Brendan Power & Alternative Harmonicas Forum

So I finally got around to testing the concept of using the turbo-slide to add vibrato to the blow notes and I think it works very nicely. I'll have to try doing the same with valves as you do Brendan and compare between the two. In the past I tried using the turbo-slide to shift the pitch a semitone, so I could play chromatically, but I found that I couldn't keep the shifted notes to stay in tune. After playing I would always have to readjust the magnets to get it back in tune. I also had difficulty getting some blow notes to play due to the pull of the magnet.

For myself, vibrato is the best use of the turbo slide. Adding expressive vibrato to blow notes has always been a challenge for me, so being able to do so with the turbo-slide is of great value to me. I plan to try a turbo-slide in Power Chromatic tuning. I think the two would be a great combination for melodic playing. I've posted a demo below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnq5Jj2ajvk

Here's a 2nd non-musical demo of turbo-slide vibrato on blow holes 1-10 and 2 draw fully bent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX8HEwUYcWE

That's a very effective alternative use for the Turboslide David! You should tell Jim Antaki about it - I'm sure he'd be glad to include links to your videos on his Turboslide selling page.

For players of un-valved Richter harps (the vast majority), this is definitely a good choice for achieving true pitch vibrato on the normally 'stiff' blow reeds in the lower 6 holes.

However if the harmonica were half-valved, you could get vibrato on the blow notes using embouchure control and still use the Turboslide for deeper bends.

Like you, I'm not keen on its originally intended use for semitone pitch bends on the blow notes. However, I DO love the Turboslide for the unintended side-effect: deeper draw reed bends!

Thanks Brendan! Hope all is well. I sent Jim an email with the links, but I haven't heard back from him yet. I would love to have a Turbo-slide on a half-valved or un-valved chromatic in Power Chromatic tuning. I'm thinking about how I might modify a Troiculus harmonica to do so. I'm wondering if I might be able to move all the draw reeds to the bottom plate and all the blow reeds to the top. Then you'd have a clear path for a Turbo-slide on top. I could use a jewelry punch to cut small circles out of steel shim and glue them to the reeds so they'd be magnetic.

The other option would be putting two Turbo-slides on one of your double diatonic designs. Did you ever build one with a Seydel harmonica?

Best Regards,
David

Among other I use the Turboslide for the emulation of the Danelectro Electric Sitar as played in the song "The Games People Play" by Joe South from 1968 (*):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWM16LYHZng

And it is useful too for the emulation of the singing saw (**), theremin, sounds of the traditional (acoustic) sitar (wth its about 14 or more "singing" resonance strings), some effects of the violin and other fretless string instruments and the whammy bar of electrical guitars like bending whole chords, plenty of electronical and acoustic effects commonly used in psychedelic rock and pop music from the 1960s and 1970s etc. A nice example for the latter is the song "Crimson & Clover" by Tommy James and the Shondells from 1968 (*):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS0niyiKlcw

The possibility of bending whole chords is my main utilization of the turboharp anyway. I play one in Power Bending tuning in A. With that tuning I can bend blow and draw chords as well.

*) As soon as I have a recording of me with the Turbo Slide Harp I will share it here - if you like.
**) example: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bmNMNqdS_mY

Yes, I'd love to hear a sample of you using the TurboSlide Triona.

David

David: In reply to your post about applying the Turboslide to the Trochilus and double diatonic:

Good luck with glueing on thin steel patches to non-steel reeds that will withstand magnetic pull.... Jim Antaki himself tried every way he could think of to do this, so he could advertise his Turboslide for the vast majority of harps that don't have steel reeds. He's a very smart guy with access to high tech glues etc, but eventually he had to give up: the attachments always came off, sooner or later.

I've tried it too, sticking on 1mm diameter micro magnets instead of steel disks, and had the same problem. Even If they stuck for a while, I couldn't be sure they'd stay in place after a period of playing. But please give it a go anyway: if you can manage it, tell us and Jim the secret!

Another way to go is to apply the magnetic detuning effect to a standard Seydel chromatic with steel reeds. This is something I've spent quite a bit of time exploring myself, and I have a device that's working but not yet optimised. I want to do more work on it before describing it publicly.

Regarding putting two Turboslide harps together: that's another good approach I've tried also. You can fit two Seydel Session/Turboslide harps in my current Switch-Harp, but the inner Turboslide needs to be modified because the space between the harps is very tight! I'm currently in the process of making a new Switch-Harp MK2 design with a fixed mouthpiece and more space between the harps that should overcome this problem: I'll report here soon on that

Chat GPT suggested I might try electroplating to magnetize the reeds. Said I could use a brush that had a custom tip to get the right size diameter.

Maybe that would work.

David