[Harp-L] New tuning #2

[jross38@xxxxx]

As a follow up or extension on my previous post, this is to outline another new tuning I’ve been trying out with Brendan Power’s Modular Reed Harmonica.  The only negative of this harmonica is that I don’t have enough extra reeds.  Actually, it’s that you really can’t have enough extra reeds unless you have like four or more of each pitch, in both blow and draw mounting directions.  But, I’ve got enough to do most tunings I want just not necessarily in whatever key I want.

First, to outline the tuning.  This came out of the same ideas I was working on before, but in particular I was very interested in  once again having two drone notes as my previous experiment did but this time having them be a fifth apart, which seemed more musically interesting than a sixth apart as on my previous tuning.  I played around with a bunch on paper, and came up with a four hole repeating tuning I haven’t tried yet. 

 And then I got to thinking about the standard Major and it’s related minor tunings on the harmonica, and the non-repeating nature of it is a key part of the success musically— there is a tension and release between the chord sections in the bottom and the need for bending to create notes vs the middle section where the notes of the scale are available and bends are limited and then the top section where the blow/draw relationship changes and the blow bends come into play.  I love the Pentaharp and the ease of repeated tunings, but I also love the irregular tuning at the heart of the standard diatonic tuning.  And so I decided to try and see if I could get a harp with drone notes a fifth apart but which retains the positive irregular  aspects of the standard diatonic tuning.  

And I think I succeeded in making something interesting:

Blow:  A C E G C E G C E G
Hole:   1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9 10
Draw:  C E G B D F A B D F 

I would consider this to be in the key of C, despite the lowest blow note being an A.  The astute of you will probably notice something I didn’t until i’d been playing it for a week or so: I’ve mushed holes 2-3 of an F harmonica with holes 2-9 of a C harmonica.  What this does in practice is just fun.  You get two keys that play similarly to 2nd position in the lowest octave, while the rest stays the same.   Moreover, you get some interesting triads to mess with for chord rhythms, having C major, A minor, E minor, and G major all available.  And having a drone chord is surprisingly useful.

There is a similarity to one of my favorite tuning groups: the various “combination tunings” invented by Winslow Yerxa and Jimmy Gordon’s brilliant Streamliner tunings.  On these the intent is to mix a 2nd position low end with 1st position blow bends in the same key.  And are massively fun as such—best in lower keys where blow bends work well, imo.  For this harp I had to make it in Eb/D# as that’s the lowest key I had the reeds for, which gives the range of a C harmonica which is a bit higher than I had wanted.  But, what I’ve found is that this range is actually really nice for it.  I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a tuning which works better in medium to high keys, actually, but I can say it works quite well in Eb/D#.

I hope this was clear and not too rambling, but also that it encourages the adventurous to try this tuning out.  It wouldn’t be too hard to retune from a natural minor, imo.  And I hope these ideas of how I came upon these tunings helps others with their own designs.




Jonathan R. Ross