Re: RE: [Harp-L] Re : How many of you really fix your harps? Really?

["Tim Moyer" <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jim Konish wrote:
> I'd like to start tuning my harps, but I don't have a chromatic 
> tuner.  Does anyone have any recommendations or tips on what to 
> look for in a tuner?  

There are a number of small chromatic tuners that do a pretty good 
job.  I have a Korg DT-3 that served me pretty well for years.  I 
also now have a Korg OT-12 that has a lot of nice features.  One of 
the nicest things for learning to tune by ear is the "sound back" 
function, where the tuner identifies the closest incoming note and 
plays that note back to you at the proper pitch.  You can then tune 
to make the reed pitch match.  Both of these tuners work better with 
a contact mic (again, Korg makes a nice one that's cheap).  

If you're serious about tuning, a strobe tuner is indispensible.  
Peterson makes nice strobe tuner software that runs on the 
computer.  I've never used it to tune a harp, but I bet it would 
work pretty nicely.  

> I'm also not sure about the precise tuning of individual reeds.  
> I've read about adjusting certain notes to make a harp more 
> suitable for chords or single note playing, and I have the booklet 
> from the Lee Oskar repair kit, which has detailed tuning 
> information, but I really like the sound of my marine
> bands.  I think if I were to retune some of my old harps I'd want 
> to get them to the same tuning as a marine band, but I haven't 
> found the details on their exact tuning scheme anywhere.  Can 
> someone shed some light on this subject for me?

Intonation is a huge subject that has been covered extensively over 
the years here on this list.  I'd suggest looking at Pat Missin's 
Altered States for specifics on intonations 
(http://www.patmissin.com/as23.zip), and you can read some primer 
information for it on Pat's site 
(http://www.patmissin.com/tunings/tunings.html).  

The variations from equal temperment for different compromise 
intonations are pretty well documented, but I don't have references  
with me.  Email me offlist and I can forward them to you, or you can 
probably find them in the archives.  

-tim

Tim Moyer
Working Man's Harps
http://www.workingmansharps.com/