Re: [Harp-L] chrom tuning

[Music Cal <macaroni9999@xxxxxxxxx>]

Phil

Many instruments are tuned so that the same patterns based on an octave
range can be repeated in a new octave. That does not make them tuned "like
a piano" unless what you mean by "like" is that they share some small set
of features.

But you did not answer my question. Would you put redundant notes on a
keyboard? Would you reverse the pitch pattern as you go from right to left
a once per octave?

Daniel


On Tue, May 13, 2014 at 11:01 AM, <philharpn@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> Actually, the solo tuned chromatic IS tuned like a piano. The relationship
> of the notes in an octave are the same no matter where an octave is played
> on a piano.
>
>  The chromatic solo tuned is designed that that each octave in the key of
> the harmonica maintains the same relationship as the notes in each octave.
>
>  Some see the starting C and ending C for each octave on the solo tuned C
> harmonica as redundant. Others realize it for what it is: the blow draw
> pattern is the same for each octave.
>
>  Veteran chromatic players play the higher of the two Cs when ascending
> and the lower of the two Cs on descending music lines. This way, they don't
> lose their place and always know which C they are playing.
>
>  The diatonic has a different pattern for each octave. Some people like
> the first octave of the richter harp so well that they order from the
> factory double richter (or even triple richter) which allows more bent
> notes in a  familiar pattern.
>
>  The keyboard (piano) started out with different notes for the enharmonic
> C# and Db ect. which greatly limited the number of notes easily accessible.
> So it didn't last.
>
>  The richter haronica was designed to provide the I chord and V chord in
> the first octave that cou;d be corner-blocked while playing melody notes in
> the corner in the middle and top octave.
>
>  The first chromatic harmonicas were designed on the richter model. Later
> the solo-tuned was added. (Or maybe they developed at the same time!?)
>
>  The piano can work with an uneven pattern of notes and still maintain
> the same note relationship in each octave.
>
>  That won't work on the harmonica with out the double tonic root notes.
>
>  The other thing about the solo tuned chromatic is that they are mostly
>  tuned with equal temperament while diatonics are just or just/compromised
> tuning. Thus they sound different because they are different. Nowadays,
> just or just-compromised tuning can be ordered from the factory.  So the
> timbre sounds the same even if the note layouts are different.
>
>  Harmonicas are like tools: some are multifunctional, others are specific
> task.
>
>  The chromatic is basically no more difficult to play than the richter --
> once the player understand the note layout of the two. And anybody who has
> difficulty navigating a chrome must have difficulty working the middle
> octave on a diatonic.
>
>  To expect a solo tuned harmonica to bend notes-- multiple pitches
> (double reed)   like a richter tuned harp is unreal.
>
>  A sax and trumpet play and perform differently but that doesn't make one
> superior to the other; just different. Same with the chrome and diatonic.
>
>   Hope this helps.
>
>  Just get the right tool --er harp -- for the job.
> Phil
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Music Cal <macaroni9999@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: harp-L list <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tue, May 13, 2014 12:59 pm
> Subject: [Harp-L] chrom tuning
>
>  For those of you that think that one tuning is as good as the next I ask
> you this: Would you tune a piano like the solo-tuned chromatic harmonica?
> This would mean repeated pitches, which sometimes appear a few piano keys
> down stream from the others, and in addition, rather than always increasing
> in pitch as one goes from left to right across the keyboard, sometimes the
> pitches would descend.
>
> Really? ... Really?
>
> Daniel
>
>