[Harp-L] Re: Richter Tuning



Up until the late 1950s (and possibly even later), Richter harmonicas were tuned at the Hohner factory not by comparing the pitch of each reed to that of its rquivalent on a master plate, but by sounding a reference bell (actually a metal rod or pipe) which was tuned to the pitch of one particular note (I believe 3-blow / 2-draw, as this is found on both reed plates) and then tuning all notes to this so that they sounded without interference beats. This will automatically give just intonation. I don't know for sure when compromise tunings were introduced, but all older harps I've played in the Harmonica Museum in Trossingen are tuned to just intonation, including some early Golden Melody style instruments. I think it's fairly safe to say that this tuning method was the industrial standard across the board for Richter instruments until the 1960s at least,

Steve Baker
www.stevebaker.de
www.bluesculture.com







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