Tuning the harp
Thank you dear Kinya for your excelent lesson on tuning the harp. I have never done that except on single stubborn reeds here and there and without much enthusiasm.
Now I know better, much better, and what was fun, is that your lessons did not only bring me the knowledge I needed, but were also very, very entertaining! It was a loong lesson and no wonder you were tired at the end, but it was worth the time invested.
Not only did I find there the skills I needed, but found much information, many answers to questions I have never asked myself. The summit of learning for me!
What I would wish would be an in-depth discussion of the theory behind diferent tuning schemata. Yes, I did download your instructional pdf-s and also read
http://www.tuningtable.com/instructions.html
but they miss the point, by being educative enough to bring the dry understanding, but not having the entertaining value of your lessons. Maybe I do something wrong, but when things are presented to me the way you do, I do not only nod understandingly, but really understand for good. Maybe sometime you will find to record a lesson on this topic too.
Thank you very much!
Yours friendly, Razvan
Hi Kinya,What's the deal with tuners? I've never gotten any tuner to give a consistent reading on any note on any harmonica — not even once.
Now that I have about $700 worth of out-of-tune harmonicas I'm ready to pull out my Peterson StroboPlusHD, which I could never get to work, and try again.
I understand that harmonica reeds are flexible/pliable and change in pitch with the ambient temperature and other factors, but I would expect a tuner to be accurate within 3 to 4 cents.
What's the story?
Thanks much
Hi Blues38, You are not alone on this matter.
Sometimes the tuning app doesn't agree with the platform, for example, recently a member reported problems with his "Clear Tune" app running on his Android platform. I recommended a new app, "Tuner-Pitched" by Jo and Andy at Stonekick. He reported that "so far" it was working well for him, providing consistently accurate readings. In fact, I'm currently testing it on my iOS and diggn' this tuner.
Some stand alone tuners, quite frankly are junk. They just don't have the mic or processing power to pickup the tonal nuances from our harmonica.
I had discovered from previous harp tech workshops, that a few of my students were Blowing differently than their Drawing. These inconsistent air pressure deviations were usually caused by poor breath management and weak embochures (tongue blocking, lip blocking, etc.) This was especially apparent when tuning octaves with a 4 and 5 hole embochure. Another biggie was doing the final tuning without the coverplates installed--causing a 2 cent deviation (this is why you start by calibrating your tuner from the default 440Hz to 442Hz).
Tip: use a tone engine (any device that you know can produce a steady pitch), and/or another instrument, like a keyboard as a reference. If the tuner's readings are consistently steady and accurate, then it must be the person in the mirror. If that is the case, and you still have your receipt, I recommend you can go back to the hospital and swap "You" out for another model ;o)
It is a process of elimination for each person. Let us know how you are progressing.
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Hi Blues38, I hope my last response wasn't a tad too much, and that you were able to test and calibrate your tuners against a known perfect pitch. How did it go? Readers and myself would like to know...
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Kinya, things are working now. Using my Peterson StroboPlus I use these settings:
Trans(pose): 0Concert A (reference): 440cents: 0and Sweetener: EQU (equal temperament)
With these settings the tuner finally agreed with a few tuning forks, so then I trusted the tuner.
Then I changed the Concert A setting to 442and started tuning, only adjusting the cents sitting for each reed: 1draw= +4; 2 below= -14, to draw = +2, etc. (for original Marine Band).
One trick is to stop tuning once I start to lose patience, and the other is to settle for "close enough" for now as long as the octaves don't give 'beats.'
Thanks much for your help and encouragement.
Cool Man!
Your comment, "One trick is to stop tuning once I start to lose patience ..." was spot on. We tend to forget that reeds are basically made of spring metal (like our brains ;o) and must have time to allow the molecules to settle down. I remember Joe Filisko telling me about a call he had with Charlie Musselwhite--he needed a set of harps--immediately! Joe regrettably had to decline the request, because all of his Filisko customized harmonicas chillax on the shelf for 6 weeks (then final tuning/adj) before shipping them out.
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Hello, I have a relatively cheap Blues Bender C Harmonica that's less then two months old. It was working all right, but very suddenly the 5 blow E went out of tune and is now a fairly well tuned Eb. Obviously this complicates learning on this instrument quite a lot. I have not yet retuned it, but am wondering if this is usual (such a sudden change on a new intrument) and if it's possible due to some mistake I made.
Hello, I have a relatively cheap Blues Bender C Harmonica that's less then two months old. It was working all right, but very suddenly the 5 blow E went out of tune and is now a fairly well tuned Eb. Obviously this complicates learning on this instrument quite a lot. I have not yet retuned it, but am wondering if this is usual (such a sudden change on a new intrument) and if it's possible due to some mistake I made.
.
Hello Zoso9
You are definetly not alone. For many Harp Techs--next to replacing the 4 draw reed--the most often repaired/replaced reed is the 5 draw reed. I have argued in the past that many Blues harmonica players have a tendancy to draw overconvincingly on the 5 reed, not realizing there are no available "bendable" draw notes in hole 5. This prematurely weakens the #5 (read: make out of tune)
10 second music theory:
Relative to a C tuned diatonic harmonica (the top blow #5 reed is E and the bottom draw #5 reed is F), the natural laws of musical scales do not have 1/2 notes (semitones) located between notes: B/C and, yes you guessed it, E/F
Tip: If you want to learn where all the available bendable notes are located on the Diatonic harmonica
- You can use the cheat sheet, available: https://www.bluesharmonica.com/sites/bluesharmonica.com/files/private/Harmonica%20Chart%20%5BAll%20Keys%5D.pdf
- or to begin to understand the theory behind the creation of the Bendable Note Chart:
- Start by writing down the 12 notes of the chromatic scale; I like to start with G, G#(Ab), A, A#(Bb), B, C, C#(Db), D, D#(Eb), E, F, F#(Gb) Note: depending on the scale, there are five notes that can be written as b (flat) or # (sharp), for example A#= Bb
- Use your C harmonica as your sample, backfill your empty chart with the notes built into your C harmonica, starting with the Top Blow plate; #1=C, #2=E, #3=G, #4=C, then repeat the pattern all the way up to #10 (i.e. C E G, C E G, C). Bottom Draw plate; #1=D, #2=G, #3=B, #4=D, next is the natural 1/2 step #5=F, the remaining notes on the draw side has been turned upside down--now the bottom draw notes are LOWER than the Top Blow notes! #6=A, #7=B, #8=D, #9=F, #10=A
- Your Bendable Note Chart for the C Diatonic Harmonica has now been populated with all the original notes built into that harmonica. Take a look the #3 hole--arguably the most important hole for blues players--the Top Blow note in #3=G, the Bottom Draw note in #3=B.
- Finally, pull out the Chromatic Scale listing all 12 notes. With your pencil, draw a circle around the G, and repeat for the B. Now look at the notes sandwiched between the G and B. You will find: G#(Ab) =Minor Third Draw Bend, A =Whole Step Draw Bend, and A# also know as Bb, the incredibly important and hard-to-play perfect, =Half Step Draw Bend
Also check out: https://www.bluesharmonica.com/5_draw_reed_fractures
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
P.s. curb your enthusiasm when playing hole #5 ;o)
Hmm ... a workshop on tuning temperaments. I will put that on my ideations list. Thank you for the suggestion Razvan
Your Harpsmith, Kinya