Sharp???
Fri, 03/17/2017 - 09:40
Kinya,
Have you ever experienced harps going sharp over time? This seems counterintuitive to me, but I have noticed that harps I use often, are reading about 5 to 7 cents sharp on the 4 blow and 4 draw for example. It is perceptable to my ear. I hear recordings of myself and they sound unpleasant. This is compounded by the fact that my 5 draw is consistently running a few cents flat (on it's way to being blown out by me overplaying), so the contrast is noticeable.
Is the sharpness a sign that that these reeds are on their way out or should I just tune the damn thing and get on with my life?
Thanks,
Paul
Hi Paul, you are not alone. Tunings will creep sharper over time--darn spring metal (reeds).
Did you get an opportunity to read my blog regarding building/using a low cost vacuum table for "break in" and settling of the reeds after tuning? I found this, plus recalibrating the chromatic tuner down from 442hz to 441hz to be a workable solution.
Your Harpsmith, Kinya