Re: Here's a weird one

[Bobbie Giordano <bobg@xxxxxxxxx>]

At 10:49 AM 9/3/2003 -0400, Mike and Beverly Rogers wrote: 
>>>>
I have a new student, who's 70 years old.  He  brought his Hohner
Chromonica, 12 hole.  He's had it since he was  fifteen.  Never done
a thing to it.  Here's the weird thing.  The  top plate is in C
sharp, and the button drops it to C.  It has always been  that way.
I have a Celtic tuned Herring G to F sharp, but I can't imagine  a
chromatic harp tuned deliberately to C sharp.  Were they made that
way  years ago, or is it that somebody had switched the plates
around, and is that  possible?  Bullfrog 

Mike, this subject was discussed on Harp-L some while back, and many
refer to it as the "flipped slide" setup.  As it suggests, the slide
is inserted into the instrument upside down, and the result gives you
the playing situation to which you refer.  The reedplates are still
in the normal positions, but the slide accesses them in this opposite
manner.

A number of Celtic and Irish traditional music players do this
maneuver on purpose to provide a more logical layout of scales and
notes, and for the accents achieved by the different style of button
work, for them to play their preferred style of music.  And, of
course, it can be done with any regular chromatic model.  [However,
it doesn't work on the Renny, BTW. ;)]

Chances are your student received the instrument that way from
Hohner, but it was likely a production mistake made at the factory
and not done intentionally.  It wouldn't be the "first" time that's
happened, of course; not by a longshot!

:)
Bobbie
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