2010-03-07
Buy Low Price From Here Now
The #980 Koch harmonica is similar to a normally tuned chromatic, but has the same tuning as a diatonic with the slide out which allows full chording in the first three holes
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Technical Details
- Plays 2 and 1/2 octaves- 40 Brass reeds
- Wood body
- Diatonic Marine Band type tuning
- Comes with carrying case
- It has a Wood body
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By Wood Wren (U.S.A.)
I am a relative beginner but have a number of instruments. This one is at the top of my list of the ones what brings particular joy to by horrid playing. Of course I found my range greatly increased with this harp and love the increased versatility. It is comfortable to hold and play, and when I am "on" it the sounds produced are true. I might add that the review here by chimera68 is excellent and I learned much from it. This is what reviews should be about. I wish I could write better and knew more about the subject than I do right now. Guess that is what learning is all about - huh. Anyway, I love my new harp and have already received much enjoyment from it.
By chimera68 (St. Augustine, FL USA)
Howdy! As the owner of a Koch Chromatic harmonica, I thought I'd share some helpful information about this interesting musical instrument. This harmonica is a chromatic-style, with the slide button, which raises the pitch of the note one-half step upward. Any note you play will be raised one-half step when the button is pushed, whether you are blowing or drawing on that particular hole. This allows for chromatic playing, of a full octave of 12 notes. Now....the difference between a Koch Chromatic harmonica, and other models of Hohner Chromatic harmonicas is this....A Koch has its notes arranged in the same pattern as a standard 10 hole diatonic harmonica. If you are familiar with these, such as the Marine Band, the Special 20, and all other 10 hole diatonics, you will already know that holes 1, 2, and 3 are the low notes of an incomplete diatonic (7 note do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do) scale, and holes 4, 5, 6, 7, are a complete 7 note diatonic scale, and holes 8, 9, and 10 are the high notes of another incomplete scale. This note arrangement is called the Richter System of tuning and has been in use since harmonicas were invented in the 1800's. It has that traditional sound and allows for the "oom-pah" vintage style of playing with chords accompanying the melody notes of the song, as well as the later style of bending notes as used for the blues and country music. So really what a Koch Chromatic is, is two diatonic harmonicas combined into one, if the one you buy is in the key of "C", then you will actually have two harmonicas, one in "C" and one in "C sharp", or also called "D flat" not meaning to be confusing. You will be able to play one whole complete chromatic octave of 12 notes on holes 4, 5, 6, and 7. But, you still will not be able to achieve complete chromatic octaves on the lower 3 holes or the upper 3 holes, simply because all the notes required aren't there.
Having told you all this now, you also need to know that if the brand new Koch Chromatics sound as good as the one I own, which is at least 50 years old and has certainly seen its days, this may be your absolute favorite harmonica! Koch was a seperate company and had its own line of harmonicas, such as the La Preciosa, and was bought out by Hohner who took over their trademark names and model line. The Koch Chromatic is, I believe, the only one still being made under that name now.
This harmonica also does not have the little paper "windsavers" or "valves" glued over the reeds like most other Hohner Chromatics have. This will allow you to bend and wail notes much easier, and you won't hear that annoying clicking sound of the valves slapping back and forth as you play. That bugs me, I don't know if anybody else notices that or not....but always remember, if you love your harmonica, you will NOT SOAK IT, because that ruins it, and also remember to wipe it off after playing it so the finish stays reasonably clean and shiny.
In closing, if this review psyches you up to buy a Koch Chromatic harmonica, I believe that you will be very pleased with it and will enjoy playing it everyday! Have fun and let the music begin!
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