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Happy Hour Harmonica Podcast

Konstantin Reinfeld interview

January 31, 2024 Neil Warren Season 1 Episode 103

Chapters

Konstantin is from Germany, now living in Hamburg

Went to music Conservatory in Cologne

Hamburg has a great pop music scene

Konstantin is 28 years old (born in 1995), and started playing harmonica age 13

Played flute and piano from a young age, then some clarinet

Started getting seriously into music when he picked up the harmonica

First heard the harmonica on a German talent show in 2008, from the playing of Michael Hirte

First harmonica bought was a Hohner Blues Harp MS

Discovered overblows online, and was the direction he took

Initial interest was in playing melodies, and not blues

First concert was played at school in front of an audience of 600 to 700 people

Did devote some time to working up his blues chops on the diatonic

The internet played a big part in Konstantin's learning path, and uploaded his own recordings to YouTube and harmonica forums, and getting some feedback

Took his first lessons in harmonica blues basics from a German player

After these first lessons Konstantin started reaching out to lots of his favourite harmonica players online

Konstantin contacted bands and asked if he could rehearse with them

Went to the music fair in Frankfurt, where Konstantin started getting noticed as a harmonica player

Invited to the Hohner Harmonica Masters event by Steve Baker

Was fluent in overblows at this early stage

Doesn’t play much chromatic, although has started playing it more recently for songs which suit the sound of the chromatic

Was a 100% tongue block player for a time

Plays the diatonic rather than the chromatic because it’s the first instrument he fell in love with

Doesn’t play different tunings on the diatonic (although has experimented)

Plays along with a Toots Thielemans recording using a diatonic and the importance of transcribing

Transcribed lots of Jason Ricci, Alex Paclin and Howard Levy, and the form of Konstantin’s transcriptions

Attended the music Conservatory with the diatonic as his main instrument, and the challenges of being accepted at some music schools

Didn’t have a harmonica tutor at his Conservatory, learnt mainly from a pianist

Took lessons with Howard Levy for a couple of years as part of a Jazz Masters course in Hamburg, and played a concert with Howard at the school

Impact of taking tuition from a different instrument from harmonica

Had been playing for around five years before went to the Conservatory, and the amount of practise he did in those five years

Had singing lessons as his second instrument at the conservatory, although doesn’t sing now

Sang at a harmonica festival in the Netherlands, with Ben Bouman and Rachelle Plas

Transcribed lots of Carlos del Junco’s harmonica playing

Lessons with Howard Levy

Early studies in Cologne and Hamburg were in jazz, so first album Konstantin released was a jazz album

First album released in 2013, Mr Quilento, after Konstantin was selected to work with a record producer at the Harmonica Masters event

Some of the songs on first album were own compositions

Next album, Old Friend, is a Toots Thielemans inspired album

Recorded a second album with the quartet: Algiedi, all his own compositions and he is very proud of this work

Uses guitar whammy and delay effects on the Algiedi album, although doesn’t use effects now

Played in a Techno live band in Cologne

Algiedi song is subtitled ‘death of a star’

Interest Classical playing inspired by Howard Levy, so got together with a pianist called Benjamin Nuss

Released album ‘Debut’, which is mainly classical pieces, with some jazz

Repertoire is important when selecting Classical music to play on harmonica, with the flute pieces working well

Working with composers to write pieces for the duo with Benjamin Nuss, with the music available online

Classical music on harmonica is typically played on the chromatic, and the differences of playing it on diatonic

No bending permitted in Classical music is changing

Won German Grammy for Classical music for the Debut album

Winning the award changed how the diatonic harmonica was perceived in the Classical music scene in Germany

Will be releasing a new concerto for harmonica and piano later in 2024

How approached play the different genres of jazz and classical

Partly reads the scores for Classical pieces, partly from memory

Recording a Christmas album this year

Cinema Paradiso is a song Konstantin has recorded with an orchestra, and has also played the Howard Levy harmonica concerto

Will continue to work on Classical music, including a new album with Benjamin Nuss

Also works as a music Producer, initially working on mixing Hip Hop inspired songs

Started getting more seriously into music production when met a Dutch Afro-pop musican, and has produced some songs with him, including harmonica

Creates all the music on the self-produced tracks

Has a strong online presence, including Harmonica Challenges with prizes provided by Hohner

Puts out a lot of videos on his Patreon page

Hosts Hohner Live X harmonica video interviews on YouTube

Releasing his first harmonica instruction book later in 2024, with videos and audio recordings. Set for beginners and focus is on melodic playing (not blues)

Has made numerous TV appearances in Germany

10 minute question

Been an ambassador for Hohner since age 15 and appearing at the Hohner Harmonica Masters event

Video interview of Konstantin by Hohner when he was 14 years old

Initially played Golden Melody harmonicas, as many overblow players did, mainly due to temperate tuning

Started playing custom Marine Bands, built by Thomas Hanke, with Special 20 cover plates (as does Howard Levy)

Special 20 cover plates don’t have the gap in them, which the Marine Band ones do, so Special 20 plates project sound more directly to mic

Plays the lower range of diatonics (doesn’t just play C chromatically)

What harmonica position Konstantin chooses is largely driven by the melody of the piece of music

How many positions Konstantin uses with his overblow playing: 1 to 6 and 10,11,12 are most frequently used

Embouchre: puckers now, did play tongue block for a while in the past

Tongue blocking is possible with overblows

Amplification: uses a PA

Uses Sennheiser 441 mic (as does Howard Levy)

Uses a little reverb, but no other effects now

Plays off the mic (not holding it), as provides more control over the tone, and making each note sound as close to each other tonally as possible

Holds mic to be heard in a louder setting

Moves around a lot when playing

Future plans: releasing orchestral works and recording a Christmas album

No current plans to play with a band again

Has another contemporary song coming out soon, playing a chromatic harmonica

Touring Europe in 2024

Likely to be playing in Asia again this summer

Info

Happy Hour Harmonica Podcast

Konstantin Reinfeld interview

Jan 31, 2024 Season 1 Episode 103

Neil Warren

Konstantin Reinfeld joins me on episode 103.

Konstantin is a German who comes from the overblow school of harmonica, studying music at a conservatory and taking lessons from Howard Levy as part of his early development. He released a jazz album at age 18, with two more albums to follow before releasing a classical album played on the diatonic harmonica, for which he won a German Grammy award for classical music.
On top of this Konstantin is a music producer, including producing his own recordings bringing the harmonica into a contemporary pop setting. He has a very active online presence and hosts harmonica interviews for the Hohner Live X series of YouTube videos.

Links:
Konstantin’s website:
https://www.konstantinreinfeld.com

Patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/konstantinreinfeld

Compositions for harmonica and piano:
https://www.doerken-stiftung.de/foerderung/kompositionen-fuer-mundharmonika-als-gratisdownload/downloads-kompositionen-fuer-mundharmonika-und-klavier

Videos:
YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@KonstantinReinfeld

Body Heat with Benjamin Nuss:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KEJzFcZgqg&list=TLGGMrKWZLRF3CoyMjAxMjAyNA&t=2s

Cinema Paradiso - Love Theme:
https://youtu.be/ULj-GjL4nFA?si=D6G11zXwOCd32kvv

Interview on Hohner channel with the 14 year old Konstantin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIPCFRTIJDU

Hohner Live X interview with Howard Levy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_DDBgcEViw

Country Harmonica Challenge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glvupq6gpf8

Don Toliver harmonica cover:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2BVsMa5QiM

Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

or sign-up to a monthly subscription to the podcast:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/995536/support

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS
AND
The Harmonica Company. Use promo code: 'happyhour7'.
Email Jonathan at: sales@theharmonicacompany.com

Support the Show.

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Konstantin Reinfeld joins me on episode 103.

Konstantin is a German who comes from the overblow school of harmonica, studying music at a conservatory and taking lessons from Howard Levy as part of his early development. He released a jazz album at age 18, with two more albums to follow before releasing a classical album played on the diatonic harmonica, for which he won a German Grammy award for classical music.
On top of this Konstantin is a music producer, including producing his own recordings bringing the harmonica into a contemporary pop setting. He has a very active online presence and hosts harmonica interviews for the Hohner Live X series of YouTube videos.

Links:
Konstantin’s website:
https://www.konstantinreinfeld.com

Patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/konstantinreinfeld

Compositions for harmonica and piano:
https://www.doerken-stiftung.de/foerderung/kompositionen-fuer-mundharmonika-als-gratisdownload/downloads-kompositionen-fuer-mundharmonika-und-klavier

Videos:
YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@KonstantinReinfeld

Body Heat with Benjamin Nuss:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KEJzFcZgqg&list=TLGGMrKWZLRF3CoyMjAxMjAyNA&t=2s

Cinema Paradiso - Love Theme:
https://youtu.be/ULj-GjL4nFA?si=D6G11zXwOCd32kvv

Interview on Hohner channel with the 14 year old Konstantin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIPCFRTIJDU

Hohner Live X interview with Howard Levy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_DDBgcEViw

Country Harmonica Challenge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glvupq6gpf8

Don Toliver harmonica cover:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2BVsMa5QiM

Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

or sign-up to a monthly subscription to the podcast:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/995536/support

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS
AND
The Harmonica Company. Use promo code: 'happyhour7'.
Email Jonathan at: sales@theharmonicacompany.com

Support the Show.

Konstantin is from Germany, now living in Hamburg

Went to music Conservatory in Cologne

Hamburg has a great pop music scene

Konstantin is 28 years old (born in 1995), and started playing harmonica age 13

Played flute and piano from a young age, then some clarinet

Started getting seriously into music when he picked up the harmonica

First heard the harmonica on a German talent show in 2008, from the playing of Michael Hirte

First harmonica bought was a Hohner Blues Harp MS

Discovered overblows online, and was the direction he took

Initial interest was in playing melodies, and not blues

First concert was played at school in front of an audience of 600 to 700 people

Did devote some time to working up his blues chops on the diatonic

The internet played a big part in Konstantin's learning path, and uploaded his own recordings to YouTube and harmonica forums, and getting some feedback

Took his first lessons in harmonica blues basics from a German player

After these first lessons Konstantin started reaching out to lots of his favourite harmonica players online

Konstantin contacted bands and asked if he could rehearse with them

Went to the music fair in Frankfurt, where Konstantin started getting noticed as a harmonica player

Invited to the Hohner Harmonica Masters event by Steve Baker

Was fluent in overblows at this early stage

Doesn’t play much chromatic, although has started playing it more recently for songs which suit the sound of the chromatic

Was a 100% tongue block player for a time

Plays the diatonic rather than the chromatic because it’s the first instrument he fell in love with

Doesn’t play different tunings on the diatonic (although has experimented)

Plays along with a Toots Thielemans recording using a diatonic and the importance of transcribing

Transcribed lots of Jason Ricci, Alex Paclin and Howard Levy, and the form of Konstantin’s transcriptions

Attended the music Conservatory with the diatonic as his main instrument, and the challenges of being accepted at some music schools

Didn’t have a harmonica tutor at his Conservatory, learnt mainly from a pianist

Took lessons with Howard Levy for a couple of years as part of a Jazz Masters course in Hamburg, and played a concert with Howard at the school

Impact of taking tuition from a different instrument from harmonica

Had been playing for around five years before went to the Conservatory, and the amount of practise he did in those five years

Had singing lessons as his second instrument at the conservatory, although doesn’t sing now

Sang at a harmonica festival in the Netherlands, with Ben Bouman and Rachelle Plas

Transcribed lots of Carlos del Junco’s harmonica playing

Lessons with Howard Levy

Early studies in Cologne and Hamburg were in jazz, so first album Konstantin released was a jazz album

First album released in 2013, Mr Quilento, after Konstantin was selected to work with a record producer at the Harmonica Masters event

Some of the songs on first album were own compositions

Next album, Old Friend, is a Toots Thielemans inspired album

Recorded a second album with the quartet: Algiedi, all his own compositions and he is very proud of this work

Uses guitar whammy and delay effects on the Algiedi album, although doesn’t use effects now

Played in a Techno live band in Cologne

Algiedi song is subtitled ‘death of a star’

Interest Classical playing inspired by Howard Levy, so got together with a pianist called Benjamin Nuss

Released album ‘Debut’, which is mainly classical pieces, with some jazz

Repertoire is important when selecting Classical music to play on harmonica, with the flute pieces working well

Working with composers to write pieces for the duo with Benjamin Nuss, with the music available online

Classical music on harmonica is typically played on the chromatic, and the differences of playing it on diatonic

No bending permitted in Classical music is changing

Won German Grammy for Classical music for the Debut album

Winning the award changed how the diatonic harmonica was perceived in the Classical music scene in Germany

Will be releasing a new concerto for harmonica and piano later in 2024

How approached play the different genres of jazz and classical

Partly reads the scores for Classical pieces, partly from memory

Recording a Christmas album this year

Cinema Paradiso is a song Konstantin has recorded with an orchestra, and has also played the Howard Levy harmonica concerto

Will continue to work on Classical music, including a new album with Benjamin Nuss

Also works as a music Producer, initially working on mixing Hip Hop inspired songs

Started getting more seriously into music production when met a Dutch Afro-pop musican, and has produced some songs with him, including harmonica

Creates all the music on the self-produced tracks

Has a strong online presence, including Harmonica Challenges with prizes provided by Hohner

Puts out a lot of videos on his Patreon page

Hosts Hohner Live X harmonica video interviews on YouTube

Releasing his first harmonica instruction book later in 2024, with videos and audio recordings. Set for beginners and focus is on melodic playing (not blues)

Has made numerous TV appearances in Germany

10 minute question

Been an ambassador for Hohner since age 15 and appearing at the Hohner Harmonica Masters event

Video interview of Konstantin by Hohner when he was 14 years old

Initially played Golden Melody harmonicas, as many overblow players did, mainly due to temperate tuning

Started playing custom Marine Bands, built by Thomas Hanke, with Special 20 cover plates (as does Howard Levy)

Special 20 cover plates don’t have the gap in them, which the Marine Band ones do, so Special 20 plates project sound more directly to mic

Plays the lower range of diatonics (doesn’t just play C chromatically)

What harmonica position Konstantin chooses is largely driven by the melody of the piece of music

How many positions Konstantin uses with his overblow playing: 1 to 6 and 10,11,12 are most frequently used

Embouchre: puckers now, did play tongue block for a while in the past

Tongue blocking is possible with overblows

Amplification: uses a PA

Uses Sennheiser 441 mic (as does Howard Levy)

Uses a little reverb, but no other effects now

Plays off the mic (not holding it), as provides more control over the tone, and making each note sound as close to each other tonally as possible

Holds mic to be heard in a louder setting

Moves around a lot when playing

Future plans: releasing orchestral works and recording a Christmas album

No current plans to play with a band again

Has another contemporary song coming out soon, playing a chromatic harmonica

Touring Europe in 2024

Likely to be playing in Asia again this summer