Re: [Harp-L] Richter Shift Tuning

Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx> · Tue, 4 Mar 2014 10:29:23 -0800 (PST)

Nineteenth Century harmonica instruction books show harmonicas with the name Richter on the cover plates, but with a different tuning layout.

For instance, the draw note in Hole 2 on a C harp, instead of being G, is often F. And the note layout in the top octave is also different.

By the time so-called "Richter tuning" layout was standard in North America, the Richter name had vanished from the marketplace. And the now-standard note layout appears on some of the earliest tremolo harmonicas made by the Wilhem Thie company in Vienna starting sometime in the 1830s and in accordions having no association with the Richter name.

So the association between Richter and standard diatonic tuning seems unsupported by any facts. Yet the myth persists, with absolutely no evidence, that a man named Joseph Richter, came up with the standard diatonic note layout. For more on the elusive and perhaps even mythical Josef Richter, check out the research done by Pat Missin: http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q37.html

What does seem clear is the association - and that's all we can really call it - between the Richter name and the type of harmonica construction that puts all the blow reeds on one plate and all the draw reeds on another (unlike the older Wiener and Knittlinger constructions, both still in use, that put blow and draw reeds side by side on the same plate) and does note separate the holes into top and bottom halves (again, both Wiener and Knittlinger construction have this divider).

A few years ago, some on this list tried to replace the term "Richter tuning" with "German standard tuning." I went along with it, but the fact is that once a term is established, it's very hard to change. All you can really do in practical terms is be careful in usage.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa
President, SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica
Producer, the Spring 2014 Harmonica Collective
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance

________________________________
 From: Eric Nielsen <ericbarnak@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Harp-L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Tuesday, March 4, 2014 8:40 AM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Richter Shift Tuning

I'm curious. Why is "Richter tuning" not a good name for this tuning?

I am not suggesting that the popularity of the term "Richter tuning" makes
it correct. I am sincerely interested in whatever enlightenment you and
Winslow could impart on this. I--and I think others--would benefit from a
brief exposition.

Eric

On Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 7:47 PM, Greg Jones <greg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> I totally agree and yes it makes sense.  I try to avoid the Richter term,
> too.
> Occasionally I use the phrase "tuned to the style commonly referred to as
> Richter".
>
> I think a lot of the old trems and octaves were tuned this way as you
> state.
>
> Anyhow, the advantage as I see it in this tuning is that it allows the
> construction of
> a harmonica or reed instrument within certain pitch ranges that might not
> otherwise be
> possible.  As in the example above, the commonly played holes and pattern
> produce a pitch
> one octave higher.
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 6:34 PM, Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx
> >wrote:
>
> > I call that an extended version of standard tuning (I avoid calling it
> > Richter because Richter is a construction, not a tuning).
> >
> > First, think of a window that is 10 holes wide. All you can ever see
> > through that window is 10 holes at a time.
> >
> > Of course we know of windows that are 12 and 14 holes wide.
> >
> > The usual 12-hole window (as in the Hohner #364) lets us see 2 more holes
> > on the right, and those 2 extra holes extend the tuning on the high end.
> >
> > The 14-hole window comes in two versions:
> >
> > -- A window that shows us 4 extra holes on the high end (such as the
> > Hohner 365)
> >
> > -- A window that shows us 3 extra holes on the low end and one on the
> high
> > end (the Hohner SBS)
> >
> > Now we have a total of 17 holes to play with. But if you have a window
> > that's 10 holes wide, you can't see all 17 holes, so you have to locate
> the
> > 10 holes you want to see somewhere along that 17-hole continuum.
> >
> > Tremolo harps do this, and so do 10-key button accordions. They all
> locate
> > their 10 holes (sometimes more on tremolo harps) somewhere along that
> > continuum. Often, they start on Hole 2 of the standard 10-howl tuning and
> > extend to Hole 11 or 13.
> >
> > The one you're talking about has a window that starts on Hole -3 (i.e.
> the
> > third hole of SBS tuning) and extends to Hole 9.
> >
> > Does this make sense to you?
> >
> > Winslow
> >
> > Winslow Yerxa
> > President, SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the
> > Harmonica <http://spah.org/>
> > Producer, the Spring 2014 Harmonica Collective<
> http://harmonicacollective.com/>
> > Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5<
> http://www.amazon.com/Harmonica-Dummies-Winslow-Yerxa/dp/047033729X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392924635&sr=1-1&keywords=harmonica+for+dummies
> >
> >             Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS<
> http://www.amazon.com/Dummies-HFDPK-Harmonica-Learners-Package/dp/B005KIYPFS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392924701&sr=1-1&keywords=harmonica+basics+for+dummies
> >
> >             Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7<
> http://www.amazon.com/Blues-Harmonica-Dummies-Winslow-Yerxa/dp/1118252691/ref=pd_bxgy_MI_img_y
> >
> > Resident Expert, bluesharmonica.com
> > Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance<
> http://jazzschool.com/>

> >
> >   ------------------------------
> >  *From:* Greg Jones <greg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > *To:* Harp-L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> > *Sent:* Monday, March 3, 2014 4:31 AM
> > *Subject:* [Harp-L] Richter Shift Tuning
> >
> > I'm not sure what this tuning is called but it is sort of a modified or
> > shortened version of SBS that I'll call Richter Shift.  In this case, I
> > took a 10 hole Seydel 1847 and built in the key of (A) with the root
> > starting on hole 2 blow. The hole #1 note is an E/G#.
> >
> > The advantage is it amounts to a HIGH A that is all stainless steel reed.
> > Of course you have to get used to the notes being shifted over 1 hole,
> but
> > the other advantage is a full 3 octaves of 2nd position play.  It is nice
> > to be able to get above the other instruments and I can see this working
> > out well for (G) and (A) and possible more in a country/bluegrass
> context.
> > To get a HIGH A, it still required some 1/2 step re-tuning so it isn't
> > possible on the CONFIGURATOR.
> >
> > Email me if this interests you.
> >
> > 1st take over a backing track on the playing and yes, I missed a few
> > turnarounds and chord changes..
> >
> > https://soundcloud.com/greg-jones-9/seydel-1847-high-a-special
> >
> >
> > *Greg Jones*
> > *16:23 Custom Harmonicas*
> > *(210) 445-6600*
> > 1623customharmonicas.com
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
>  *Greg Jones*
> *16:23 Custom Harmonicas*
> *(210) 445-6600*
> 1623customharmonicas.com
>