[Harp-L] RE: Just, Cents

["samblancato" <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the input.  I don't really understand it though.  Are third,
fifth, seventh and ninth referring to the hole numbers?  I bet not.  See, I
want simple.  There are twenty holes on the harp.  In holes one through
twenty, which ones do I tune up and which ones do I tune down?  That's all I
need to know.  It's a given the tuning is going to be really minute so the
whole business with the cents isn't needed and only further complicates the
whole thing.  If I knew the info I was asking for I'd say something like
this: "tune draw holes 4, 6, and 8 up and blow holes 3, 4 and 8 down or what
ever the sequence was.  That's it.  It goes with out saying that the tuning
will be very slight.  The point here is that I want to do it by ear and my
ultimate goal is to get a harp that has a sweeter sound to it on chords and
on warbles.  And I don't really care what each reed ends up looking like on
a scope or what ever.  For all I know the end result may be way too radical
to be called 7 limit just intonation or what ever, but I don't care what it
would be called at this point.  

I have a little Korg tuner and I'll be damned if I'm going to assemble and
disassemble my harp umpteen times while watching that little, inaccurate
needle, to see the cent value of a note that I know will be off by the time
I get the harp back together.  

I've read many, many posts on this subject and to the guys who've laid it
all out with great care and precision, given graphic aids and all, I say
great.  You really know and understand the whole issue backward and forward.
But its way too complicated and you probably need a really accurate tuner to
do it that way.  I think it could be done in a much simpler way.  I have a
business, a girlfriend, I have to practice, and I play out every week. I
have a busy life.  

Look at it this way.  You need to just tune a harp and you only have 45
minutes and you don't have a tuner.  All you have is the tuning tools and
another harp of the same key for a baseline reference. So, which reeds to
you touch and which direction in pitch to you move them? That's what I want
to know; information that's really pared down.  

Sam Blancato, Pittsburgh      

-----Original Message-----
From: notify@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:notify@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
myquill
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 1:15 PM
To: samblancato
Subject: Just, Cents

Root 	Third 	Fifth 	flat Seven 	Ninth 	
0       -14      +2       -32            +4

- Is flatter, + is sharper

You've probably heard this.. but Special 20 is already "combination"
tuning.. almost just, not equal like the Lee Oskar or Golden Melody..

Mike