Andre is originally from Brazil, now living in Portugal
The Brazilian harmonica scene and blues becoming very popular there in the 1990s
Andre lived just outside Sao Paulo
Started playing harmonica in 1996 and tried some traditional Brazilian music styles on chromatic before settling on the blues diatonic, inspired by Brazilian band Blues Etílicos
Started playing chromatic after did some customisation work on them, so he could make them better for his customers
First band played pop rock and used some effects on harmonica
Bob Dylan was the first harmonica Andre heard
First harmonica was a Special 20 MS model, which needed some work to play better, sparking Andre’s interest in customisation
Diatonic harmonicas were not that readily available in Brazil at that time, with tremolo and octave harmonicas more popular in shops there
Chinese Huang harmonicas became available in Brazil and were of a good quality, and Hering and other makes too
Plays some guitar too, although harmonica is main instrument
Started playing harmonica age 12
Played with the Rio Grande band in Brazil, recording on two of their albums
Recently recorded an album remotely in a duo called Lapa and Godoy (Godoy being Andre’s stage name)
Also gigs with a band in Portugal but focused more on customisation than playing at the moment
How remote recording was arranged in the Lapa and Godoy duo
Plenty of jazz songs on the duo album, and the use of the Koch harmonica to record some of them
How the Koch (diatonic with a slide) works
Started playing more chromatic as a result of checking the repairs of chromatics he does for customers
One of first customers for customisation work was Antonio Serrano
Andre has made some interesting YouTube videos of different musical pieces, including playing the Hohner Little Lady one octave harmonica
Lot of the videos Andre posts are on special tunings that customers request
Sonic The Hedgehog recording uses a harmonetta
Harmonetta’s are difficult to fix, but Andre is one of the few customisers who knows how to service them
Andre has been a customiser since 2019, starting during Covid to keep himself productive
Joe Filisko tried one of Andre’s harmonicas on the strength of that recommended him to become a Hohner Affiliated customiser
Andre also produces a harmonica pedal called the Yump, as well as a microphone
The Yump pedal has different inputs for different types of harmonica mic, and outputs for a passive speaker, and amp or PA
Andre mainly uses the Yump pedal connected to the PA when performing
Brendan Power joins to discuss the x-reed collaboration between Andre and Brendan and how they got it together
The roles they both play in the collaboration, although it’s fluid
Andre’s first visit to Canterbury and feeling blessed to be able to work with Brendan
Morbendz is the latest creation of x-reed harmonicas
Brendan explains how the Morbendz is an adaptation of his previous SlipSlider harmonica
How the Mordendz works differently from the Slip Slider
The Morbendz comb has twenty partitions instead of the usual ten
Only the mouthpiece moves on the harmonica, so it remains very airtight
Pressing the slide allows bending to access notes that aren’t available on a standard diatonic
The Morbendz provides 14 bends instead of the usual 8
Swedish guy contributed the idea to add an extra reed for the 14th bend
The extra bends available on the Morbendz: 2 blow, 5 blow, 6 blow, 7 draw, 8 draw, 10 draw
The Morbendz allows the diatonic to be played chromatically
Brendan thinks people who already use overblows won’t find the transition to the Morbendz that easy due to the notes bending in different directions
Beginners will probably find the Morbendz more intuitive
Brendan thinks normal bends sound better than overblows (apart from those who are highly skilled playing them)
Ideally the Morbendz will be built in a mass produced way in order to make it more accessible and cheaper
How easy Morbendz will be to adopt for someone who plays chromatic and diatonic
Half-valving a chromatic does allow more bending capability, but Morbendz does provide more bends on standard diatonic
Big advantage of the Morbendz is that it can be played like a normal diatonic
Brendan and Andre have started releasing videos about the Morbendz, and will continue to do so
Example recordings of the Morbendz available to listen to, including from Todd Parrott
With the ability to play in different keys on one Morbendz you may only need to add one Morbendz to your existing harmonica collection
Andre is building the Morbendz, and is on holiday over the summer but will recommence building them in August
Working model between Andre and Brendan is that Brendan comes up with the ideas, develops the concept and then Andre builds them for customers
Hope is that a harmonica manufacturer will take these on to mass produce them
Two price points for the Morbendz, one with and one without Andre’s customisation
Morbendz requires some specific customisation
Most customers have ordered the customised version
No current plans to take them to festivals this year, but in the future yes
The x-reed partnership have plans for more innovations in the pipeline
Ten minute question focused on customisation and analogy of changing an amplifier
Basic things to set-up on your harmonica: get reed plates straight with correct reed gapping, flat sand the comb
Embossing is not always necessary on well made modern harmonicas as the tolerances are already tight
Harmonicas of choice are Hohner Special 20s, Marine Bands and the Hohner 270 chromatic
Overblows: uses them to bring some variety to the typical blues riffs
Embouchre: started puckering but now mainly uses tongue block
Mainly plays through the PA using his Yup pedal so doesn’t have to carry large amps
Uses some effects: delay, envelope filter for trumpet sound, octaves and chorus sound, and uses the Sub ’n Up pedal from TC Electronic
