[Harp-L] Re: Tuning reeds down

[Snaruhn@xxxxxxx]

Robert wrote:

< An optimum reed set up might look very weird in its varying lengths 
< and sizes, >
 
I can´t agree that harp reedplates are looking weird because of their 
different reed lengths. The sound producing parts of many musical
instruments are adjusted in size depending on the pitch: organ pipes,
strings of harps or pianos ect.  

> 25 years ago the guy at Hohner told me we would need a third World War 
> to get the factory to change making reeds in a uniform size going  from big 

> to small on the way up the harmonica.  I pointed out that the C# in hole 4 
is 
> longer than the C in hole 5 and he said that was his point, the reeds get 
> shorter as you go up the harmonica regardless of pitch. <

I think when WW III is starting one day, uniform harmonica reeds are the last 

things mankind needs to survive. 

To Vern´s:

> I agree that there is probbly an optimum length for every pitch and they 
> would not increase linearly from one end of the harp to the other. > 

I add:

For instance, the 48 reeds of a 12-holer chromatic have 12 different lengths 
only because the 4 reeds of one hole all have the same length.

BTW, the thread should be read: Tuning reeds up and down 

Colin Fulton asked:

> I am wondering how much you can retune a reed with both methods used
> (scraping off material and adding solder) .....>

I would suggest: about 1 step up to 2 1/2 steps by removing material OR  
adding solder, respectively, AND adding solder.

That may sound confusing but is simply explained. To remove material at the 
reed tip has the same effect as to add solder at the root and reversely.
So, by using both methods simultaneously enables to retune a reed up to
2 1/2 steps without influencing the reed´s integrity too much.  

Apropos, "scraping off" material.
Here Winslow made the relevant contribution:

< ........but the Draw 6 reed on that plate had a nearly identical tuning 
gash, 
< and with far less work on it, that Draw 6 snapped off along the same gash 
line.
snip ...

< Clearly making a deep groove in the reed invites it to break apart at 
< that point; the thange in thickness is severe and is concentrated in 
< a very small area. >
 
We often talked about the optimal tuning technic and Harpie constantly
made his jokes on the factory´s "fine tunas", scratching their "marc of Cain" 
 
with their files on the innocent reeds, and making them potential failures.

If material has to be removed at all, the reed edges should be left out to
maintain a kind of bearing framework. This was surely the reason, Winslow,
why Draw 6 snapped off - the tuning file was the pacemaker.     

Question: What is a harp player doing basically? 

Answer: If it´s an amateur he´s playing  -  a prof is tuning. 

Siegfried