[Harp-L] Re: XB Altered tunings--Melody Maker

["Rick Dempster" <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rick,
        I have just been looking at the chart for the XB, and I see
that blow 2 should go down a whole tone. I have two of these beasts (C &
A) and intend to purchase more. I don't remember if I checked both, or
only one. However, I will take another look and see if there is anything
amiss as you suggest.
       At the risk of wearing out my welcome, can you bring me up to
date on the problem with the upper octave, which seems to distort (ie
harmonic squeeks) when blow bending. 
       I recall discussion on this when the XBs first made their
appearance; something to do with the size of the channels, but I don't
recall if there was a final remedy suggested.
       This problem is a real disappointment because the rest of the
instument is wonderful. If only the top octave was as good as the lower
two!

Many thanks,
Rick Dempster

>>> "rick epping" <rickepping@xxxxxxxxx> 7/09/2006 22:05:21 >>>
Hi Rick,

The XB-40 specifications call for wholetone bends on all holes, blow
and
draw, except for hole 3-draw, for which a three-semitone bend is
specified.
If you have no trouble getting a wholetone bend on holes 1- and 3-blow
then
perhaps there's something amiss with the 2-blow auxiliary reed.  Maybe
it
has a burr or something lodged between it and the reed slot back toward
the
rivet end or it's misaligned so that it's binding near the rivet end,
either
way effectively raising its pitch and reducing the bending range for
2-blow,
or maybe it's simply tuned too sharp.

Best,
Rick Epping



On 9/7/06, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx <harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Thu, 07 Sep 2006 12:22:52 +1000
> From: "Rick Dempster" <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] Re: XB Altered tunings--Melody Maker
> To: "rick epping" <rickepping@xxxxxxxxx>, <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Message-ID: <45000F1C02000066000126FF@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
> Dear Rick;
>                Over to you! (see below) Thanx in anticipation.
>
>
> You should probably direct this question directly to Rick Epping,
> rather than myself, I can only venture some speculation.  I don't
> have a good guess.  I haven't really investigated the XB that
> closely, and frankly didn't know that this was the case.  And I own
> one!
>
> Regards,
>
> -tim
>
>
> At 07:07 PM 9/6/2006, you wrote:
> >Tim;
> >         Can you see any logic in the fact that the 'E's on a 'C'
> >Richter tuned XB, bend only a semitone on hole 2 while  the 'E's at
5
> and
> >8 bend a whole tone?
> >RD
> >
>
>
> >>> "rick epping" <rickepping@xxxxxxxxx> 6/09/2006 19:00 >>>
> Hi Gary and all,
>
> It's been some time since I last surfaced - here's hoping everyone
is
> alive
> and blowing...
>
> As Tim said, retuning the regular reeds of the XB-40 will not alter
> the
> pitch of their bent notes.  To do so requires retuning the
zero-offset
> auxiliary reeds and, as their plucked pitch or natural frequency is
not
> the
> same as the pitch they produce at full bend, the way I use to fine
tune
> the
> auxiliary reeds is to lay the reedplate on the comb and play the
bend
> between strokes of the reed file or scraper.
>
> Another thing to consider is how much tolerance you want to leave
for
> the
> bent note.  When first establishing the factory tuning charts for
the
> auxiliary reeds I allowed a little extra room both for expression
and
> so
> that one could reach the full bend without excessive effort.
>
> Best regards,
> Rick Epping
>
> PS. I'll be touring the Southwest (Texas to Calif.) in
October-November
> with
> the Irish group Dervish.  Details at http://www.dervish.ie/tour.htm 
>
>
>
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