Is it possible to tune a Major harmonic to Paddy ?
Country tuning is easy but is it possible to tune a harmonica to Paddy tuning?
Paddy simply raises Blow 3 two semitones. This is well within the range of not-too-hard retunings. Just file some of the weight off the surface of the tip of the reed. It's best to disassemble the harp to do this, so that you can support the weight of the reed while keeping it flat against the reedplate whie you file or sand it.
If you combine Paddy with country tuning and also raise Draw 9 one semitone (this is sometimes called Double Country tuning) you get Melody Maker tuning.
You can also create Paddy Tuning by swapping Lee Oskar reedplates. Combine a blow plate from a Melody Maker with a standard draw plate, and presto - paddy tuning.
Thanks . That is good because some times I have more than one harmonica for same keys
So for A Major harmonica all I have to do is to raise the 3 blw E note to F# and I will have a A paddy ?
OK 2 questions
1. I am going to play around with a Msuzuki Harpmaster and when checking the 4th blow note I can see it is tuned to
444 Hz . Fine so now I go to 3th blow note and raise it two semi note but do I need to let it be a few cents up or down or should I target exactly ? Man I am perfectionist :)
2. The other question is about other tunes .. What about changing narual minor to harmonic minor ?
Is that easy too?
There two parts to the A444 question.
1. Most harmonicas are tuned higher than A440, partly to account for pitch depression by the player's breath, partly because in some places the standard pitch in actual use is higher than A440. You can always push pitch down a little, but never up.
2. Most diatonic harmonicas are not tuned to equal temperament because it makes the chords sound rough. They tend to be tuned closer to the acoustic intervals that make the chords sound smooth, lower than equal temperament in some instances, higher in others. In the case of Paddying Blow 3, I'd initially tune it to A444, then make any adjustments according to whether it sounds flat or sharp in the context of the music you're playing. But give it a few days after you do the initial tuning, as tuning tends to drift for awhile, usually in the direction the retuning went (up, in this case). Also, tuning will settle with playing.
Natural minor - the standard kind that gives you a natural minor scale in second, not in first position - differs from harmonic minor by only two notes: Draw 3 and Draw 7. You'd need to lower each of these two notes by one semitone.
Paddy simply raises Blow 3 two semitones. This is well within the range of not-too-hard retunings. Just file some of the weight off the surface of the tip of the reed. It's best to disassemble the harp to do this, so that you can support the weight of the reed while keeping it flat against the reedplate whie you file or sand it.
If you combine Paddy with country tuning and also raise Draw 9 one semitone (this is sometimes called Double Country tuning) you get Melody Maker tuning.
You can also create Paddy Tuning by swapping Lee Oskar reedplates. Combine a blow plate from a Melody Maker with a standard draw plate, and presto - paddy tuning.