I don't have answers, but here are a couple of conjectures. On the album with Paul Brady, it sounds to me like he was just using ordinary off the shelf diatonic harmonicas. For the Blarney Pilgrim, as it appears on that album, I am pretty sure he used a C harp to play the tune in G.
I wrote to him once to ask him but he didn't reply. I don't wish to contradict Al but Andy is playing Blarney Pilgrim in G# on the CD. This would be possible on a G#/Ab-pitched harp that had been retuned to the Paddy Richter tuning. It would also be possible for him to be playing an off-the-shelf C# harp in cross position, but it would have to be LOW C#, not the standard tuning, as that would be an octave above the CD version, and diatonic harps in that low tuning would have to be custom-made. Alternatively, he could be using a tenor C chromatic in cross-position with the slide held in. I've tried to work out from other tracks of his which harp he may be using and I suspect that he uses the Lee Oskar Melody Maker tuning in at least some cases. I have heard that Lee Oskars are his harps of choice but don't quote me on that. Don't quote me on anything really.
I just tried it out and worked out that it would be possible to play it on a standard C# harp that had been retuned to Paddy Richter at the low end of the harp . Most harmonica players would find a different solution to that, and on top of thst the Paddy Richter tuning didn't gain currency until Brendan Power publicised it in the early 1990s. That isn't to saty that that weren't pioneering tinkerers about in the 1970s!
My proof-reader's gone for a pint. I meant to add also that I've seen him play several times and he's always been using a 10-hole diatonic harp (blues harp) and never a chromatic harp. Never got the chance to speak to him about it. The only time I got near enough to be able to ask I was utterly inebriated by accident and completely incoherent. It's a long story.
I spoke with him once about it (maybe 7 or 8 years ago; harmonica player Mark Graham and Kevin Burket were also at the table) and he was playing standard 10-hole diatonics that been gussied up by Anthony Dannecker in England. As far as I remember they were in standard tuning. May have been Hohner Marine Bands but I couldn't swear to it.
When I get an hour or two, Winslow, I'll re-listen to some of the songs he plays harp on. Had it been Antony's harps then they must have been Hohners. I was asked by a chap about a particular song of Andy Irvine's a few months ago and I came to the conclusion that he must have been using a Melody Maker-tuned harp, but I'm blowed if I can remember which song he was asking me about. And Mark Graham - wow!
Andy is truely a master at combining harmonica and intricate guitar playing. But, as soon as my uncle Pat decided to take it to the next level and strap two cymbals to his knees and a bass drum on his back he was concidered a clown!!!!!!
Steve, I don't mind being contradicted, especially since I made it clear that I was making conjectures from dim memory--and you certainly have more knowledge of harmonicas than I do. Could this be one of those old records that was sped up a half tone when it was engineered and mastered? I have found some old recordings impossible to play along with for that reason.
I must admit I found it odd that they'd bother to go up just a semitone into harmonica-hassle territory. I have the CD - does anyone have the vinyl? You could check out the pitch of that track. Also, try the pitch of the last track which finishes with "Little Stack of Wheat" - that comes out in the key of F, instead of G, on the CD (presumably because the song sung in G would have been too high-pitched).
What a fabulous hornpipe by the way. One of the best.
I had a Marine Band about fifty years ago. I was playing Hohner Golden Melodys and Special 20's when Lee Oskar appeared. I have one Lee Oskar, but I never got used to it. I imagine it takes more skill than I have to appreciate it. Or maybe it's because I never play blues.
You have trouble playing a lot of G tunes on a standard G blues harp because of a missing note in the lowest octave. Retuning the 3-blow up by a whole tone gives you that note back. It takes three minutes with my tuner and my little JML rotary drill wot I bought in Woolies. The retuned harp is said to be in Paddy Richter tuning, an expression invented by Brendan Power. The issue applies to D harps too but to a far lesser extent. Lee Oskars take a lot of getting used to if it's Hohners you were brought up on. Special 20s are my favourites but they don't last as long.
Andy Irvine's Harmonica
Andy Irvine's Harmonica
What kind of harmonica does Andy use? is there a difference between the one he uses and, we'll say, a blues Harp??
# Posted on May 10th 2007 by mise
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
I don't have answers, but here are a couple of conjectures. On the album with Paul Brady, it sounds to me like he was just using ordinary off the shelf diatonic harmonicas. For the Blarney Pilgrim, as it appears on that album, I am pretty sure he used a C harp to play the tune in G.
# Posted on May 10th 2007 by AlBrown
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
I wrote to him once to ask him but he didn't reply.
I don't wish to contradict Al but Andy is playing Blarney Pilgrim in G# on the CD. This would be possible on a G#/Ab-pitched harp that had been retuned to the Paddy Richter tuning. It would also be possible for him to be playing an off-the-shelf C# harp in cross position, but it would have to be LOW C#, not the standard tuning, as that would be an octave above the CD version, and diatonic harps in that low tuning would have to be custom-made. Alternatively, he could be using a tenor C chromatic in cross-position with the slide held in. I've tried to work out from other tracks of his which harp he may be using and I suspect that he uses the Lee Oskar Melody Maker tuning in at least some cases. I have heard that Lee Oskars are his harps of choice but don't quote me on that. Don't quote me on anything really.
# Posted on May 10th 2007 by Steve Shaw
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
I just tried it out and worked out that it would be possible to play it on a standard C# harp that had been retuned to Paddy Richter at the low end of the harp . Most harmonica players would find a different solution to that, and on top of thst the Paddy Richter tuning didn't gain currency until Brendan Power publicised it in the early 1990s. That isn't to saty that that weren't pioneering tinkerers about in the 1970s!
# Posted on May 10th 2007 by Steve Shaw
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
My proof-reader's gone for a pint. I meant to add also that I've seen him play several times and he's always been using a 10-hole diatonic harp (blues harp) and never a chromatic harp. Never got the chance to speak to him about it. The only time I got near enough to be able to ask I was utterly inebriated by accident and completely incoherent. It's a long story.
# Posted on May 10th 2007 by Steve Shaw
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
I have those kinds of accidents too, occasionally...
# Posted on May 10th 2007 by Rhod
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
Could he possibly be bending a note instead of retuning? Some players can hit a bent note directly and sound like a chromatic harp.
# Posted on May 10th 2007 by Bob himself
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
I spoke with him once about it (maybe 7 or 8 years ago; harmonica player Mark Graham and Kevin Burket were also at the table) and he was playing standard 10-hole diatonics that been gussied up by Anthony Dannecker in England. As far as I remember they were in standard tuning. May have been Hohner Marine Bands but I couldn't swear to it.
# Posted on May 10th 2007 by Winslow Yerxa
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
When I get an hour or two, Winslow, I'll re-listen to some of the songs he plays harp on. Had it been Antony's harps then they must have been Hohners. I was asked by a chap about a particular song of Andy Irvine's a few months ago and I came to the conclusion that he must have been using a Melody Maker-tuned harp, but I'm blowed if I can remember which song he was asking me about. And Mark Graham - wow!
# Posted on May 11th 2007 by Steve Shaw
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
Andy is truely a master at combining harmonica and intricate guitar playing. But, as soon as my uncle Pat decided to take it to the next level and strap two cymbals to his knees and a bass drum on his back he was concidered a clown!!!!!!
# Posted on May 11th 2007 by iwerzon
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
Steve, I don't mind being contradicted, especially since I made it clear that I was making conjectures from dim memory--and you certainly have more knowledge of harmonicas than I do. Could this be one of those old records that was sped up a half tone when it was engineered and mastered? I have found some old recordings impossible to play along with for that reason.
# Posted on May 11th 2007 by AlBrown
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
I must admit I found it odd that they'd bother to go up just a semitone into harmonica-hassle territory. I have the CD - does anyone have the vinyl? You could check out the pitch of that track. Also, try the pitch of the last track which finishes with "Little Stack of Wheat" - that comes out in the key of F, instead of G, on the CD (presumably because the song sung in G would have been too high-pitched).
What a fabulous hornpipe by the way. One of the best.
# Posted on May 11th 2007 by Steve Shaw
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
Everyone played Hohner "marine band" until Lee Oskar appeared in the local shops, myself included.
But do not ask me who Paddy Richter (as in scale) is, I hate musical talk.
# Posted on May 11th 2007 by bodhran bliss
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
I had a Marine Band about fifty years ago. I was playing Hohner Golden Melodys and Special 20's when Lee Oskar appeared. I have one Lee Oskar, but I never got used to it. I imagine it takes more skill than I have to appreciate it. Or maybe it's because I never play blues.
# Posted on May 12th 2007 by Bob himself
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
You have trouble playing a lot of G tunes on a standard G blues harp because of a missing note in the lowest octave. Retuning the 3-blow up by a whole tone gives you that note back. It takes three minutes with my tuner and my little JML rotary drill wot I bought in Woolies. The retuned harp is said to be in Paddy Richter tuning, an expression invented by Brendan Power. The issue applies to D harps too but to a far lesser extent. Lee Oskars take a lot of getting used to if it's Hohners you were brought up on. Special 20s are my favourites but they don't last as long.
# Posted on May 12th 2007 by Steve Shaw
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
Amazing, I shall ask the fiddle player what a tone is.
# Posted on May 12th 2007 by bodhran bliss
Re: Andy Irvine's Harmonica
Ask John Joe. He plays tunes on the darn thing all the time.
# Posted on May 12th 2007 by Steve Shaw