Re: [Harp-L] A few thoughts on reeds, since we are muzing it seems.

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm not sure what you mean by "enharmonic." The usual meaning of this word is that two notes with different names that sound at the same frequency are enharmonic. For instance, A# and Bb are enharmonic with each other.

Do you mean upper partials (aka overtones)? In harmonica playing, the player's hands, cupped around the harmonica with the right size of both enclosure and opening can form a Helmholtz resonator that can strongly reinforce the fundamental.

Reed profiling - the relation between the line of the reed from base to tip and the reedplate/slot - is of great interest to harmonica tweakers and customizers. Some well-known general observations have developed over several years, while some discoveries remain trade secrets of the various parties who do this sort of work for a living. 

Some of this body of knowledge affects reed response to soft and strong attacks and to pitch bending techniques, while related subjects, such as embossing (drawing the slot edge in closer to the reed edge) and tip scooping (removing material from the reedplate where the tip of the reed passes) affect both timbre and reed response.

I agree that sharing of perspectives among a broader pool of free reed instrument builders might yield fruitful results. I sometimes hang out at accordion tech forums.

One barrier to using accordion reeds is that they are usually made of rust-prone mild steel, which can be damaged y the moisture in human breath. I once asked why stainless is not used, as this would reduce problems caused by moisture and salt in the air, and was told that stainless is more prone to breakage that non-stainless steel.

While I'm sure that some pure research has been done by harmonica manufacturers as to what results are possible with various reed parameters in harmonicas, I suspect that deployment of such findings in actual instruments is constrained partly by tradition (players do not readily accept instruments that are unfamiliar on appearance or playing technique) and partly by economics, as both the tooling-up costs and the retail price points required might be prohibitive.

That said, I know that there are many harmonica players out there who would love low-pitched instruments such as a baritone slide chromatic (with a bottom note two octaves below middle C) or even a true bass harmonica in a single body. The larger reed sizes and robust response and volume achieved in even small accordions could point to some interesting possibilities.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa

Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5

Resident expert at bluesharmonica.com

Harmonica instructor, jazzschool.com

Columnist, harmonicasessions.com

--- On Tue, 8/10/10, Dr. Michael J. Marino, DC <m.marino@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Since we already know that the frequency you get is a complex result
(tip width, length of reed, elasticity of the metal, density of the
metal) why not see if we can take it one set further and see if the
complex curved free reeds used in concertinas and accordions can be
applied to the smallest of the family the harmonica. Bear with me as
this is not just being a stick in the mud. The complex edge curve you
find in high quality concertinas and accordion instruments helps to
eliminate unwanted secondary harmonics that are not naturals of the
root frequency desired. 

Now if this was applied to the harmonica we could get a much truer
and sweet note from the instrument as much of the noise would be
eliminated. 

Now comes the question of how to test and find if this makes a
favorable sound or one that takes away from the qualities that area a
harmonica. I am just beginning to look deeply into the math that goes
with this and it can make you head spin. So anyone interested please
contact me as the outcome could be very interesting indeed. 

Michael