A harmonica. 1 and 4 draw together sound out of tune
Hi Kinya,
I bought a set of Hohner Special 20 harmonicas in December. I had first started lessons on my C harmonica and then switched to David Barrett's lessons about a month ago and switched to using my A harmonica.
When I draw on hole 4 and 1 together, they sound quite out of tune. The 'app', Harmonic Tuner tells me that:
1 draw = 250 Hz and 4 draw = 488 Hz.
When I check my other harmonicas (G, C, D and E), they all sound fine. (i.e. the 1 and 4 draw together sound harmonic)
What should I do?
Thanks!
Toby
Hi Kinya,
I'll have a look at that information and see what I can do. In the meantime, I've emailed Hohner as the harmonica is pretty new and I've only been playing it for a month. I even found my dad's ancient (likely from the 1940's) Echo Super Vamper Hohner harmonica the other day (in A) and the 4 draw plays perfectly in tune. (even though the harmonica is full of rust)
Thanks for your help!
Toby
Hi Toby, the good news is your issue is super easy to remedy. They should be able to turn it around quickly for you.
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Hey Toby, good to hear from you.
First of all, I need to determine what Hz setting you set your chromatic tuner. For harmonica tuning you should set your baseline at A4=442Hz.
If you did, then your 4 draw reed should register middle octave B4=498Hz @ +3 cents. This will be your reference note, meaning your lower octave B2 should be half (498Hz/2) =249Hz @ +3 cents. So based on your posted readings, your middle B4 is FLAT and requires tuning it a SHARPER (#)
Before you do anything Toby, please review Harp Tech Studies #3 "Tuning" https://www.bluesharmonica.com/harp_tech_studies_3
Your Harpsmith, Kinya