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
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
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
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
Likely to be playing in Asia again this summer
