RE: [Harp-L] Re: Paddy Richter vs. Melody Maker

[Steve Shaw <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

Horses for courses.  I play single-note melody and I'm not overly concerned about "losing" the blow chord in the bottom octave.  So Paddy Richter suits me fine.  The Melody Maker tuning would mess up a considerable number of the sets I play which involve changes of position for the different tunes in the sets (medleys), so I have little use for it.  It's worth pointing out that there are very few tunes that you'd play on a D harp that go down as low as the missing sixth note in the bottom octave, so for these tunes (in D Ionian, B Aeolian, G Lydian or E Dorian mainly) a standard D harp will do fine.  I always go for low Ds myself, but that's me - I don't care much for playing an octave above the fiddle.  It's the tunes that work best on a G harp that call most for the Paddy tuning.  My view on bending to get missing notes in fast Irish/Scottish/Northumbrian dance tunes is that the game ain't worth the candle.  Stick to standard D tuning or Paddy G (and A) tuning, and keep D and G chroms to hand for those occasional awkward tunes that have accidentals, especially the D tunes that have both Cnat and C# (Jenny's Wedding, Banish Misfortune for example).  You can't bend to get a Cnat on a D harp (XB40 excepted of course) unless you're a darn sight cleverer than me (not difficult to achieve, actually!)
 
I do Paddify my low Ds as it happens, even though the alteration isn't often needed.  It does no harm, and it means I can play Home Ruler/Kitty's Wedding. :-)
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