Re: [Harp-L] Historical: Just Intonation

[Rick Dempster <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I think everything was in JI until JS Bach came along. You could only play
an instrument in a certain key and its related modes. Any diatonic
instrument-like a celtic harp - would have been tuned to perfect 5ths. It
was nothing new, it was the way things had been since the ice age. Even
temperament was the 'new' thing. That's as I understand it anyhow.
RD

On 14 August 2012 14:35, David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Robert asked:
> "When did early blues harp players begin tuning reeds for Just Intonation?"
>
> As soon as they tried to tune harps to factory specs.
>
> "What tuning schemes did Hohner and others manufacture in the first few
>
> decades?"
>
> By the time Hohner started making harmonicas, a lot of stuff was pretty
> much set in stone by then. There are some examples of the harps James Bazin
> made in the U.S.A. back in the
> 1830s that have survived, but they are way too out of tune to figure out
> what the intonation was. But I think the moment Richter note placement was
> created, it would have
> been Just intonation. Seydel used Just Intonation from 1847 until 2006.
>
> David
>



-- 
Rick Dempster
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