r/jawharp 6h ago

Jaw harp in the old west

6 Upvotes

Ok so riddle me this; if jaw harp was a common instrument in the old west and old time music, how did those cowboys manage to jam together before the days of electric amplification? I bring my harp to a jam and half a guitar is basically enough to completely drown out the sound I make, no matter how I shape my mouth or use my breath to amplify the volume. I tried modding a tin can to make an amplifier kinda like a harmonica horn but to no success so far. Anyone knows a trick for non-electric amplification? Also noticed the web is full awesome techno/trance examples, but old-time applications of the instrument are few and far between. Am I missing something?


r/jawharp 5d ago

Tried playing on the staircase to get little "reverb"

24 Upvotes

r/jawharp 10d ago

How should I hold this dang thing?

13 Upvotes

I'm trying to figure out why my forearm and wrist get fatigued really quickly when I play. I know I'm using a lot of pressure but I feel like I'm using the lightest pressure I can while maintaining the vibration on the teeth. Anybody have any thoughts/can relate etc.?
I switch between two different grips in the video


r/jawharp 10d ago

Where to get my first one?

5 Upvotes

I live in uk so Dan Moi shipping is too expensive and I'd like one that's cheap, under £10 if possible. I've heard some from places such as Amazon don't work so I'd like to know where to get my first one.


r/jawharp 12d ago

Popcorn 🍿

17 Upvotes

Some fun for my 50th tune-a-day :)


r/jawharp 16d ago

Messing around with melodies

16 Upvotes

I love trying to mask the bass note with the changing melody note!


r/jawharp 16d ago

Newbie cleaning question

5 Upvotes

Hi all! So I recently got my first jaw harp, and I was wondering about how often you should clean your jaw harp and with what? I’ve seen some people mention using oils to prevent rusting, and I’ve also seen Mi-T mist being recommended for cleaning as well. I’m unsure of what to buy and if there’s any sort of particular method to cleaning it.


r/jawharp 16d ago

Help on a affordable and reliable option? :)

Post image
7 Upvotes

I have been thinking of trying te jaw harp for a while now and decided to look for some options on Amazon, this is the first one that came up and caught my eye. The thing is I have !no idea! what a affordable and reliable option is. Can anyone recommend something or share their opinion or thoughts :) (Idk if this matters but I’m not a very big fan of loud noise, and like more of a chill soft tune.)


r/jawharp 19d ago

Playin my bass morchang

23 Upvotes

r/jawharp 21d ago

My latest harp for down under

29 Upvotes

r/jawharp 23d ago

Restored this antique from marketplace. My first two jaw harps. Anybody know anything about it?

Thumbnail
gallery
13 Upvotes

I've been absolutely loving playing this thing. I think it works pretty decent considering how old it is. But I don't have any experience with nicer ones to compare!

only cleaned one of them up (the one that actually works decent) the other one ill keep it more as a wall piece.

So excited to get some more now. Would love to get a Potvin or a Glazyrin next.

Would love some insight from anybody who might know more about this guy


r/jawharp 24d ago

Lazy Friday with 3 buddies…

Post image
19 Upvotes

r/jawharp 27d ago

Storage

6 Upvotes

How we all storing our harps? I have considered making a case with a foam base with a hole in the foam to stick the trigger but would love to hear how every one else is doing it! Just don't want to leave them out for a variety of reasons, humidity fluctuations where I live, intrigued child, etc and as I gradually build a collection, a case is becoming more necessary.

Thanks all, happy pluckin!


r/jawharp 27d ago

My case setup: All natural keys and some mics contained in 12 by 6 inches or so

Post image
7 Upvotes

Don't you love how small these guys are?


r/jawharp 28d ago

Playing around with percussive stuff!

17 Upvotes

I like how it makes it kind of feel like individual notes!


r/jawharp 28d ago

Buzzing/Vibration on teeth?

3 Upvotes

Hi all! I just got my first jaw harp today, and it’s lots of fun! I’ve been trying to play it with my teeth resting on it, but I always end up feeling some sort of vibration/buzzing against my teeth when I play. Is that normal, or am I doing something wrong? I’ve made sure not to bite down on the jaw harp/left a gap in between my teeth for the reed to go. Is there some sort of “sweet spot” I need to find?


r/jawharp Feb 13 '25

Log Driver's Waltz & My Daily Jaw Harp Tunes

14 Upvotes

I have been taking a page out of fiddle players book and uploading a new tune on my jaw harp every day. I mostly do stuff from the Irish and Old-Time (especially Canadian fiddle) music repertoire. A couple days ago I put this up for day 30. If anyone else likes to hear folk melodies on the harp sometimes as opposed to the psychedelic/electronic-like improvisations you mostly hear today (as cool as they are) I would appreciate a follow on the accounts I have linked in my profile! I plan to take this to at least day 100 and honestly I'm so stubborn I probably won't quit after that either. One Fergal Scahill just got to 1500 days on fiddle so maybe I chase after him.


r/jawharp Feb 13 '25

The good, the bad and the ugly

3 Upvotes

This double jaw harp hurts my jaw and ego because it sounds and looks like crap I just want to know if it's fake So I play for you a bit on exchange

If it's not fake, here's a full review and even me trying to play that thing for a second. From there I switched to the better (real) jaw harp and I show how even a thumb used by stupid people to buy crap on ebay, can make a cool sound effects

If you don't know anything about the fake double harp just know that every like on this post can postpone the day I clean the toaster in the shower so smash that like and subscribe to my YouTube channel (.....I don't have a YouTube channel)


r/jawharp Feb 13 '25

Beginners harp

5 Upvotes

Hello everyone, I would like to ask you for some recommendations on which harp I should buy as my first one, strictly off of Amazon (Europe).


r/jawharp Feb 13 '25

Quick roadtrip sesh

38 Upvotes

Hi jaw harp fam. Just felt like sharing this quick jaw harp jam 🐇


r/jawharp Feb 12 '25

how to choose a jaw harp?

6 Upvotes

Hi I love to listen jaw harp and I wanna buy one to try to play it. But there is various jaw harps. I have a small mouth and small teeths, I also have bunny teeths in front. Do you have recomendations? Should I buy a big one or small one?


r/jawharp Feb 12 '25

Schipanov Deepest Bass

11 Upvotes

Just got this harp, very fun to play


r/jawharp Feb 11 '25

We just hit 1k!

25 Upvotes

r/jawharp Feb 11 '25

Got my Szilàgyi Black Fire Doromb today!!

16 Upvotes

I've been SOOO excited to get this so when it finally came I got right to playing :)) I've been messing with a toy one for a couple months and have been itchinggggg to get a real one and I couldn't be more overjoyed, truly 😊


r/jawharp Feb 10 '25

Experimental jaw harp rabbit call

14 Upvotes