Brendan Power

See the TUNING DIAGRAM FOR KEY OF C LUCKY 13 in Standard Richter Tuning Extended

You can also read about the POWERBENDER tuning in this extract from the Introduction to the PowerBender book.

Then check the POWERDRAW description and POWERDRAW video. At 00:34 on the video you can see the tuning diagram which shows how PowerDraw is different to Richter.

Finally, see this tuning table which shows both tunings, along with a range of other tunings for diatonic harps.

In a diatonic harmonica valves are added not only to improve air tightness but more importantly to enable "valved bends". On the diatonic, usually not all reeds are valved - about half are - hence the term "half-valved". The valves are used to obtain isolated reed bends not normally available on the diatonic harp. In a standard Richter tuned harp, valves are put on the inside of the draw plate 1-6 holes and on the outside of the blow plate holes 7-10 holes. Normal bending is still the same and, with practice, all notes of the chromatic scale become available without the need of the more advanced overblow technique. You get the earthy interactive-reed-bending of the diatonic on the high-pitched notes in each hole, plus extra valved bending expression on the low-pitched notes.

Check out Brendan explaining and demonstrating the sound in this vid: Brendan explains half-valving

You need to adjust how you play accordingly. Because a half-valved harp is more airtight, you need to use less breath - or the valved reeds will blank out altogether. They are the lower 6 blow notes, and the upper 4 draw notes - play gently at first, until you get the feeling for how they respond. IT TAKES A LITTLE TIME! Please be patient until your body learns how to adjust. It should only take a few playing sessions till you become comfortable, and start to love all the good things that half-valving has to offer: new bending expression, vibrato, purer tone etc. Please don't complain about the harmonica - it's YOU who needs to adjust. Once you do, you'll be very happy you did!

Here are some things to check:

Remove the outer coverplates. Remember which one goes where and keep the screws in a safe place. On a diatonic harmonica, the upper reedplate has the blow reeds (not fully visible, beneath the reedplate) and the lower plate has the draw reeds (fully visible, on the outside of the reedplate).

If the problem is with a draw reed, examine the reed in question closely. It could be there is a tiny bit of debris or a miniscule hair jammed between the reed and the slot, almost invisible to the naked eye - that's all it can take to stop a reed working. If you can see something, carefully remove it with tweezers. If not, flick the end of the reed a few times - being careful not to bend it! Then draw on the hole - maybe the problem is now fixed? As likely as not, that is the problem.

If the problem is with a blow reed, do the same examination. You can see as much, but you might spot some obstruction. If possible, remove it with tweezers. If not, push down gently on the reed a few times, being careful not to bend it, then blow. That could be enough to dislodge any obstruction.

If neither of these fixes the problem, all is not lost: it could be because the reed gap is too small. Try blowing or drawing with VERY light breath? Does the reed sound? Then try with strong breath - does it not play? That means the end gap is too small. All you have to do is look at the adjacent reeds on either side and gently bend the reed so that its end gap looks the same size as theirs. Push down on a blow reed and lift up on a draw reed. Increasing the gap should the allow the reed to play under a strong breath. If it's still a bit sticky, increase the gap very slightly again, but don't make it big by comparison with the adjacent reeds.

Every harmonica player should be able to do these basic checks if a reed stops working. For a new harmonica, these two procedures will cure the problem 99% of the time. Assuming the problem is fixed, replace the coverplates and get playing! If not, check that you did everything thoroughly one more time. If there is still a problem after that, get in touch with us.