[Harp-L] Note arrangements

[Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sorry for the unreadable, untitled mess this was when I tried posting  
before.  Hopefully this time it works format wise (iPhones can be odd  
at odd times).



Crazy Bob writes:
"While looking at the note layout of the Tombo No. 1577 Slideless/  
Valveless (HURRAH!!!) chromatic harmonica, I was initially struck by  
how NON-intuitive the note layout appeared to be."



No more or less so than a standard chromatic. Both give you an entire  
C scale in an octave unit which can then be repeated for as many  
octaves as is needed. The only difference is that the Tombo has each  
reed in its own hole, whereas the standard chromatic has two reeds per  
hole. This causes a slight oddity at the end of the pattern when you  
have a lower pitched note after a higher pitched one, but this is  
typical for most harmonicas with reeds in individual holes, certainly  
no-one familiar with tremolos (common in Japan) would find it familiar.



"Here is an alternative note layout that I devised (without too much  
effort, I might add). I've changed the hole numbers to start on hole 1.

Upper Row - 1B (C#)-2D (D#)-3B (F )-4D (G )-5B (A )-6D (B )
Lower Row - 1B (C )-2D (D )-3B (E )-4D (F#)-5B (G#)-6D (A#)"



I'm sure you won't be surprised to find that this has been suggested  
and even comercially produced for the standard chromatic before. It  
certainly has some advantages, especially for single note playing.  
But, it tends to make legato more difficult, where a more key-specific  
layout (like the original) works better for some keys and worse for  
others. These modes of limited transposition tunings can be great, but  
they also can be like 12TET tuning--it makes everything equally bad.



"Not only does it allow for a wider range in the same amount of space,  
but it provides a "piano-like" arrangement of natural notes and the  
sharps and flats consistently across all 12 keys. "



No, actually the reverse. The piano is a very key based layout--you  
have the key of C in white and then added sharps and flats at  
irregular intervals in black. No two keys share the same scale  
patterns. The standard solo tuned chromatic or the original layout of  
the Violin Scale Tombo is much more similar to a piano layout in that  
regards. A wholetone layout like you propose is more similar to things  
like the chromatic button accordion layout--a limited number of  
patterns transposable for all keys.


JR Ross