Re: [Harp-L] re: Single Harp Chromaticism Question

["Tim Moyer" <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Paul wrote:
>> "If you are going to play everything on one harp, then why a "C" 
>> harp? I believe that the "C" harp, for reasons that others on-
>> List can expound upon with much greater authority than me, has 
>> some inherent 'problems' as far as tone etc . . . it has 
>> something to do with the reed setup between C and D harps; Joe 
>> Filisko actually went as far as making me a C harp tuned down 
>> from a D harp for just that reason.  He explained it to me at the 
>> time, but I can't recall the specifics."

<then>

Jonathan R. Ross wrote:
> Are you sure it wasn't the other way around?  The switch between 
> the longer slot and shorter slot reed-plates happens at D on 
> Marine Bands (IIRC) and I recall hearing about (and maybe buying--
> shows how many harps I own--can you say gearlust:) Richard Sleigh 
> making a series of D-tuned harmonicas from what were Dbs just to 
> get around the problem of the standard shorter slot D harps not 
> being as easy to play and not lasting as long.  

The slot length switch happens between the Db (short) and C (long) 
keys.  I belive the Richard (and Jimmy) are making "long slot Ds" 
from C harps.  This has more to do with the perceived longevity of 
the reeds, as I understand it, than with the tone of the harp.

Paul again:
>> If I were going to play everything on one harp, then I would 
>> choose either a "Bb" or "G" harp (because they both 'feel' better 
>> than a "C" harp, the Bb lays out better for a lot of the tunes 
>> you'll want to play etc) . . .

JRR again:
> I'm of the same mind.  I find that high blow bends on C and above 
> harps have a tone which I don't care for (I call it "glassy"--not 
> an accurate description, just my own) and get into a range which I 
> find too high for most playing--more of a specialty range.  
> Conversely, even one whole-step lower such as Bb seems to me to 
> give a more useful range over all three octaves, and lower harps 
> like A or G are truly three-octave instruments in a way I've never 
> found the higher harps to be.  This starts to reverse itself below 
> G, though, as the lowest octaves of lowF, lowE and lowD harps are 
> a bit hard to control--unless you're Dennis Gruenling.  

Not to be dismissive of these excellent points, but I would expect 
that if one were *starting out* to play all keys on one instrument, 
starting with an instrument that had a C major scale embedded in it 
would be a nice feature.  After all, everything is in a C major 
scale, some just have sharps and flats ;-)

-tim

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