[Harp-L] Buschmann and Richter tunings



John Broecker wrote:

"the tunings <snip> might be:  Aura, equal temperament; and  Richter,
just intonation."

I think there really isn't enough evidence either in writing or in surviving instruments to say we can know either with any degree of certainty. I would say that it's logical to assume that the just intonation which was later found on most instruments with the "German Major Diatonic" scheme (Richter, Knittlinger and Wiener harmonicas as well as diatonic accordions and concertinae) was there from the start, but that it is really an unknown. As for the Aura, well, there is little real evidence about it's specific design, and considering that temperament varied significantly from region to region and instrument to instrument in the early 19th century there's really no basis to assume anything for the Aura.


"Today's stock chromatics are generally equal temperament, "



But the first slide-chromatics were not--this was a later switch, possibly coinciding with the change from a GMD based tuning to the currently popular solo tuning. The first "chromatic" harmonicas were tuned in 7-limit just intonation, just like diatonic harmonicas at the time tended to be--essentially a C harmonica and a C# harmonica both in 7-limit just.



"According to the legend, Richter was visiting an accordion factory, and saw
how the accordion reeds were placed and tuned for the best harmonies, and
copied it to the diatonic harp."



I have never heard or read about this legend before. Certainly not the part about visiting a factory--typically the legend seems to say Richter borrowed the idea, but not give much more detail than that. And, it should be noted that even the more vague legend does not have much support to it (see http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q37.html ). I'm wondering what your source for the above is--the part about an accordion factory, since this is the first I've read of it.



"According to the legend, Buschmann placed a set of 12 or 13 pitch pipe
reeds in a horizontal row, and played it. Later he extended the range of the
new instrument."



I've read the numbers 15 and 21, but never 12 or 13. In any event, there is very little documentation of Buschmann's invention, so it's hard to say what he really made.


Early harmonica history is a vacuum in many ways. It's easy to speculate, but not very useful. Basically, we don't even know enough about what Buschmann's earliest harmonicas looked like to guess how they were tuned or what their intonation might have been. Moreover, we don't have enough early examples of even the more common and still familiar types to be able to really say much about their origins either. Sadly, I think the best answer to the original question is, I don't know and neither does anyone else.



JR Ross




This archive was generated by a fusion of Pipermail 0.09 (Mailman edition) and MHonArc 2.6.8.