Re: [Harp-L] re: Will Scarlett

[MundHarp@xxxxxxx]

<< martinoldsberg@xxxxxxxxx writes:

Can I be  the only one disturbed by what sounds as if he´s out of tune most 
of  the time? 
>>
 
SADLY not. 
 
NO DISRESPECT intended, to a fantastic musician, and a very  clever 
harmonica player!
 
One of the problems of people playing their "one diatonic does all  keys"  
amazing stuff, is the standard "just intonation" tuning...
"Equal temperament" tuning partly cures this, but then any chord playing AT 
 ALL usually sounds out of tune as well. 
 
Some players music mostly puts my teeth on edge, because I was blessed  by 
being born with perfect pitch. Most people simply can't hear the discordant  
notes!
 
No easy answer.
 
I mostly play my diatonic harps in "2nd position" My  harmonicas are always 
tuned with that in mind!
Sure, my playing can improve, and I hope it shall improve! But if I  have a 
complex tune to play, I reach for a chromatic harmonica to play it on. 
 
And, yes... I have at least one "270" Super Chromonica, just intonation  
tuned, and maximised for "1st position" playing, available in EVERY major key. 
 
They are simply  the tools of my trade...
 
I remember a car mechanic who fixed anything on any car with just a hammer, 
 a screw driver, and a few adjustable wrenches..
Did that make him a great mechanic?
NO. Of course not.
 
I don't care if I am "cheating", by obtaining the best (for me)  
optimisation of my instruments.... I only care about the sound of my music, not  how 
"clever I am" to overcome the obscure techniques. I am not a technical  
player. Never wanted to be.
 
I love the sound of an IN TUNE and well played instrument... It  is THE 
SOUND that the musician makes that is really all that matters.
 
It is amazing how the diatonic harmonica has developed chromatically over  
the past 20 years. Many people have pushed the boundaries, and do stuff that 
 would have been thought "impossible" not long ago.
 
But OH SO OFTEN... Those ...."almost" ... the right notes, simply put  my 
teeth on edge!
 
I guess there are "many roads to Jerusalem"....
 
All the best
 
John "Whiteboy" Walden
Cebu City
Republic of the Philippines.