Brendan Power & Alternative Harmonicas Forum

No secret formula, just LOTS of retuning and then sticking on about 46 valves.... Not worth the effort.

The UniBender has no set tuning or key - it's up to the buyer what scale and bends they want. That can be done via theier Configurator for the Seydel version, or by retuning standard reedplates for other brands. Assuming you have chosen a tuning you like, you won't need to retune reeds unless you wa...

Hi Andy, glad you got everything assembled and are enjoying the OctaChrom Selectable :-) Would love to see/hear a video of you playing it - let us know if you post one. As for the Tremolo version: If you used two Tenor C sets of reedplates it should work fine, but I think tuning of the rear unit wil...

Just plan your playing to have small gaps where you can expel your breath. Use your stomach muscles to 'cough' out the air. You can get rid of all of it in a split second. It takes a little practice but after a while becomes intuitive. The AsiaBend is the opposite of wind instruments like saxophone,...

We got a big number of orders for the SwitchHarp/MiniChrom and it overwhelmed our capacity to make them quickly. We stopped orders for a short time to improve production systems. The UniBender will be out in about two weeks when we are confident we can make and ship all the TwinDiatonics quickly. Th...

Yes, the S20 reed layout is identical to the Marine Band, Crossover etc BTW, my previous reply that you can mix and match my Stealth-Valves across various brands is not strictly correct. That's because the angle of the reeds from longest to shortest varies. That's where the sets of valves differ, so...

When the UniBender is released I'll do a video showing the comparison between it and the AsiaBend. It's easier to explain that way.

Hi Karl, All brands of 10-hole harmonica except Seydel have a spacing of about 7.5mm between holes and reeds. That means you could mix and match my valves between brands, with a bit of trimming However their reed lengths differ, so I took the time to make subtle adjustments appropriate to Hohner and...

With such a small number of holes I'd want to maximise the range whilst keeping the scale simple for beginners, plus giving nice double-stop and chord intervals. This semi-pentatonic tuning ticks all those boxes. I've used it myself for a number of years. It's actually the bottom end of Paddy Richte...

It can have the same bends, but is blow/draw instead of all-draw. The clip I play on the UniBender in the video ("Wayfaring Stranger") is in Solo tuning, with the same bends as the AsiaBend.