[Harp-L] Andy Newton's Fourkey Diatonic

["jazmaan@xxxxxxxxxxx" <dmf273@xxxxxxxxx>]

Over the last few days I've had the opportunity to play one of Andy Newton's "Fourkey" diatonics.
For those of you who haven't heard about this new tuning, here are two links that explain it:

http://www.harmonicasessions.com/aug07/Newton.html 
http://www.harmonicasessions.com/oct07/Newton.html


As some of you may know from my previous postings,  I've played more than my share of different
alternate tunings over the years.   I know from experience that no tuning is perfect (and
certainly not Richter tuning!)   The biggest drawbacks of "Fourkey" tuning are its limited range -
just two octaves on a ten-hole harp - and its limited bending options, four of the holes only bend
1/2 step and the other eight holes don't bend at all.  

But now let's talk about one of the advantages - this is the first diatonic harp I've ever played
where you can play the entire melody to "I've Got Rhythm" including the bridge, without even
bending a note.   You can even do that in two different keys on the same 20-reed harp!  And if you
don't mind bending a note or two you can play it in several more keys.     Since "I've Got Rhythm"
is the basis of so many jazz standards, a whole world of jazz is available on this harp.   I've
already managed to learn a credible version of the head to Charlie Parker's "Anthropology" without
the intonation and timbre issues that would crop up in almost any mere mortal's attempt to play
the tune on any other diatonic.  (By "mere mortal" I'm excluding Howard Levy.)

So I'm excited about this harp.   I know how hard it is to get most Harp-L'ers to give more than a
passing yawn to any discussion of altered states, but this one certainly deserves some attention.