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.
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