[Harp-L] Ghost Notes and Equal Temperament



A few days ago, Jazmaan and i had the folowing exchange:


Jazmaan wrote:
Just wanted to add my two cents to the discussion of ghost notes that was going on a couple days ago: In a nutshell - use a Just Intonation harp if you want to exploit ghost notes in your playing. Otherwise they just sound like grit. I think a lot of people who have never played a Just Intonation harp have come to accept the grittiness - maybe even to like it - thinking that it's a byproduct of their amp's distortion. They have no idea that same gritty distortion can quickly become harmonious and powerful - even a little mysterious and awesome - just by changing to a Just Intonation harp.



I replied: In my experience, ghosts notes sound just fine on ET harps. JI sounds out of tune if you are playing in anything but first or second position. I recognize that some very accomplished players are adamant that ghosts notes sound dissonant on ET, but as far as i am concerned that claim is just intonated nonsense.


Actually, as i think about it, i should qualify my reply by saying that the difference tones/ghost notes produced by playing SPLIT INTERVALS on an ET harp sound good.. Jazmaan may well be correct about ghost notes produced by intervals other than split intervals. i don't know about those. My focus has been solely on ghost notes generated by split intervals . Those do not sound gritty or dissonant. Actually, they sound sweeter than the chords do on an ET harp.


JP






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