Thanks Diki, I will investigate further.

If you can bend with your harmonica, that”s probably what’s going to determine if it works or not. Saxes do a lot of sliding around, scooping, that sort of thing. But even bendless, you can get a few things going if breath pressure can influence the velocity of the note sent. Low velocity notes will gliss between notes, with speed and intensity varying depending on the window and expression value.

But, just like on a keyboard, if you play sax or guitar solos (or just about anything other than piano, organ and clavinet!) without using the bender, it comes out a bit strange, a bit unconvincing. Luckily, you also have a selection of arrangers that can set the expression pedal to do bending, although it might be tricky to have both bend up AND down assigned to a pedal that has no center decent. This was something that was always missing from the Roland feature set, and to be honest, it ruined using arranger mode for me unless I could use the chord sequencer before I soloed.

I am a bender addict, unashamedly! 🎹

Thanks Diki

My DM48 has these capabilities, but sadly, I haven't yet. I use a lot of sax and clarinet sounds, many with effects built in. I have to experiment, but wondering if I should use static tones that are unadulterated. I am thinking like adding a Leslie effect to an organ. You don't add it to a tone with a Leslie already in it. I can see the importance of bending, as sax players use a lot of it. Where as bending is not easily attained with diatonic harmonicas, I have settings on my slide to help me, similar to a keyboard.

I’ll be interested in hearing what you can do with the harmonica if you get the iPad SWAM sounds…

I used to play a bit of chromatic harmonica as a kid, and I remember being able to get a bit of a bend by half opening the slide, but it was tough to get a proper blues bend!

When I played a Chromatic Harmonica, it was easy to get that blues bend using just your hand cupping and the shift button on the side of the harmonica. I never could accomplish this with a conventional harmonica. Back then, the word software didn't exist.

Gary

The problem with bending a chromatic down sufficiently for the blues was how expensive it was going to get if you flatted out a reed or two!

My Larry Adler was pretty pricey in the sixties!

I have not scrolled through this entire thread. I hope this fits previous comments.

The Superbowl halftime show with Rhianna was all backing tracks. Good or Bad ?

Figured that out as well, DanO.

Gary

????? - I haven't even figured out what you're talking about. If you're referring to Rhianna, all of these type shows are produced this way. Nothing could be further from the amateur/semi-pro world of the solo Arranger player playing a nursing home than a billionaire superstar playing to 100,000,000 (check Google) people at the Superbowl. I don't think she has to prove anything to anybody. The point is, there is no DECEPTION here, perceived or real.

One way to show your audience that you aren't just 'faking it', is to sit down at that ever-present acoustic piano that's ALWAYS in the nursing home's entertainment space, and play a short vocal-less medley of songs (show tunes or classical or a mix). After that, you can move over to your trusty arranger with no concerns about the audience's perception.....OR, just stay on the acoustic piano (no gear, no setup, no tear down). Same money.

chas

I don't believe the entertainers get paid at superbowl. They work for the hype and advertisement they get from playing for 100,000,000 people.

MEL