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The auditorium
of the Middlebury College Center for the Arts is hushed
and quiet. Seated on the stage is Bill Sims,
legendary blues singer, with his guitar. Next to him
is Mark Lavoie, a local Monkton, Vermont resident.
Mark reaches to his side and picks one of a dozen
harmonicas, raises it to his mouth, and for several
seconds, there is no audible sound.
Then, almost from far,
far, away, a faint sound is heard in the distance. It begins to grow
with barely perceptible presence, then slowly, ever so
slowly, swells to fill the room with a single, sustaining
note.
The hair on the back of
our neck begins to stand up. Goose bumps start to
break out. This is a more than just a note... it is
something that stirs our soul. |
| If
this were simply the story of a gifted musician, it would
be almost over. Mark Lavoie has been playing for
decades, from Nashville to small bars and cafes in Addison
County, and he's nothing short of magnificent on that
small, simple instrument only four inches long which
typically costs less than a really decent bottle of
wine. But the instrument in his hand is no ordinary
harmonica. It is the Stradivarius of harmonicas, and
Mark Lavoie is the Antonio Stradivari of the harmonica
world.
What makes two different
instruments of the same type and size sound so
different? Why does a 1950's Gibson Mandolin have
such a warm and subtle tone while a contemporary Kentucky
fills the room with vibrant, ringing sound? Why is a
Stradivarius so much richer in tone than Grandpa's
fiddle? The answer lies in subtle harmonics which,
although virtually imperceptible on their own, combine
with the tonic note to produce, a unique sound unlike no
other.
For 32 years, Mark
traveled the road not taken on a quest for what he simply
calls "The Biggest Tone". The harmonica is
the simplest of instruments: A brass reed set, a
container known as the "comb", and a couple of
thin metal cover plates. It has long been known that
tweaking and bending the reeds can result in a superior
instrument, and Mark had long been a talented technician
in this regard. The answer had to be in the comb,
typically a simple wood or plastic holder with spaces to
allow the reeds to vibrate. He began experimenting
with different materials, evaluating the result from the
standpoint of being a master of the instrument who would
know the sound when he heard it. Finally, his work
paid off - there was magic in a metal we call
Titanium. Titanium, although as strong as steel, has
only 56% of the density of the hardest steel alloys - and
therein lies the secret. Titanium has more
"give", more "flex", more ability to
vibrate in response to audio frequencies and produce more
harmonic coupling - in simple terms, a much
"bigger" tone.
| Mark
labeled his discovery "The Holy Grail",
and arranged to have them manufactured to his
specifications. Soon, legendary harmonica
greats like Kirk "Jelly Roll" Johnson,
Jerry Portnoy, and Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson's
harmonica player) were using them and singing
their praises. A new Stradivarius had been
born. But the story doesn't end there.
Other than the larger, more complex, and more
expensive "chromatic" models, straight
blues harps cover only a single key per instrument
and are "diatonic" - meaning when one
blows on a particular reed hole, one note emerges,
and when one inhales on the same reed hole, the
same reed produces a second, and different
note. Thus, it takes many harmonicas to
cover the major scale of keys. |
|
| While
the Lavoie Titanium Comb was the answer for top-end
professionals, at $160 per comb - and needing many
to cover all of the major keys - it was clearly
beyond the reach of most serious amateurs.
Mark began examining different woods, the classical
comb material, to see if he could find a more affordable
improvement to the instrument's naturally warm
tone. He found it in his own back yard, so to
speak. |
 |
Traditional
harmonica combs made of wood suffer from moisture problems caused by
the player's breath. The wood absorbs moisture and the acoustic
properties start to change, not usually for the better. Mark
found that Vermont maple, with it's denser, northern climate-grown
structure, was an excellent tone wood, but further discovered that
laser cutting the comb helped seal, or cauterize the wood pores.
Further sealing the comb with beeswax completed the waterproofing
process, allowing the harmonica to be played for extended periods of
time without adverse tonal change. Now serious harmonica enthusiasts
could enjoy a quality instrument without having to take out a home
equity loan or sell a kidney. |
| The
rest is history. Although Mark continues to share his skill on
the instrument with our local community, today, the world's serious
professional and amateur harmonica players are beating a path to the
door of his Monkton, Vermont home, where he offers both tuning and
reed adjustment for 10-hole harmonicas, and, of course, his now-famous
Titanium and Vermont Maple Wood harmonica combs.
He's been a long-time member of the
Middlebury Community Network, where more than 90,000 harmonica aficionados
have dropped into his Business Home Page. You can, too, by
clicking HERE. |
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