Blues Harp Science (en)

Blues harp physics is a complex matter. This essay  The Fascination of Blues Harp Physics could give a first overview.

Here is an Annotated bibliography of selected sources on the physics of the blues harp. My selection will surely be somewhat subjective, and it will probably never be complete. Nevertheless it can give you a first impression of how rich the topic is.

The web page  Frequencies deals with the variety of notes available on the blues harp: Normal blow and draw notes, blow and draw bends, overblows and overdraws. It is about oscillations, about eigenfrequencies and about playing frequencies, about single reeds ( if the other reed in the channel is taped) and about the interaction of the two reeds in the channel. With the help of James Antaki's Turboharp ELX, a kind of pickup system for the blues harp, the movements of the two reeds are made "audible". From the point of view of physics, the notion of closing and opening reads can bring some order into the variety of notes on the blues harmonica.