INFO I GOT ONLINE TO MUCH I KNOW THROW SOME AWAY-- USE WHAT U CAN
Most are not set to 440 most are 442 or 443
Geta tuner where u can change from 440 - 448 on up--[$20 or so]-some tuners do not have that feature----some are straight 440 for guitar etc
so if u have an adjustable tuner set to say 442 to start and play notes if [ most of the notes seem to be close or in tune it may be 442--try 443 I woudn't go much higher
but there are different tunings some deliberating tune for good chords---some like Golden melody r tuned to sound better on single notes --------------------------------------
I got this from MBH FORUM Hohner's are all compromise except Golden Melodies
GMs are Equal tuned as are almost all the Far Eastern made harps - Suzuki, Bushman, Tombo (inc. Lee Oskar) the exception being the Suzuki Fabulous which is available in a JI version.
The Hering Vintage 1923 is the only affordable OoTB harp in JI as far as I know, although Seydel now offer it for a slight extra charge. (Their main models being a compromise tuning ---------------------------------------------
I don't tune unless it sounds bad {I set to 442 and do what I call Piano tune -- So single notes sound good-chords not so nuch] ----------------------
Tuning-Temperament-Pitch-and-Frequency-Basis REQUENCY BASIS refers to the baseline frequency a harmonica is tuned to. This is most commonly set at A=442. Although many instruments are actually tuned to A=440, harmonica companies tune slightly sharp to allow for certain factors that cause a harmonica to go slightly flat. Recording industry personnel frequently expect session players to play instruments tuned to 441 or 440 as sometimes free reed instruments can sound shrill. This is generally not noticed in a live setting unless the player is performing strictly acoustic and with a lot of string instruments. ---------------------------------------------
https://www.bluesharmonica.com/a440_tuning Richard Sleigh and you say to tune harmonicas to 442. ------------------------------------------ Steve Baker says use 443 http://www.harmonicaspace.com/harmonica-forum/maintenance-repair-customization/diatonic-harmonica-tunings--an-update
Last Edited by snowman on Mar 22, 2018 10:43 AM
Use a Korg TM series tuner they also work with the high register
Most harmonicas are tuned to make the chords sound nice so all notes won;t be at the same frequency
A few models tune exactly all the notes to the same reference it's particularly interesting if you play in several different keys on the same harmonica
Use Blow 4 to determine the reference tuning frequency (A440, 441, etc.)
Blow 4 is the key note of the instrument and the least likely to be tempered in any way and is less subject to pitch depression that either low blow notes (such as Blow 1) or bendable notes. =========== Winslow
442 or thereabouts is used because so often people use more FORCE than is necessary when they play, which tends to make the reeds pitch sound a little flatter, so I suppose the logic behind it is that more people will sound in tune with other instruments at 440. ---------- The Iceman
Never do A440. 442 is safe. -11 or 12 cents are the 3rd and 5ths are Hohner standard. So, they come out roughly 439. It never sounds out of tune w/ a band. That is a total myth. When something is -50 to -100 cents you are 1/4 or 1/2 step out and you got a dead reed so don't bother trying to tune it up. ---------- Reasonably priced Reed Replacement and tech support on Hand Made Series Hohner Diatonic Harmonicas.
'Making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time. Click MP for more info. Aloha Mark .
Last Edited by MP on Mar 23, 2018 6:14 PM
→ On promaster only when I set my tuner to 440 I can get the 4 hole note to be exactly on target . Does that mean my Promaster harmonica is 440?
→ On Suzukir Fabulous Just tuning 440
♣ But on hohner crossover 444
★ I went through same procedure on Special 20 harmonica but I had to set my tuner to 442 to get the note 4 hole on target.
☉ But I tried the same procedure on two Harmonicas both hohner Rocket
one on 442 I could reach the target but the other even though it is same hohner rocket I could get to target on 438
☛ On my marine band 3 months old 444 gave me the target note On another completely new marine band 439 put me on target
☀ Can it be that same harmonica Model have different setting? Or it is possible that particular harmonica even though it is completely a new harmonica it is out of tune? ☠
It's quite possible that two new harmonicas will not give the same readings.
438 will likely sound flat when played with other instruments - it's already below standard, and pitch depression caused by breath when playing at normal volume may drive it down further.
Try playing Blow 4 in octaves with Blow 8 and also with Blow 1. Do the octaves ring true? If not, test all three notes individually. If only Blow 4 is flat, then tune it up so that it's in tune with the others.
All notes should also be tested in octaves where they exist, and trued up.
Blow 3, 6, and 9 are tuned 2 cents sharp relative to Blow 4 to ring true when combined with Blow 1, 4, 7, and 10.
Blow 2, 5, and 8 are tempered flat to make chord sound smooth. The smoothest chords will be achieved by tuning them down 14 cents. However, this can put them flat to A440 instruments unless the basis pitch of the harmonica is raised. This is the rationale Pat Missin gives for tuning the harmonica to A443. I personally find A443 to be uncomfortably sharp. However, compromise tunings will lower these notes by less than 14 cents to split the difference between smooth chords and being in tune with other instruments.
Draw 2 is often tuned 2 or even 4 cents sharp relative to Blow 4, and then used as a pitch reference for the draw notes - which can be tricky, as Draw 2 is the note most likely to be unintentionally depressed in pitch, especially by beginning players.
Draw 1, 4, and 8 are tuned 2 cents sharp to Draw 2, and Draw 6 and 10 are tuned 4 cents sharp to give a ringing fifth with Draw 4 and 8.
Draw 3 and 7 sound smoothest in chords when tuned 14 cents flat, but again, in compromise tunings they may be lowered by a smaller amount.
Draw 5 and 9 are the squidgiest. The old 7-limit just tuning puts these notes marvelously smooth in chords, but ear-jarringly sour and flat as melody notes. 19-limit just offers a variety of alternatives that serve different purposes. I recommend reading up on Pat Missin's observations on this at http://patmissin.com/tunings/tun2.html
Barbecue Bob lays out several standard temperament schemes for out-of-the-box diatonics at http://www.harmonicaspace.com/harmonica-forum/maintenance-repair-customization/diatonic-harmonica-tunings--an-update =========== Winslow
The reason you won't find harmonicas tuned to TRUE A440 is that, including just about every pro on the face of the earth as well as amateurs, 99% of harp players don't play with a breath force SOFT ENOUGH for a harp tuned that way to be PLAYED that way at all and so tuning at A442-A443-A444 is really tuned to most players' REAL breath force and so this makes sure that no matter how hard you play, you never fall below A440. 98% of nonpro players just don't have proper breath control in their playing, PERIOD!!!!
Winslow, a more updated version of that chart is available on this site when you go to the left hand corner of this page, then a dialog box opens up on the right and then you scroll down to harmonica tunings and click on it and you can download it freely in a PDF form.
An alternate place I have it in is in Google Docs at: Diatonic Harmonica Tunings ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
not the complete dynamic range of eight octaves. 440 to 441 is about 4 cents 440 to 443 is about 12 cents
if you tune a harmonica to 440 the thirds will be flat no matter how soft you play. that is just the cold hard truth. ... "on anything other than an et tuned harp"
at one time all harps were tuned to just, now a days compromised is the most favored tuning.
I was dramatizing the fact that cents and hertz don't have a direct correspondence by using a range of "A" notes over several octaves.
But even if you restrict range to, let's say, the Blow 1 on a G-harp to Blow 10 on an F-harp, the cents-to-hertz relationships changes dramatically.
G3 (blow 1 on a G-harp), 196 Hz): 1 Hz = 8.8 cents
F7 (Blow 10 on an F-harp, 2793.83 Hz): 1 Hz = 0.619 cents
So, from nearly 9 cents to a little more than half a cent within the range of common diatonic harmonicas clearly shows that 1Hz = 4 cents is simply wrong and not be relied on.
The range within which 1 Hz equals something in the general vicinity of 4 cents is F4 (F above Middle C, the two-semitone bend on Draw 2 of a C-harp), where it equals 4.95 cents, to C5 (C above middle C, or Blow 4 on a C-harp), where it equals 3.12 cents.
That's a pretty narrow range of only five scale notes (or 7 semitones), even allowing for a variation of nearly 1 cent on either side of 4 cents. =========== Winslow
winslow... I was going thru some things and I found an old business card file. it had your card in it. it says 14 th ave. is that phone and address still valid?
Frankie: A few reasons you are getting different values:
1- Some models or manufacturers may use a different reference pitch (Crossover is tuned sharper than other Hohner models on purpose) 2- Manufacturers tune by blowing air through the plate. They don't all use the same pressure gradient (PSI). (I think they should measure flow instead of measuring pressure... That would solve some problems but anyway...) 3- Mass produced harps are not all the same.
How do the harps sound to your ears?
Winslow: The relationship between Hz and Cents can be confusing. If anybody used Hz to tune their harps, the logarithmic relationship would be relevant. It's not. Any tuner will convert the pitch (Hz) into cents for us. So pointing out the Hz values of notes doesn't help anybody tune their harp.
When I tune a harp I don't use a frequency meter that shows me Hz. I use a tuner that shows me cents. That tuner does the logarithmic conversion for me.
The only Hz value we need to deal with is the base pitch. A change of the reference of A-above-middle-C by 1 Hz offsets all the notes by the same value which is about four cents. Sure the frequencies (Hz) in each octave are different, but the number of cents that the tuner is reading out are not. That's the point of using a tuner.
In other words, no one cares how many Hz are in a cent. Our tuners do the conversion. We care how many cents are in a Hz - specifically, the Hz of the base pitch, A above middle C.
"By how many cents will the tuner reading change if I change the reference by 1 Hz?"
Answer: About four cents throughout every octave the tuner can read.
I tune using cents as well, unless I'm tuning a tremolo, where actual cents directly corresponds with the beating rate.
I was responding to the reported remark, apparently originating with Steve Baker, that 1 Hz = approximately 4 cents. The remark has appeared without context qualifying it for reference frequencies, and I know from bitter experience that people will take statements like this as true and follow them down paths of confusion.
