[Harp-L] Re: Richter Tuning

[Steve Baker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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