RE: [Harp-L] Special 20 Tuning

["Steve Shaw" <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

> I wrote that the Special 20 was tuned:
>
> A440, "compromised" tuning, same as the Marine Band. In fact the SP20
> uses the MB reed plates; hence the cover plate etching: "Special 20
> Marine Band".
> The compromised tuning means that it is tuned somewhere between "Just"
> Intonation and "Equal Temperament".
>
> The term "compromised" has certain implications which I feel should not
> be attached to it. In his lengthy and detailed articles covering various
> tunings, Pat Missin uses the term "light temperament" to describe the
> Marine Band and Special 20 tuning scheme. This may be his own term,
> coined to better illustrate the point that the harp is tuned closer to
> Just Intonation than to Equal Temperament. To me, "light temperament"
> implies a JI harp which has been brought a little closer to 12TET for
> the sake of musical flexibility.
> However, the general rule of thumb is that JI tuning gives rich chords,
> but the single-note playing may suffer some intonation variances.
> Conversely, an Equal Temperament harp is said to provide excellent
> single-note and melody playing at the expense of some tonal beauty in
> the chording. By implication, any harp which claims to do both well
> (i.e. MB and SP20) would have to have "compromised" its tuning to some
> degree.
> Either way, compromised or light, the intended meaning is the same, at
> least from my standpoint.
>
> John Balding

I got seriously shouted at a couple of years ago by Pat for suggesting that 
any tuning can be regarded as a "compromise."  ;-)  Of course, there are 
plenty of grounds for claiming that Just Intonation is a "natural" tuning 
and that all others are compromises of one kind or another.  But my argument 
is in favour of horses for courses, and even then different ears will find 
different tunings more acceptable than others.  I prefer to call the SP20 
tuning an intermediate tuning, as lots of its notes fall somewhere between 
the Just and 12-tone ET "equivalents."

Also, I've found that most 10-hole harps I've bought have come tuned 
slightly sharp of A440, including SP20s (the tonic note being the one to 
check).  Could be my cheapie tuner, of course.  I thought that the received 
wisdom is that this is deliberate, though I've never been convinced by the 
usual explanation that it's done that way because notes flatten slightly 
when played.  Hmm.


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