RE: "Paddy Richter" tuning

["Stephen Shaw" <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

>From: "Laughton, Bob" <LaughtonB@xxxxxxxxx>

>A "Paddy Richter" harp (the term was coined by Brendan Power) is a standard 
>10-hole diatonic with the blow 3 note raised a whole step. The note that is 
>normally duplicated at draw 2/blow 3 (sol/sol) becomes two notes of the 
>harp's 1st-position scale (sol/la) and is available for melody playing in 
>the lowest octave of the harmonica. (You still need to draw bend hole 2 to 
>get the 4th note of the scale) A diatonic harp in G covers the full range 
>of the fiddle, so it is a suitable instrument for playing traditional Irish 
>dance music.
>
>Anyone who can trim their own fingernails can tune one reed on a 10-hole up 
>a whole step (by ear) in about 5 minutes. (or slightly longer, if, like me 
>- you are prone to dropping little bolts and nuts on the shag carpet)
>
>You can accomplish this with just a screwdriver, toothpick, thin cardboard 
>and a fingernail file.
>
>Try this on a cheap, old harmonica for practice. You do not need to 
>completely disassemble the harp. Pop off the covers, insert the toothpick 
>into hole 3, and carefully push the blow 3 reed through the reedplate slot. 
>Carefully slide the cardboard under the reed so that it is propped up above 
>the plate. (thin sheetmetal like feeler-gauge stock is better than 
>cardboard, but stiff, thin cardboard will work just fine) Now the reed is 
>positioned to retune.
>
>Carefully and evenly file along the full surface of the upper length of the 
>reed, using even pressure, going in the direction away from the riveted 
>base of the reed. Be careful - you don't want to bend or buckle the reed. 
>At first, after every few strokes, pull out the cardboard, and compare draw 
>2 reed with blow 3 reed. Blow 3 will start to sound a little sharper. 
>Repeat the process until blow 3 is tuned a whole step above draw 2. 
>Hopefully, your ear should be able to tell you this, but you can also 
>compare it to the note in draw 6 - one octave higher.
>
>Replace covers, you are ready to learn some Irish jigs and reels.... :-)
>
>Bob Laughton



I love Bob's "can-do" advice on tuning the 3-blow reed with the reed-plate 
in situ, but I think it's far less risky if you do it with the reed-plate 
off.  Maybe I'm just not so dexterous!  I would just like to offer a 
possible alternative to the usual "Paddy Richter" tuning.  Instead of tuning 
up the 3-blow reed you could tune up the 2-draw reed (similarly, by a whole 
tone).  This way you retain the same blow-draw pattern as in the higher 
octaves.  It's easier to do as well, because you are tuning up a draw reed - 
outer side of reed-plate - and therefore do not even have to consider 
((sorry Bob!) removing the reed-plates.  Although I rabbit on a lot about 
the "Paddy Richter" tuning, in fact this alternative is the only tuning I 
use myself!

Another thing too.  Bob said that you still have to draw-bend hole 2 to get 
the 4th note of the scale.  There's a way round this too. Just tune up 
2-blow by a semitone.  You actually don't need this in very many tunes at 
all, but I have just one G and A harp tuned that way for the occasional 
eventuality. It's a d**n sight easier than bending when you're on the fly!  
And harps tuned this way are every bit as good for almost every Irish tune 
I've come across (and that's a lot).

Check out my site for more ruminations on this topic! (he humbly 
suggested...)

Steve Shaw



Want more than the blues?  Try Irish!
http://mysite.freeserve.com/trad_irish_harmonica

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