[Harp-L] re: Diatonic to tremolo

[Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ivan Zivkovic wrote:

"I tried to get tabs for tremolo harp from tabs for diatonic. I  
assume that you cannot use diatonic tabs for tremolo (maybe iam  
wrong). I used tabs of Dirty old town (Pouges) and combined tremolo  
tuning charts from http://www.coast2coastmusic.com/double_reed/ 
tuning_charts.shtml, and diatonic http://www.coast2coastmusic.com/ 
diatonic/tune_charts.shtml, and it doesnt seems right. But maybe iam  
wrong! I hope someone will solve my problem!"

I'll try to help, but really need significantly more information.   
Basically, to really answer your question I need to know what model  
tremolo you are playing.

There are at least three fairly common tunings and designs for  
tremolo harps, and the answer is different for each.

If you are playing a traditional Hohner (or Hering, IIRC) model  
tremolo, then there could be one major problem (assuming you've read  
the post about how the holes differ between Richter diatonics and  
tremolos)--many, maybe most tremolo harmonicas do not start on the  
same note as a the standard single-reed diatonic.  They use the same  
note layout, essentially, but start at a different point.  This will,  
obviously, significantly effect tablature, as you'll be playing the  
wrong "holes" as it were.

The standard Richter diatonic in the standard major tuning is tuned  
as follows:

blow:  C E G C E G C E G C
hole:  1 2  3  4  5  6  7 8 9 10
draw: D G B D F  A  B D F A

Now, many Weiner style tremolos (and some Weiner and Knittlinger  
octave-harps as well) use the exact same pattern, but start not on  
the tonic (the one-blow above) but on the third (the two-blow), so  
you get this:

blow:  
E......G......C.....E......G........C........E..........G........C...... 
..E
hole:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
draw: ....G.....B.......D......F.......A.........B........D.........F... 
......A.......B

(Note--the staggered layout is to illustrate the fact that each pair  
of reeds is located in separate holes, as was pointed out previously)

So, it's the same layout, just starting and stopping at a different  
point.  I have no idea why standard diatonics use one and Western  
tremolos the other--random act of history.  Notably, most of the  
diatonic accordions (and concertinae) use the tremolo-style tuning as  
the basis of their tuning schemes.

So, if you are playing this type of tremolo and have been going by  
tab, well, you may very well be off by a hole as it were.

If you've been playing an Asian or Asian-style tremolo, well, things  
are totally different there, and I won't get into it now except to  
point you towards this site:

http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q15.html

And this:

http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q36.html


Hope this helps.





 ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()  ()   & Snuffy, too:)
`----'