Re: Harp Tuners

[Bobbie Giordano <bobg@xxxxxxxxx>]

Workin' Man Tim wrote:
>
>Never argue with the data.
>
>Perhaps one of our other colleagues will weigh in with their observations.

You rang??? :)  Ah, my cue!!  Personally, I ALWAYS argue with the data if I
don't agree with it... right, Vern? ;)

>I don't recommend the TU-12H for harmonicas, mostly because, while it 
>has the additional range for the higher notes, it has to be switched 
>manually between normal and high range.  For about the same money you 
>can get a Korg DT-3, which accommodates the range of a harmonica (up 
>to C8) without the need to switch it.

I picked up my tuner several years ago from Music Emporium mailorder house,
which I believe was absorbed by Musician's Friend, if I'm not mistaken.  It
was the midrange in cost [only about $30 then] and is called the Guitar Man
CAT1, [Chromatic Auto Tuner.]  Number one thing I'd be sure of getting is a
"chromatic tuner", as they usually offer more octave ranges [this one's 7
octaves, if I recall correctly] and of course, as chromatic implies, work
for all sharps and flats as well.

Mine also has what I prefer, a needle indicator as well as led lights.  The
lights come on when you're in the general range of the note, and a flat or
sharp light tells when you go off pitch a ways; but the needle really tells
the tale how many cents [mine doesn't have Hertz] up or down you are.  It
can be calibrated from 438 to 445, uses a 9 volt battery or the DC adapter,
has input and output 1/4" jacks and built-in condenser mic.  It's a handy
portable size, too, of about 5"x7.25"x1.25" with rounded edges, so it
easily slips into a case with harmonicas.

>A couple of points about tuning harps: first, make sure the batteries in 
>the tuner are fresh, or better yet, use a power supply.

Absolutely!  And as he said, turn off or get away from the fans in your
house.  Even one in the next room can influence your tuning!  Closets are
pretty good if they're big enough and have light; but a bathroom might be
even better, and the hard surfaces punch up the sound a bit, too.

Now, however, I'm going to depart from my old friend's reasoning... ;)

>Also, you will probably find that the pitch of a reed you are adjusting 
>will change as you sound it, as the reeds warm.  This seems to be more 
>prevalent on blow reeds, I speculate because drawing air over a reed 
>maintains the flow of room-temperature air, where blowing air come from 
>your body.

I go with the long-speculated theory among many harptechs that the moisture
that accumulates from the breath on the reeds and slot surfaces is what's
really at work in lowering the pitch while tuning blow notes.  But I've
experimented a little and have made some observations...

First, the water vapor adds weight, but I don't think that's the
significant thing.  Rather, it seems that the droplets interfere with the
excursion of the reed through the slot, creating drag on the edges of the
reed, slowing it's oscillation and thus lowering the pitch; and also,
probably thereby causing you, the blower, to increase the force of breath
ever so slightly to fight the drag and maintain the reed's movement.  [This
is so subtle as to be practically imperceptible, unless you tend to be
fascinated by, and pay attention to, such strange details -- ahem. :) ] 

Secondly, and as I consider it, more unexpected, is that the water
gathering on the opposite reed [in dual reed systems as with unvalved
diatonics] plays a part in the flattening of the note as well.  In fact,
more moisture accumulates there than on the more active reed, which does
however make sense, in that the more active reed's extra movement [although
they're BOTH moving to some degree at any given moment] is dislodging and
eliminating the droplets more readily than the quieter reed.  But, it's the
apparent fact that the less active reed with more water clogging its system
is impaired enough as well so as to affect the pitch depression of the note
being sounded.  [This is, however, REAAALLL subtle, folks!]

But, and thirdly, the temperature rising by contact with warm breath does
not, IMO, initiate this note flattening that we notice when tuning... which
is, BTW, evident more so on the higher reeds where tiny differences are
magnified proportionally.  Luckily, this is fairly easy to test...

Try blowing a reed and watch its pitch on your tuner.  Keep blowing, and
unless you have very dry breath, :) you will begin to observe the pitch
start descending.  Ok, now dry the harp off; usually we do this by just
drawing drier room air into the harp a bit and then retesting the pitch.
You will probably see the pitch return to basically the same initial spot.

Now, hold a lighted match close to the reed you're testing, or use some
other method [perhaps a hairdryer, low temp soldering iron, or some such
tool] just enough to get the reed quite warm.  You will likely get it quite
a bit warmer by such methods than your breath ever could.  Be careful, of
course, not to get it scalding hot, because you don't want to damage the
comb, AND you have now got to put your LIPS back on the harp! :)))

Play the note again to the tuner, and you should note, as I always have,
the pitch is the same as when you just started testing the blow note's
pitch, i.e., when the harp was cold.  If warm breath were the culprit, this
would not be the case, and the pitch would be lower, not the same.

So, it does appear that the cool harp - moist breath combination is what is
actually causing the pitch to go down over tuning time.  But what this also
suggests, [and this works... I've tried it!] is to warm your harp a little
before you actually begin tuning; then the breath moisture will be less
inclined to condense on the cool surfaces for a longer period, thus making
your harmonica tuning an easier, less frustrating task!

[Works nicely with a ~metal-bodied~ harmonica! ;))) ]

I pretty much agree with all the rest Tim suggests, multiple tuning
situations... covers on, off, etc.  I also agree with those who tune using
different breath pressures to arrive at an optimum setup [and this applies
to the gapping as well] for the particular player's style and needs.

Well, that's a tad long, so I better stop here with hope some has been
helpful.

Best wishes y'all,

=[BOBBIE]=
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