Yes, twisted.

Thanks Tinus, I'll check the alignment. I'm not sure what you mean by 'Tordated'. Do you mean twisted?

@UniPsycho: The reed could be misaligned. The gapping could be off. The reed coul be tordated, that will certainly make it squeel.

Hi Tinus,
I play Hohner Special 20 harps. I prefer them because of their tendency to not squeal when overblown. However, every now and then, I will come across a reed that does squeal. For instance, I own three SP 20's in the key of A; two of them overblow well on hole 3, but the other one squeals like crazy on 3 OB! Why would this be so, and is there anything I can do about it?

@W: The problem is not the harmonica but you; the resonance frequency of your mouth cavity is interfering with the drawreed. This is very common when beginning to play harp. I guess you have an A harmonica or something similarly low. The drawreeds on a harmonica can be bent down by changing the resonance frequency of the mouth cavity, apparently your mouth has a natural resonance frequency which is close to the hole 3 draw note. Because of that you are doing an uncontrolled bend on hole 3 (this usually sounds like a slightly sick cow). Learning to bend will usually fix this. Try changing the position of your tongue and see what happens.

I have problems with the sound od 3 draw.
I've bought my first harmonica a few days ago(I'm a begginer)
and when i try to make a draw at 3 there is almost no sound,
but something weird comes out...
is there anything I can do about it?

@Angelo: The reed is probably misaligned and is hitting the plate when it goes through. This usually sounds like a chirping/ringing sound. I believe the radicals have reeds that are screwed on so maybe the screw is a little loose. Holding the reedplate up against the light will alow you too see if the reed is misaligned. If you gently turn the reed by putting a small screwdriver against the rivet pad and gently tapping it with something to turn the reed. You could also use a special reed turning tool.

Hello

I Have a B-radical C harmonica that I actually tune for the 6 overblw in the past,but the 4 draw sounds like a mosquito or it almost doesn't sound. It seems that the reeds fine, but how I can adjust a reed that is already not working?
thank you very much.

Angelo Tomandl.

Hi ,Great sight .
I would agree with Michael ,the idea of 1st 2nd b3rd b7ths etc would be top of my wish list ,to compliment the do re mi,
Many thanks for what you provided.
Best wishes
Chris Lee.

@Wendell Yes the Hering Golden Blow, but since you can get a true custom harp for roughly the same price you are probably better of finding a good customizer.

are there any harmonicas that you can buy in the store that are already set up for overblows?

that would be great if you could breifly explain the scales and how they work on the harmonica that would be great

I'll think about it Michael. But that would be relative to the key of the harp and I don't know if many people would find it very useful.

Hi Tinus, do you think you could add the numbers onto Scale finder to compliment the "fixed do and hindi names". So this would be the 1, the 2, the flat 3rd and so on. Thx mate.

P.S. I was thinking about puting your scale finder on a iphone so it could be played with ones thumbs as a education tool, and to try out the different tunings. You could sell it at the app store. Good Idea?

Equal

Do you juse equal or " by the ear" turning?
Heiki

I think that supplying tab for the scales would be a discervice. I think it would be much better if you figure out the theory behind the scales and learn them that way. Tab will not help you understand anything and therefore I will not supply it. What I will do is explain the theory behind the scales.

Hi I have a question is there tabaltures that are available with the scales that you played. Not sure with my hearing alone. It would take the guest work out of the notes being played. Thank you. John 01-23-09

start by reading this:
http://www.overblow.com/?menuid=116

how do get overblows?

I Will try. Technically that is not difficult. But I have little time these days to work on the sites. But the next time I change somthing I will change that too.

Tinus, Scale-finder is great! Thanks for putting it together. I have a small request: Would it be possible for you to add the ability to view the harp/scale layouts using numeric scale degrees as well (instead of the default "Do Re Mi.." form)?

You can use wax around the rivet, you can emboss the reedslot, you could use turbo tape (a small square of tape on the middle of the reed), you can flatten out the reed and as Ludo pointed out you can change the gap.

try doing the opposite gapping in the top 4 holes
= blow hole narrower than draw hole

(old player - still eager to learn)

Please tell me what modifications can I do with my harmonica to get overdraws easyer?

new player.........eager to learn