Jaw harps...

[Fassa Albrecht]

Anyone on here know how to play one well? I got given one today.

[fenderhutz]

*Awaits the "I got TMJ from a Jaw Harp" thread*

[Jumbotron]

I play one from time to time. The key is avoiding your aversion to pressing something metal against your teeth. You can achieve some remarkable effects by breathing in and out forcefully through your mouth as you play. If it matters to you, I've found that they're really difficult to use in a loud band situation, as it's hard to get them loud enough to be heard through a mic set up for vocals level. Recording is fun, though--the jaw harp actually has a pitch (I've got three of them of different pitches) and it's sweet when you have one that's tuned to your song (pitch shift feature can be really handy with that).

[mophead]

Blues harp is done by drawing on the harp mostly. You can bend and express better. If the key is A then you use a D harp for cross harp blues sounds.

With a little work you can play it.

[Matt Till]

Originally Posted by mophead

Blues harp is done by drawing on the harp mostly. You can bend and express better. If the key is A then you use a D harp for cross harp blues sounds.

With a little work you can play it.

I'm pretty sure the subject matter is this:




Obviously, be careful you don't chip a tooth! But the the key is putting just the right amount of pressure against your teeth. Your skull is the resonator, it's a little gross to think about it like that, but it's your skull amplifying the sound, and your mouth controlling the harmonic overtones.

It comes with practice, the forceful breathing also makes a big difference in the sound. Once you get the initial sound right, play around with different ideas, then mic yourself and run it through a distortion/delay/phaser. I pretty much do that with everything though...

[IconBasser]

what on earth is a jaw harp?

[fenderhutz]

Originally Posted by IconBasser

what on earth is a jaw harp?

BWOING BWOING BWOING.

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

*Awaits the "I got TMJ from a Jaw Harp" thread*

TMJ???

[Solarmist]

Temporomandibular joint disorder - a painful condition of the jaw joint

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by Solarmist

Temporomandibular joint disorder - a painful condition of the jaw joint

Ah right.


Well that's not going to happen.

[TheDarkReaver]

Where'd the harp come from, I was talking to my guitarist about them and we were wondering where one might purchase such an intrument.

[Big Joe]

Maybe in a couple of days, you can give some jawharp lessons to those with less experience with it...

[T-Bird]

Hi.

That's mean, Big Joe, but oh so extremely funny at the same time .

Regards
Sam

[four2oh]

Originally Posted by Jumbotron

You can achieve some remarkable effects by breathing in and out forcefully through your mouth as you play.

my favorite jaw harp sound.. like redneck didgeridoo!

i also recommend jaw-harpin' into a microphone, as it gets buried by other instruments (even in an acoustic setting).

[Ripper]

i have one that i mess with... its fun... i've figured out how to get some pretty good sounds out of it... talkboxing is fun

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by IconBasser

what on earth is a jaw harp?

See post #5.

[Lesfunk]

Originally Posted by Solarmist

Temporomandibular joint disorder - a painful condition of the jaw joint

Otherwise known as BJ'ers Cramp..

[T-Bird]

Hi.

^ Now THAT would be painful to the both parties involved .

Fassa, pick up a Kazoo, much more versatile, more audible and cheap.

Sam

[Thunderscreech]

But she can't sulk with a kazoo!

[rezin]

Originally Posted by Solarmist

Temporomandibular joint disorder - a painful condition of the jaw joint

got that