picture of tremolo harmonica
Miscellaneous Harmonica Informations

Last Update: 24 Apr. 2005

Lecture on Harmonica in a collage

Mr. Yasuo Watani have been the lecturer of Senzoku Gakuen Collage of Music since April 2005. He won the first prize in the 2nd World Harmonica Championships and he is one of the top chromatic players. The lecture about harmonica seems to be the only one in Asia.

Quarterly Japanese Harmonica Magazine

The Japanese quarterly harmonica magazine is being published quarterly. The name is The Harmonica Magazine. Contents are on Japanese only, and distribution is direct subscription only.
For more information, please ask to Tombo Family Club (Tel. 03-5810-6820).

Harmonica Telephone Service Terminated

Harmonica telephone services some telephone stations served are all terminated. I hope some company or individual would share telephone line (ex. at night) with harmonica sounds.

Yushing Yoshida has released new CD

Yushing Yoshida is one of famous Japanese blues harpists. He has released CD named ATARAXIA . It is the record of the live of Yushing and B.J'S. in 1998, including 11 songs. Price is 2,500 Yen (TAX in).
For more information, please contact him (yushing@inv.co.jp), or visit his page.

Project for new pieces of music for harmonica

Siegfried Steinkogler (s.steinkogler@aon.at) is a guitarist, and he play concerts with the harmonica-virtuoso Maria Wolfsberger. They recorded two CDs, one is Painted Harmony (PH0298) .

He is also a composer, and he started the project "The New Harmonica". Its main purpose is to encourage contemporary composers to write for the harmonica. For instance: the famous composer Boguslaw Schaeffer wrote a quintet named "Concertino" (mh.,git.,vl.,vla.,vcl.) for them.
He and Maria Wolfsberger have already released a CD named The New Harmonica (CD No.PH0499)

He wants to contact with players interested in his project. If you want the list of his composition for harmonica or other information, please ask him directly.

Azarea Quartet have released their first CD

Azarea Quartet, ladies harmonica quartet at Atsugi(JAPAN), have won many prizes, including 1995 World Harmonica Festival Winner (Large Ensemble), 1998 Asia-Pacific Harmonica Festival Winner (Ensemble).
Their first CD Harmonica Cocktail (BVCD-0002, 2,500 Yen) have released on March 9, 2000. It will include Valsentino, Hungarian Dance No.6, Sable Dance, William Tell Overture, etc. I wonder if it may not be sold in mega CD store. If you want it, please contact the seller B-Voice Inc. (Tel. +81-45-365-7551, FAX+81-45-365-7552)

Harmonica CD won Japan Record Prize

Yoshio Morimoto's tremolo harmonica CD (without accompaniment) Tadashi Yoshida's Songs by Harmonica (Victor Entertainment (Japan), VICP-60705, 3,045Yen) has won 1999's Japan Record Prize (Planning Devision). (Maybe the name of prize is not correct, sorry.)

Suzuki new model OverDrive

Suzuki Musical Instruments have released new models on 1999 Autumn. One of them is OverDrive, a 10-holes harmonica with independent blow-out (draw-in) holes. Please look it at Suzuki's site.

I saw see-through harmonica

On 4 Dec. 1999, I saw the 10-holes see-through harmonica sold in Yamano Music (Ginza, Tokyo). The covers are no-color transparent plastic with sandy surface which shows milky white color. There are several color types on the body. Yamano sells the model for 1,500 Yen (about 15 U.S. Dollar).

Tombo's new tremolo model Iwasaki Solo

Tombo Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company will release the new tremolo model Iwasaki Solo (#1921-S). It has a wood body and metal cover. Tremolo is tuned to be relatively suppressed and it seems to be suitable for good pianissimo (from information).
9 pitches model (C, C#, Cm, G, G#, Gm, A, A#, Am) are announced to start to be sold at the beginning of this Novenber, and the other 8 pitches model (F, F#, Fm, E, Em, LD, LDm, B) at the end of this Novenber. The standard price is 13,000 Yen each.

Norwegian Harmonica Archive

According to Mr. Henrik WB Berger, Norsk Munnspillforum (Norwegian Harmonica Union) has now decided to build up an archive of musics and records made for harmonica, which should be called "Norsk Munnspillarkiv - Norwegian Harmonicaarchiv".
The archiv should be open for the whole world, and can be contacted on either Everyone is said to be welcome to contact them for details, musics and other information about the project.
(Thanks to Mr. Berger)

Harmonica Newspaper in Taiwan

picture of magazine harmonica family office address
I have got a harmonica newspaper Harmonica Family issued in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It (the 80th issue) contains 24 pages (*272mm*198mm) of harmonica news in Chinese language. I cannot read Chinese almost at all, but there seems to be the articles below in the recent paper (Sep. 30, 1997);

If you are interested, please contact to ykchiung@ms1.hinet.Net or
Harmonica Family
Kaohsiung P. O. Box 36-130, TAIWAN

Harmonica Book

Harmonica no Hon (ISBN4-393-93437-7, 1,957 Yen) is released in Japan.

The editors are Juko Saito and Mie Senoo (the wife of the blues harpist, Ryuuichiro Weeping Harp Senoo). Harmonica history, kind of instrument, big players etc. are written in Japanese.
If you want it and you cannot find it in the bookstores or blues shops in Japan, please contact the publisher (below);

Shunjuusha
2-18-6, Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101, JAPAN
Tel. 03-3255-9611

Expanding harmonica web!

As you know, there are many harmonica-related pages on the Internet. I recently received some mails about them. I will introduce them and other harmonica pages to you on LINKS page of this Harmonica World.

Many New CD/Tape/Video informations!

As so many informations I have had, I have moved them to other page. Please see new page.

Harmonica on TV CM

Do you know the harmonica plays on Japanese TV CM? If you know other CM featuring harmonica, please mail to me.

Other Pages:

Masaaki Shigehara / PFD00763@niftyserve.or.jp