harmonica |
Save page Remove page | Previous | 1 of 3 | Next |
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
|
This page
All
Subset |
Loading content ...
Object Description
| Instrument name | harmonica |
| Instrument no. | 297 |
| Alternate image name | North American free reed |
| Country/Area | North America |
| K-S Classification No. | A22.112.2 |
| Short descriptive term | free reed |
| Description | Purchased in USA, but made in China and modeled after the German Hohner harmonica, this instrument is an attractive metallic red and black. It is a basic model with ten holes into which the player blows or inhales, each action producing a different note. The notes are produced by free reeds--thin strips of brass mounted in a brass frame and tuned to produce a note when air is blown past them. The basic 10-hole harmonica has twenty reeds--ten mounted on one brass plate to sound on exhale, and ten on another plate mounted to sound on inhale. It is designed to produce chords, since three or four holes may be covered by the mouth. Blowing produces the tonic chord, in this case C, while inhaling produces the dominant chord, and in the top register, an added 6th degree. However, in some playing styles (""blues harp" for example), the inhaled chord is used as the tonic and dominant, thus giving the player the IV chord on exhale. The harmonica is classified as a single action free reed. The terminology (single or double action) is borrowed from the harmonica's bellows-blown cousins, the accordions. It refers to how many actions (one or two) can produce a given note. The typical piano-keyboard accordion, for example, is double action because a duplicate set of reeds provides the same note for each key depressed, whether pushing or pulling the bellows. On single-action accordions (with buttons rather than piano keys) and the harmonica, blowing (pushing) produces one note, and inhaling (pulling) produces another. Harmonica players are usually adept at "bending" notes, however, allowing some chromatic tones to be produced on this basically diatonic instrument. |
| Materials | red anodized aluminum, black plastic, brass |
| Dimensions | width 10 cm (4 in.); height 27 mm (1 in.); depth 15 mm (5/8 in.) |
| Accessories | (cardboard box, instruction sheet) |
| Condition | new and playable, but not perfectly tuned. It is also partly disassembled for demonstration purposes. |
| Page prepared by | RCK |
| Acquisition number | 2010.4 |
| Acquisition information | Purchased at WalMart, Oberlin, October 2010. |
| Digital Publisher | Oberlin College. Library |
| Repository | Oberlin College. Conservatory of Music |
| Copyright Statement | The images and text in this database may be copied, distributed and transmitted without express permission for personal and educational uses, providing the materials are cited as follows: From the Roderic C. Knight Musical Instrument Collection, Oberlin College ( http://www.oberlin.edu/library/digital/knight ). For all other uses, please write the author at rknight@oberlin.edu. |
| Collection Name | Roderic C. Knight Musical Instrument Collection |
| Type | CompoundObject |
| Format | cpd |
Description
| Instrument name | harmonica |
| Instrument no. | i297 |
| Digital Publisher | Oberlin College. Library |
| Repository | Oberlin College. Conservatory of Music. |
| Copyright Statement | The images and text in this database may be copied, distributed and transmitted without express permission for personal and educational uses, providing the materials are cited as follows: From the Roderic C. Knight Musical Instrument Collection, Oberlin College ( http://www.oberlin.edu/library/digital/knight ). For all other uses, please write the author at rknight@oberlin.edu. |
| Collection Name | Roderic C. Knight Musical Instrument Collection |
| Digital Master Filename | Knight_i297.tif |
| Type | Image |
| Format | tif |
Comments
Post a Comment for harmonica
