Re: [Harp-L] Suzuki's Fabulus....Rant...

["Joe Spiers" <joemopar@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've noticed that the late model Hohners are much less prone than the old ones 
were to change in pitch with reasonable gapping adjustments.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Shaw" <moorcot@xxxxxxx>
To: "harp-l harp-l" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 5:25 PM
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Suzuki's Fabulus....Rant...



> Yes.
>
> Not always, though. It depends on how much you change the gap, which part of 
> the reed, etc.
>
> Gap first, tune second (if needed) - no the other way around.
>
> If you have a harp where you like how it's tuned but not how it's gapped, 
> play each reed at normal playing volume into a tuner and note whether it's on 
> pitch, or above or below (and by how much).
>
> Then regap the reeds you want to change.
>
> Once they play the way you want them to, plink them several times to help 
> them settle (plinking is lifting the reed a few millimeters with a fingernail 
> or something similar, then releasing it to let it vibrate). If you've done 
> really radical changes to the red profile, you may want to let it sit 
> overnight to settle further.
>
> Then you can play each regapped reed into a tuner and see whether its pitch 
> differs from what you noted before gapping. Make any adjustments to tuning at 
> this point.



I suppose.  I've found that carefully-done gapping on a new harp hardly ever 
affects the pitch of the reeds to any significant extent, i.e. to the extent 
that would bother me. ;-)   Though a few minor adjustments may be needed for 
one's personal style, only an extremist would have to get so radical with a 
stock harp's gapping that pitches would be altered.  Clumsy, hurried gapping 
can have that consequence, of course.  I think that if your gapping technique 
causes significant pitch-lowering, your harp's days are prematurely numbered. 
Here's an original idea that I think I'll take out copyright on:  practise on 
old harps first.  ;-)



Incidentally, if you're a hard blower, a good way of checking whether your gaps 
need to be opened slightly is to test each note by playing it with a sudden, 
hard "t."   This works for both blows and draws.  If the note hesitates to 
sound (chokes) when you do that, but will sound with a softer approach, you 
could profitably open the gap a tad.  Overblowers, look away now.



Steve



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