Re: [Harp-L] RE: Just, Cents

["John Kerkhoven" <solo_danswer@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Oh, it's time consuming allright and requires patience, and I bet some
people can tune a harp the way they want without a tuner, but generally
speaking, unless you know what you're after and know your point of
departure, I don't really see how you can proceed without a tuner.

Working with a tuner is arguably a bother, but far from insurmountable.

a) you need to be sure that you test the notes with the covers on (this has
been mentioned on this list before), and for this they don't have to be
screwed together
b) you _ought_ to tune to 442 or higher for brightness and since playing at
a reasonable volume (or just plain loudly) tends to bring the notes down a
bit
c) you need to tune in a reasonably quiet environment -- the quieter the
better
d) you need to be as consistent as possible in your blowing and drawing when
testing your notes

It takes time, god knows, and for the blow reeds, you have to disassemble
and assemble again, though you don't need to put all the screws in or
tighten them as much as you would on a final assembly. Full, tight assembly
helps for testing overblows and overdraws, but that's another matter and
gapping can be fine tuned without disassembly in any case. Likewise, for
that matter, tuning can be finalized without disassembly. Check the Lee
Oskar instructions, for instance. It doesn't matter which side of the reed
you scrape or file. You just have to be sure that you are supporting the
reed properly when you do the work and to be careful to affect the gapping
as little as possible, preferably not at all.

I usually check the pitch of several reeds at a time, file, reassemble,
check the pitches, and go again. No need to focus on one reed at a time if
you're working on a whole harp.

And there's nothing wrong with setting the work aside and coming back to it
a bit later.

For what it's worth, much as I'd love a strobe tuner, I don't have one. I
rely on my little Korg, and I get a long way with it.

Check out the recently-disputed article http://ohw.se/hca/tntheory.php for
the tuning charts. Pick your favourite and go with that. How do you know
which one to pick? Well, you have to do a bit of homework, I'm afraid, but
it's not overwhelming. (I'm not saying there is a best answer that only
those who have done some homework know. You need to understand a bit about
the various options and relate that back to your style of playing. You also
might have one harp for all contexts, or several harps for different
contexts, all tuned somewhat differently.)

In direct response to Sam, I disagree that it is "way too complicated" and
that it could be done "in a much simpler way". It's one of those things that
if you don't have the time for it, I think you should either forget it or
find someone else to do it for you.

I am also very busy and tuning harps gets pushed down my list of priorities.
I'm not saying by any stretch that it fits in conveniently as a daily
activity. At the same time, as I hope to have suggested, the investment of
time to learn a bit about it and then the patience to do it properly are
really far from outrageous. And the more you know, and the more practice you
have, the better it goes (which is pretty much true for most things).

John


Sam Blancato wrote:
>
> 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
>