A Mel Bay Publications, Inc. Webzine
June 2009 · Bimonthly
     If you liked this article, you might be interested in: |
In this issue: Building a Foundation: Part III | Microphone Choices: Spaghetti – And Sauce! | My Pilgrimage to Trossingen Germany: Monster Harmonica Workbench | Blues Chromatic, Part Part 6.2: Blues in D with the Big Chord Approach |
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My Pilgrimage to Trossingen GermanyMonster Harmonica Workbenchby Kinya Pollard It’s all right, my wife already knows. No longer an illicit affair, it’s all in the open. I have fallen in love with the Harmonica all over again. I understand now why harmonica enthusiasts from all over the globe make the pilgrimage to Trossingen, Germany. Last October, following the advice of Joe Filisko, David Barrett and Barbara, my wife, I attended the unforgettable Harmonica Masters Workshop 2008. The event is produced by Steve Baker (he’s also one of the instructors/performers) and is hosted by the town of Trossingen and the Hohner Company, all located in the Germany’s Black Forest area. The advanced events calendar I had received was essentially a recipe for a perfect harmonica experience.
Workshops instructors included internationally renowned harmonica masters: Steve Baker, a top European player, author, and 20-year consultant for Hohner.
Joe Filisko (USA), a pioneer in the harmonica customizer community, and expert in both traditional and contemporary styles of Richter harmonica playing (accompanied by guitarist/singer Eric Noden).
David Barrett (USA), founder of the Harmonica Masterclass Workshops and School of the Blues, located in San Jose, CA., is the most published author of harmonica instructional materials in the world, as well as one of the most sought after harmonica teachers.
Attendees were from all around the globe. It was a cultural event; a melding of different interpretations of jazz and blues. I was also pleasantly surprised to see the high level of knowledge, craftsmanship, and sophistication within the European harmonica customizing community.
Ergo Harmonica
I wish all of our readers could have joined me for the Thursday tour of the Hohner Factory. I certainly could have used all your warm bodies to defrost my frozen limbs, after the long walk in the snow (Hey, San Francisco Bay area residents don’t do snow ;o).
Our orientation began with a few words from Klaus Stetter, Hohner’s Managing Director. He reiterated Hohner’s commitment to encourage the beginner, as well as support the professional harmonica player. Hohner is able to accomplish this by their unique manufacturing process that produces, essentially, a “hand made” instrument at competitive prices.
The tour was lead by Gerhard Muller, Product Manager of Harmonicas, Recorders, Melodicas. Gerhard is a fine chromatic harmonica player as well.
Friday morning we toured the German Harmonica and Accordion Museum, an unbelievable display of Hohner products and production tools. If you go to Trossingen, make certain you allow enough time to wander through this museum. And don’t forget to purchase the N.O.S. (new old stock) harmonicas for your collection.
Friday evening we were treated to a wonderful acoustic blues concert featuring Steve Baker with Dick Bird, and Joe Filisko with Eric Noden. On Saturday evening, the heat was turned up with an electric blues concert featuring, David Barrett, and Carlos del Junco.
Just thinking about the whole event has me excited and exhausted all over again. But I would gladly give it all up for another afternoon spent with Gunter Bayer’s at his home workshop. One of my goals while in Trossingen was to meet and talk with Master Harmonica Builder Gunter Bayer. I first learned of Gunter Bayer’s influential stature through Joe Filisko and David Barrett, who both spoke very highly of him. Gunter Bayer was central to Hohner’s Product Design and Manufacturing for decades. A master tuner and builder of both harmonicas and accordions, he was responsible for innovating many of the techniques used today by most harmonica customizers—including myself. It was a wonderful set of circumstances (thanks Vincent Van Wijk and Amsterdam) that had me, along with my new friends, Walter Hollenstein (Switzerland) and Jan Santen (Amsterdam) barreling down the snowy road to Gunnigen in Gunter’s car. Events moved so quickly I hardly had a chance to comprehend my good fortune. For a harmonica customizer, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Standing in Gunter’s private workshop, it was difficult for me not to become nostalgic about my journey into harmonica maintenance and customizing. My tutelage began many years ago with Rick Epping, formerly with Hohner USA (refer to Harmonicas Sessions back issues: June‘05, Aug’05, Oct’05) during a David Barrett Harmonica Workshop. It was a surreal experience not unlike standing over the shoulder of Stradivarius or Leo Fender demonstrating their craft.
Gunter’s compact shop was impeccably organized. Against one wall was the reed-riveting machine. Located in the back corner was his infamous tuning table, and next to that was his workbench. Gunter demonstrated all the key processes of assembling a high performance harmonica. Harmonica customizers would have been envious (as I was) to see Gunter’s inventory of “blank” (sans reeds) reed plates and an endless supply of reeds. Working with blank reed plates enabled him to emboss (size) reed slots and apply his set of innovative reed longevity techniques without the bother of navigating around riveted reeds. After Gunter was satisfied with the reed plate enhancements, he positioned himself in front of the reed riveting machined and effortlessly attached the new reeds onto the customized reed plates.
Moving over to his workbench, Gunter calibrated the reed offsets with the finesse of a surgeon and the precision of a master machinist. Jan and Walter watching intently.
The next station was the tuning table. This would be the first of three tunings that Gunter performed on every harmonica. After the reed plate was locked into place, Gunter activated the vacuum bellows with foot paddles that sucked air through the reed slots. Ten separate valves located at every reed chamber would control the airflow. This enabled Gunter to tune an individual reed for a single pitch, two reeds for octaves, and three reeds for chords, etc. It appeared on the first pass, all the reeds were tuned 12TET, with the compromised (almost just) tuning occurring in the later processes.
The final step of assembling the harmonica was bitter sweet for me, because it meant my time with Gunter was drawing to a close.
Epilogue Masen Dabbag has been Gunter Bayer’s apprentice and close friend for over twelve years. Collaborating with Gunter on numerous harmonica maintenance workshops, Masen filmed a “how to” video exclusively for the Harpworkshop Schorndorfer Gitarrentage.
Gunter’s career with Hohner began in 1958 building, then tuning accordions. By 1964, Gunter opened the branch near Kehl for Hohner. Two years later, he opened up additional branches in Seitingen and Wellendingen. Sometimes his work force would grow in excess of one hundred people, many operating from home (a common German harmonica manufacturing practice). Gunter is a self-taught tinkerer, able to build and restore cars, paint, garden, forestry—notice the drawing of the Hohe Karpfen, a large hill on his Blues Sound box. And Gunter continues to build world-class harmonicas for players.
Through Masen, Gunter was introduced to harmonica giants, such as Joe Filisko, Breitfelder, Richard Sleigh, Dennis Gruenling, and more. Gunter’s genius was to incorporate their innovated approaches to the harmonica, combining them with his own expertise of exotic tunings and metallurgy to build a harmonica that will accommodate numerous playing styles. Gunter experimented with and fabricated parts using many different materials. Masen mentioned that because Gunter understands the characteristics of different materials and how they behave, he is able to experiment with numerous techniques that borders on the unbelievable. I learned that Gunter was also formerly trained on accordion, piano and harmonica, but by his own admission, was too lazy to practice (sound familiar)? Celebrity Hands
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I hope you enjoyed reading as much I did reminiscing about my pilgrimage to Trossingen, Germany. Play the notes people want to hear © Kinya Pollard
About the Author Since 2001, Kinya Pollard has been a member of David Barrett's Harmonica Masterclass teaching staff. His unique teaching style appeals to virtually all types of harmonica players. Visual, audible and technical strategies are energetically incorporated to deliver an "individual lesson" experience into a workshop environment. Kinya's area of expertise is in harmonica mechanics. He was first exposed a decade ago to the science of harmonica customizing by Rick Epping, formerly of Hohner USA. Then most recently, during his visit to Trossingen, Germany, he was invited into the home and private workshop of master builder Gunter Beyer, recently retired after 45 plus years with Hohner, for a private instruction into the advance arts of harmonica customizing. Actual harmonica parts are examined and discussed, bringing a new level of understanding to this "invisible" instrument. Students can now visualize essential harmonica techniques, such as bending, lip blocking, tongue blocking, octaves, shakes, flutters, and vibrato. In 1973, Kinya was pulled into the harmonica vortex after hearing Mark Ford's rendition of Little Walter's "Blue and Lonesome". Growing up on San Jose's East Side, it did not take long before he became captivated with the urban funk sounds of WAR and Lee Oskar's inspiring brand of melodic harmonica playing. The heat turned on, however, when Kinya became exposed to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Students who have attended Kinya's workshop on Paul Butterfield can attest to his passion on the subject of "Butter's" harmonica techniques. Since 2003, Kinya has been a contributing writer for Mel Bay's Harmonica Sessions, Monster Harmonica Workbench, a bi-monthly webzine. His entertaining and insightful articles on Harmonica maintenance and customizing are enjoyed by readers around the globe. Kinya continues to play with the John Garcia Band throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. [ top ]
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