[Harp-L] Factory Tuning

[Steve Baker]

Laurent wrote:
Jerome Peyrelevade told me when he studied a bunch of Hohner harps in terms of tuning, factory harps are apparently far from being well tuned. If confirmed, it would make this Just Vs Equal temperament advertisement a bit fake.

Steve replies:
it’s true that harmonicas from all manufacturers show variations in factory tuning. For that reason, I fine-tune every harp before I play it. Hohner is more accurate than most in this respect. But it’s not correct to suggest that the distinction between models tuned to a compromise system (hardly any manufacturers use Just Intonatiion today) and those supposedly tuned to 12TET is in any way fake. Players who make frequent use of chords will certainly sound better on a Marine Band or Special 20 than on a Golden Melody, for example, because the fine tuning is designed to produce smooth sounding chords without interference beats. Even when there is some degree of deviation from the intended tuning, this difference can clearly be heard and the distinction serves a clear purpose.

As anyone who has spent any amount of time tuning harmonicas is aware, it isn’t an exact science. It’s virtually impossible to tune a free reed to an exact pitch, because the pitch changes with air pressure, length of air column and type of embouchure. It’s a matter of finding a viable compromise which works for most people, and that’s what harmonica manufacturers (with greater and lesser degrees of success) endeavour to do.

Steve Baker
www.stevebaker.de
www.harmonica-masters.de