[Harp-L] Chromatic layout generator

[Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tim Moyer wrote:

"Isn't a "normal chrom" just a diatonic in solo tuning?  "

To which Phil Lloyd responded:

"Not true because a "normal diatonic" in C is usually construed to  
mean  a
layout of CEGCEGCEG with the blow draw pattern like the chrome only  
in the
middle octave."


And I think the point being missed in the reply is that Tim wrote "a  
diatonic in solo tuning".  Diatonic harmonicas can come in many  
tunings, and it's worth pointing out that solo tuning was originally  
developed for the diatonic harmonica, long before the chromatic  
harmonica existed.

Tim later wrote:

"But my point was that a "normal" *chromatic* harmonica is tuned
diatonically in a pattern generally called "solo" tuning, but with a
mechanism to sharp and flat the notes.  It seems that any layout
procuded by a generator for a diatonic harmonica could be applied to
any instrument with that mechanism."


Except if the button mechanism (or other note changing mechanism)  
doesn't simply sharp or flat all the notes of the original layout.  I  
don't know offhand of any others, but I've been experimenting with a  
new tuning for my Hands Free Chromatic (a truly amazing instrument)  
which does not simply sharp all the notes.  The basic "natural"  
layout is essentially a 12-hole Steve Baker tuning:

blow: C E G C E G C E G C E G
hole: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
draw: D G B D G B D F A B D F

But, in order to get a more (though not fully) chromatic instrument  
with this layout, I can't simply sharp everything.  So, instead   I  
have the accidentals as follows:

slide: c# F A c# F A c# F g# c# F g#
blow: C  E  G  C  E  G  C  E  G  C  E  G
hole: 1   2   3   4  5  6   7   8  9  10  11  12
draw: D  G  B  D  G  B  D  F  A  B  D  F
slide: d# f# a# d# f# a# d# f# a# c d# f#

If that doesn't work, then this is the description, the second hole  
draw accidental is F#, the third hole blow accidental is A and the  
third hole draw accidental is A#.  These two draws are both a  
semitone flat of the natural note, and this blow is a wholetone  
sharp.  Otherwise everything is sharped as per standard designs.

True, this may be the lone exception to the rule that a slider always  
acts consistently (though I'm pretty sure some of Brendan Powers  
designs also break this rule), but I think that it shows why a slider- 
specific layout page or generator might be worthwhile.

Finally, I feel obliged to point out that slider instruments weren't  
necessarily designed to be "chromatic" in the first place.  They were  
designed to switch between two sets of reeds, and early on that may  
have been a fifth, a semitone or even to a relative minor (see 12.2a  
of Pat Missin's altered states for an example of this which was  
available in the 20's and 30's).  Thus,  while most often today the  
slider (or other mechanical means) might almost universally change  
the pitch a semitone (almost always sharp), there are a few systems  
where that isn't the case.  Very, very few systems indeed, but harp-l  
(unlike an encyclopedia entry, ideally) is a place where minutiae and  
insignifica can thrive.





 ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()  ()
`----'