots more practice to do them well.  Bends are the first major hurdle in playing the harp, and you should not expect to "get it" in a few minutes. It may take months. That's okay. Don't be in a hurry, and don't get discouraged. If you keep at it, you'll get it. You're learning new control of your breath and your mouth, your breathing and your body's resonance, your tongue and throat, and of your focus. Bends are something you'll keep working on, probably for as long as you play the harp. Bends aren't hard, but like anything else you have to get familiar with how to do it. You have to get familiar with how the harp responds to different vocal tract positions, and if you're just starting you're not yet familiar with how to set your mouth, tongue, and throat in different positions, much less particular positions needed to modify the air stream to produce different pitches. If you're not "getting it" don't get down on yourself! You just haven't put in the practice to get familiar with what your need to do yet.

There are draw bends available on holes 1 through 6, and blow bends available on holes 7 through 10, each of which require different playing techniques.  To make matters more interesting, different key harps require different bending techniques, depending on the pitch range of the harp.  Lower key harps (e.g. A, Ab, G, and low F) require more mouth/throat/tongue (or simply "vocal tract") movement than the same holes on higher key harps (e.g. C, D, E, and F). Learning your bends not only gives you more notes and effects, it gives you more control over your notes, air stream, resonance, and tone.

So, celebrate when you finally get your first bends!  But remember--that's only just the beginning.

Draw Bends

Draw bends are available on holes 1 through 6--but hole 5 will not bend as much as a full half step. 

Here are some tips for getting your first draw bends. Remember these are tips to help you get started with bending since I can't show you what's going on in my mouth (and if probably wouldn't help if I could, since you can't see what's happening inside your mouth!) These are things to help you get the right feel, to help get your mouth, tongue, and throat in the right bending position.

Requires Strong Single Notes

First, be sure you can get a good, clean, pure, loud, single note before going any further! Don't even worry about bends if you can't get a consistent pure single note. All of the following bending tips assume that you start with a strong single note, then modify your mouth/tongue/throat position to get the bend.

One good approach to strong single notes is to use the "lip block" embouchure. It helps you relax and get your mouth open, which helps improve your resonance and makes bending easier.

Open your mouth wide enough to cover about 3 holes, with your upper lip coming about 2/3 the way back over the top cover. Tilt the harp up in back at around 30-45 degrees, and let the holes nestle into your lower lip. Relax. Breathe slowly in and out, deeply. First, empty your lungs and as slowly as you can, breathe in, with the harp settled onto your bottom lip. With a little fiddling with the harp position, not trying to force anything, you should be able to easily get a clean single note. Once you've mastered that, try your bending from this mouth position embouchure.

Set Mouth Shape from Speaking Articulations

While breathing in slowly from your diaphragm, shape your mouth and vocal tract as if you were making a long "eeee" sound followed by a long "oh" sound. Notice how your jaw drops on the "oh" sound, and pay attention to the feeling of "opening up" in your throat. Feel the "oh" drop down as deep in the back of your throat as you can. The bend happens when you change your vocal tract shape from the "eee" position to the "oh" position. Try holes 2, 3, and 4 for your first bends.  You can also try holes 1 and 6.

The "Oh" articulation should feel like you're singing a deep full low note. Try saying "Orange", and exaggerate your mouth movement and enunciation.  Your throat should feel like the first "Or" part.   Whisper it.  Orange.  Whisper it louder.  Whisper it breathing in.  Try bending with the mouth/throat position of the "Or" part.

Go back to the "eee" position. Feel how much tighter your throat is. Say "sweet orange" over and over. Concentrate on your throat. Feel how it closes and opens. Accentuate the opening, and drop the pitch on the word "orange". Sing "sweet orange" while breathing in.

Now, play a strong clear draw note on hole 4 with your mouth in the "eee" shape. Very slowly change to the whispered "orange". The pitch not the note should bend down when you articulate the "or" part of orange, and bend smoothly back up as you articulate the "an" part. The final "ge" sound isn't part of the bend, but the word orange seems to open up the throat more than the name "Orin". (It might depend on what part of the country you're from?)

Another thing to do is try articulating the word "TOE" to bend and clear draw note on hole 2, 3 or 4. Start with a nice pure single draw note, then suddenly say a deep pitched TOE, still breathing in. The "T" in toe gets your tongue tip in action, and this ticking the top of your mouth with your tongue just as you go to the deep "Oh" mouth/throat/tongue positioning can help get the bend started. Draw with "eee", then pronounce "toe". Another articulation you can try is "YO", as in yoyo.

Say NO! as if giving a command to your dog. Bark it out there, as if the dog was about to chew up your expensive sofa, or was ready to snatch your favorite harp off the coffee table. Notice how your voice naturally gets lower and deeper in pitch when you're giving a command? Use that feeling from your diaphragm, the strong breath, the drop in pitch to command your bend to work. Start playing a clean steady single draw note on hole 2, 3, or 4, and then just say No! as if commanding your dog, while still breathing in. (If you don't have a dog, pretend it's your child doing something wrong, or the neighbor's kid about ready to pluck your favorite flower from your garden, or steal your newspaper..).

Whistle Practice

Whistle a little bit. Now try whistling while breathing in.  Now bend the pitch of your whistled note down.  That's what it feels like to do draw bends. Practice bending notes while whistling breathing in. Focus on your mouth and jaw position. Match the pitch of your whistle to the pitch of the natural unbent note you're practicing bending, then bend the pitch of your whistle note down (while breathing in!). Now go back to working on your harmonica bend, while applying the feelings and vocal tract changes you used to bend your whistle down.

Don't Pinch Your Lips

Don't let the whistle practice fool you into thinking you have to pucker up or pinch your lips. You don't, and you shouldn't. The danger is that you can actually get a note to bend a little by pinching your lips, but that's usually not the right way to play a bend. If you find yourself pinching your lips to get your bends, stop it. You're only learning something wrong that you'll eventually have to unlearn. The sooner you stop, the easier it'll be.

No Air Leaks

Make sure NO AIR leaks in through your nose.  This is very important, and a very common cause of problems.  If air leaks in through your nose it essentially prevents a bend from being able to occur. Try gently pinching your nostrils closed. Does it make any difference to your normal draw note? If air is coming in while you play, you need to work on controlling that air leak before you proceed with trying to bend. Focus your awareness on your nose, and practice breathing just through your mouth from your diaphragm. Control of your breathing, and of your venting of air in or out while you play is a basic requirement of playing the harp, so any practice time you put in now working on those muscles, that focus and control, is not wasted time, but valuable practice.

Also, make sure you have an air tight seal of your mouth on the harp.  Any air leaks get in the way of bends, whatever their cause.

Air Direction

Hold the harp in your left hand and put it in playing position. Hold out the index finger of your right hand like you're making the number 1 sign, then point to the left so your finger is parallel to the back of the harp. Put your pointing index finger a few inches behind the harp, parallel to it.

Now, hold your head up, look straight ahead, draw a natural note and visualize that you are pulling the air straight from your finger. When you do a draw bend, visualize that you are pulling the air from underneath your finger. The farther below your finger you draw from, the lower the pitch of the bend. Visualize pulling the air from 45 degrees below your finger, then from 30 degrees, 15 degrees, and so on.

Warm vs. Cool Air

Blow on the back of your hand. Blow warm air. Blow cool air. Feel how your mouth and throat change.  For draw bends, focus on the warm air. Keep your mouth/throat position the same and breathe in. Try this on hole 2. Try going back and forth between cool air (no bend) and warm air.

Bending All the Way Down Should Feel Effortless

Don't try to force it.  Bending doesn't require force, or loud hard play.  If your mouth/throat/tongue shape are right the bend will naturally happen.  Think about holding an egg in your mouth during a bend.  Keep playing with the shape of your mouth and your tongue position.  Very minor changes in mouth/throat/tongue position make all the difference. Higher notes use smaller eggs, or even yolks. Low holes on special low harp tunings need ostrich eggs?

Still having problems?

The tongue is the key (for beginners). Start with it flat and forward in your mouth. While drawing in with the "eee" mouth shape, slowly pull your tongue back, keeping the front low and flat in the mouth, and humping it gradually more and more in the back as your tongue pulls in. At some point the sound should begin to choke a little. That's the crucial spot. Treat it like the "friction point" on a clutch car... if you move too fast you'll stall the car-or in our case miss the bend.  At that crucial spot, adjust your mouth position from "eee" to "oh", or say orange or toe or no (still breathing in).  At first, it may help to increase the air pressure a little. But, you don't have to play loud or hard to get bends. You can bend notes playing quite softly.

Breathe in while making a hard "K" sound, as in Coke. Notice where you make that sound in your throat. That's one place in your vocal tract from which you can get a draw bend. Focus on that spot, and articulate the "Co" part of Coke, or cocoa. The hard K articulation, like the T articulation discussed with saying "toe" above, can help kick-start the bend into action.

Breathe from deep within your body--from your diaphragm.  Feel your stomach push out a little bit. This will help your resonance and make bending easier.  Lie on your back and slowly breathe in.  Put your hand on your stomach and notice how it moves up and down--that's the location of your diaphragm.  Draw in your air from there. Try playing the harp while lying on your back, and get the feel of your diaphragm in action.

Try different key harps.  The mouth position is different for different pitch notes, and if you're having trouble with one key harp, another key might work better; might be a better fit to the particular degree of mouth changes you're doing.  For example, if you can't seem to get it on a C harp, try an A harp or a D harp.

It ain't as easy as it looks! Don't give up! It can take a while to get it, and you just have to practice, practice, practice.  And remember, don't try bending unless you can get consistent pure clean single notes-you have to master that first.

Exercises

Practice smooth dip bends here, and work on your speed for this exercise. You also need to be able to hit each bend cleanly, without bending the pitch to get to the note.
 

Intermediate Bends

The intermediate draw bends (2', 3', and 3") are more advanced techniques because it is difficult to hit them cleanly on pitch with good tone. It takes good diaphragm support, resonance, and control of your playing pressure. You need to develop your ear so you know the correct pitches and can easily recognize the note relationships. Repeat these patterns over and over, paying attention to distinguishing the bends in the same hole from each other. It's good to use a tuner or a piano to check that your are hitting each note on pitch.
 

It is extremely valuable to play simple little tunes you are well familiar with utilizing the intermediate bends, because you know how each note should sound before you play it. For example, try it with "Mary Had a Little Lamb", and try to make it sound good. Don't forget that part, making it sound good. Don't just stumble through the exercise quickly. Take your time with this or some other simple tune, and work to make it sound right, and good. Come back to practice like this from time to time, and see how well you're doing. Don't expect to get it sounding good right away, and don't get discouraged because is "should" be so simple. It's not easy to play simple things and make them sound good. It's a major goal.
 

Here's something a little blusier. As you get better at it, double up on each note and swing the beat. Repeat these each over and over, don't just play it once and go on.
 

Blow Bends

Blow bends are normally learned after draw bends, because the low end of the harp (holes 1 through 6) are used more, especially by beginners, than the top end of the harp, holes 7 through 10, where the blow bends are available.  Note that hole 7 will not bend as much as a full half step.

Blow bends are done by manipulating the air stream with tiny movements toward the front of the tongue. Smooth downward bends can also be controlled with a very slight tightening at the back of the throat. Sometimes the blow bends have a tendency to "snap" into place, with little indication that a smooth bend is lurking there, but smooth blow bends are indeed possible. A well set up air tight harp helps, and remember, the tongue movements are very slow and very tiny indeed.

Start the natural blow note with your tongue flat in the bottom of your mouth.  Slowly, keeping the tongue flat, lift the tongue toward the roof of the mouth.  Keep the air stream constant, and where you feel the note start to choke--that's the crucial spot.  Very tiny changes to your tongue position cause the note to transition from the natural note to the bent note.  You have to experiment and remember your exact mouth position.  The vocal tract is more constricted in the mouth and throat for blow bends than for draw bends.

Try whistling a note and bending the pitch upwards.  A similar tongue movement happens when doing blow bends on the harp.

Exercises

The blow bends are easier on lower key harps, so I suggest practicing them at first with an A or a G harp. After you can play them on the low keys, then move to higher key harps like C and D. I show smooth dip bends in this exercise. You also must be able to play each bend cleanly, without sliding down to the bent note.
 

How Bends Work

In a normal bend on a diatonic harmonica, both reeds can participate in making the sound.  Consider a draw bend (blow bends work the same only the reeds are the other way around).  At first, the draw reed is doing most of the speaking.  As the bend gets lower the blow reed starts taking over, and at the bottom of the bend the blow reed is producing almost all of the sound.

Bending lowers the pitch of the natural note of the highest reed in the hole.  However, since both reeds participate in producing the bent note, the natural note of the lower pitch reed in the hole actually raises while the higher pitch reed lowers in pitch.  For example, for a draw bend the pitch of the draw reed gets lower while the pitch of the blow reed gets higher.

The note in a hole can be bent down to about a semitone higher than the lower pitched reed in the cell.

This is the best I've been able to determine on the physics of how bends work on a diatonic harp.

1. The blow/draw air flow contains a broad spectrum of air compression wave frequencies.
2. Each reed has a range of vibration frequencies to which it will respond.
3. Resonance adds energy to a frequency because of reinforcing wave forms.
4. The range of frequencies to which a reed will respond overlaps for both reeds in a cell.
5. By adjusting the resonant frequency of the "playing tract" (tongue, mouth, throat, and other airways) we alter the frequency that has the most energy.
6. This frequency with the most energy will dominate the random broad spectrum of frequencies produced by the blow/draw air flow.
7. The reed will respond to the driving compression wave frequency with the highest energy.
8. Both reeds in a 2-reed cell will respond to the same driving frequency because that driving frequency falls in the range of frequencies to with each reed will respond, that is, where the response frequencies overlap for the two reeds.
9. So the note that sounds depends on the resonant frequency of the airway tract, subject to the mechanical response characteristics of the reed pair.

Thus, bends are induced by changing resonance characteristics in the vocal tract, and the reed vibration rate is coupled to the playing tract.

If one uses only mouth adjustments to the resonance chamber, the range of resonant frequencies is smaller than if adjustments to other parts of the airway are included.  When the other airways in the vocal tract, e.g. the throat and below, are tuned to the same resonant frequency as the mouth, this will accentuate the frequency energy advantage, and the bending range and tone of the note will improve.  This is why it is best to play "from the diaphragm", using as much of the vocal tract as possible.

One of the few scientific papers on the physics of harmonicas is at:
http://www.bs.monash.edu.au/staff/johno/acust2.html

Also, see the section on "Harp Physics" for some interesting experimental results.

 Some Basic Definitions

In order to learn about the harp, you have to know the language--harp specific terms and their meanings.  The following pictures show a disassembled diatonic harmonica with various parts indicated.  The bottom picture shows a reedplate with the reed side up.

Diatonic Harmonica Parts 

The following table presents some basic definitions used when discussing the harmonica and harmonica play.  Many other less basic terms are discussed in the section about diatonic harmonica techniques.
 

How to Do Basic Maintenance on Your Harmonica

When used frequently, even the best harmonica will eventually deteriorate beyond repair. But you can prolong your harmonica's life span by performing some routine maintenance.