Breaking in A Harmonica
Harmonica players disagree on the need to break in the reeds of a new harmonica, and on break in technique. Even among those that favor a break in period, numerous techniques appear: some may prefer to play a new harmonica for several hours without bending notes; others prefer to play for many short periods of time with reasonable breaks in between, as recommended by acclaimed chromatic harmonica technician and player Douglas Tate. Some diatonic players use a 12 volt car vacuum to work the reeds which is claimed to avoid premature stress cracks.
Although not generally recommended nowadays by either players or manufacturers, some past players have felt soaking their harmonicas in warm water, and even beer, whiskey, or vodka helped break them in, believing that this facilitates bending of the notes. This is done only with aged wood combed harmonicas; as the wood ages, it can shrink, and in the case of the Hohner Marine Band harmonica (or any harmonica with wooden parts) soaking causes the wood to swell and makes the instrument more airtight.
Read more about this topic: Harmonica Techniques
Famous quotes containing the word breaking:
“Every incident connected with the breaking up of the rivers and ponds and the settling of the weather is particularly interesting to us who live in a climate of so great extremes. When the warmer days come, they who dwell near the river hear the ice crack at night with a startling whoop as loud as artillery, as if its icy fetters were rent from end to end, and within a few days see it rapidly going out. So the alligator comes out of the mud with quakings of the earth.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)