Re: [Harp-L] long slot short slot -- was: Suzuki Firebreath Reed Update

["Fernando Bresslau" <fernando@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi John,

there are some parameters that define the frequency of a reed. The most
obvious of all is the length. The second most important one is the profile
of the reed. The profile is the shape that the milling process gives to the
reed. The weights at the tip of the reeds are one of the characteristics of
the profile. The profile defines how the thickness of the brass is
distributed over the length of the reed. This distribution is subtle enough
not to be easily spotted by sight, but it is there and it decisively
differentiates the reed of hole five blow of a D harp from the reed of the
five blow of a Eb harp, or even from the reed of the five draw of the same D
harp.

Thus, for any reed length and frequency combination there is a specific reed
profile. That means that at Hohner, for instance, there are about 1500
different drawers with 1500 different reeds which have to be managed so that
each slot in each harp in each key gets an optimized reed for that note.

The retuning made at the factory corrects deviations around 30 cents, not
more. More than that will not only be possibly negative to the reed's
playability and longevity, it also will also cost too much time to be
correctly tuned.

All the best,
Fernando

On 5/12/07, John Kerkhoven <solo_danswer@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> A little clarification goes a long way. Thank you for that, Winslow.
>
> I have one further question.
>
> I compare my D and Eb harps. Sure enough, the slots are the same. Hence,
> the
> reeds are of the same length. The 1 and 2 draw reeds on the D have extra
> weight at the tips than the respective reeds on the Eb.
>
> So the question is, is there any difference between the reeds that have no
> extra weight at the tips? E.g. differences in thickness?
>
> Or is it simply the case that the source ("minted" if you will) reed for a
> D-harp 5 draw is identical to the source reed for an E-flat 5 draw, and
> that
> the differences in pitch are achieved from tuning before the harps hit the
> market?
>
> I presume the latter, but I don't know for sure. Anyone?
>
> John