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Happy Hour Harmonica Podcast

Andre Godoy Coelho (and Brendan Power) interview

June 12, 2024 Neil Warren Season 1 Episode 113

Chapters

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

Other band in Brazil

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

How Harmonetta’s work

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

Happy Hour Harmonica Podcast

Andre Godoy Coelho (and Brendan Power) interview

Jun 12, 2024 Season 1 Episode 113

Neil Warren

Andre Godoy Coelho (and Brendan Power) join me on episode 113.

Andre is a Brazilian who relocated to Portugal in 2018, performing and recording two albums with the Rio Grande band in Sao Paulo, before recording a recent album in a duo in Portugal.

Andre quickly became interested in harmonica customisation when his first harmonica didn’t quite perform as he wanted. This has turned into a full time business for Andre, who has now teamed up with Brendan Power on his x-reed harmonica range. The partnership has just released the Morbendz, a diatonic with a slide which increases the number of available bends from 8 to 14, providing the missing notes from a standard diatonic, while playing just the same.

Links:
Website:
https://linktr.ee/agcoelho

Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/andre.coelho.1694059/

Order the Morbendz and other x-reed harmonicas:
https://x-reed.com/products.php

Harmonetta information:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1306551

Videos:
Andre's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@agc_custom_harps

Little Lady Hip Hop track:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx05yBNybXw

Lapa & Godoy duo:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB0l7d8Zq0HLoVfSIdapXoOEvKox4JCjn&si=dOzFb8z6lC7MmGfk

Andre and Brendan playing together:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KPaUDT9RbM

Brendan introduction video to Morbendz diatonic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z3WLTRymYU

Andre playing on the Morbendz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwYRXqgwTv8

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

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
--------------------------------
The Harmonica Company. Use promo code: 'happyhour7'.
Email Jonathan at: sales@theharmonicacompany.com
--------------------------------
Blue Moon Harmonicas: https://bluemoonharmonicas.com

Support the Show.

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Starting at $3/month

Andre Godoy Coelho (and Brendan Power) join me on episode 113.

Andre is a Brazilian who relocated to Portugal in 2018, performing and recording two albums with the Rio Grande band in Sao Paulo, before recording a recent album in a duo in Portugal.

Andre quickly became interested in harmonica customisation when his first harmonica didn’t quite perform as he wanted. This has turned into a full time business for Andre, who has now teamed up with Brendan Power on his x-reed harmonica range. The partnership has just released the Morbendz, a diatonic with a slide which increases the number of available bends from 8 to 14, providing the missing notes from a standard diatonic, while playing just the same.

Links:
Website:
https://linktr.ee/agcoelho

Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/andre.coelho.1694059/

Order the Morbendz and other x-reed harmonicas:
https://x-reed.com/products.php

Harmonetta information:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1306551

Videos:
Andre's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@agc_custom_harps

Little Lady Hip Hop track:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx05yBNybXw

Lapa & Godoy duo:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB0l7d8Zq0HLoVfSIdapXoOEvKox4JCjn&si=dOzFb8z6lC7MmGfk

Andre and Brendan playing together:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KPaUDT9RbM

Brendan introduction video to Morbendz diatonic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z3WLTRymYU

Andre playing on the Morbendz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwYRXqgwTv8

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

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
--------------------------------
The Harmonica Company. Use promo code: 'happyhour7'.
Email Jonathan at: sales@theharmonicacompany.com
--------------------------------
Blue Moon Harmonicas: https://bluemoonharmonicas.com

Support the Show.

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

Other band in Brazil

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

How Harmonetta’s work

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