Re: [Harp-L] tuner

[Richard Hammersley <rhhammersley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The next question is whether the physical characteristics and decay of  
harmonica reeds are generally stable enough to be tunable to this  
accuracy. I know that with guitar strings the answer is, broadly,  
'no'. They go out of tune relatively quickly and also the attack, peak  
and decay of a string, particularly the lower ones, varies in pitch  
and overtones. Same applies to pianos (hence the use of human piano  
tuners rather than very accurate electronic tuners).  You can go nuts  
with too accurate a tuner trying to get the string spot on and,  
meantime, another one has wandered off pitch, or the guitar neck has  
shifted infintesimally under changed pressure, changing tuning.

From previous discussion it sounds as if this may apply also to fixed  
reeds? I appreciate that tuning a harmonica is 'for keeps' not a daily  
activity, but nonetheless might too much electronic accuracy actually  
be a problem relative to the ear?

Richard

On 24 Jun 2008, at 16:18, Joe Spiers wrote:

> This link is from the FAQ on Peterson's website. It explains why  
> digital tuners' displays are not as accurate. It isn't just  
> marketing hype to sell expensive tuners.
>
> http://www.petersontuners.com/index.cfm?category=85&sub=84
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Richard Hammersley
Grantshouse, Scottish Borders
http://www.last.fm/music/Richard+Hammersley
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