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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
which tuning(s) do you prefer?
which tuning(s) do you prefer?
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wowwiezowwie
7 posts
Mar 20, 2012
2:17 AM
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I feel like I'm wandering down a new path and could use some guidance.
Here's the story: I feel increasingly comfortable with my 6OB intonation. I want to begin to include OBs in my playing. I also like the wailing cry I produce from the 2/5 tongue block. It's more dynamic when the 5 hole is flatter. Unfortunately, the note sounds odd in a equal temperament context. Instead, I tune my harps so the 5 draw is roughly around -12 cents. Everything else follows closer to equal temperament. I'm new to this, only recently after purchasing a MB crossover did I become aware of compromise tuning. I use sand paper to scrape off metal to raise and lower the pitch. I could probably benefit from a kit. I really want the tools necessary to replace individual reeds.
My question: which tunings do you prefer? LJI vs. equal temperament is just the tip of the iceberg, but a great place to start. With so many different tunings out there, which one's have you found useful/employed in your playing and why?
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jim
1216 posts
Mar 20, 2012
11:45 AM
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Don't mix up the terms "tuning" and "intonation setup"
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nacoran
5409 posts
Mar 20, 2012
2:55 PM
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Tuning does tend to get used interchangeably with temperament, but it does lead to some possible confusion. For the sake of argument, and to make Jim happy, :) let's be specific and precise. I haven't really messed around with adjusting my harps myself, I've found I generally prefer Equal Temperament, unless I am trying to play something particularly bluesy. Our band is rock/folk/blues/alternative and I usually prefer my ET harps on everything but the pure blues stuff. That said, the lower the harp the more likely I am to move away from ET, since lower parts tend to be more about chordal stuff.
As for tunings... I love my natural minor tuned harp. Because I only have one right now it probably gets more use than any single major tuned harp I own. I can play minor on a major harp, but it's so much easier on a minor harp, and in my opinion, it sounds better too. The chords just lay out better.
I've got a chromatic harp, but I've never really taken the time to get comfortable on it. I've got a couple tremolos, which are nice for certain effects. I know some people take the time to learn to bend on tremolos, and I can in a pinch, but not fluidly. They are laid out closer to solo tuning, with 3 full diatonic octaves, so if you are playing what would be first position the lack of easy bending isn't an issue. Chugging doesn't sound as good. Tremolos, particularly the Huang Musette set I have, sound awesome with tongue blocked octaves. It's like having an accordion in your pocket.
There are lots of other tunings to try, but my budget is tight. I still think it would be great if some harp company would sell a box of relatively cheap harps in different tunings. (hint hint, anyone working at a harp company.) Off the top of my head, natural and melodic minors would be good to include, maybe a tremolo, along with some of the tunings designed to make you more chromatic.
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groyster1
1812 posts
Mar 20, 2012
10:14 PM
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I think harps tuned to just intonation have a much richer sound-love the sound of the hicksville marine bands-I have a couple of manjis that have been changed to JI
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Aussiesucker
1060 posts
Mar 20, 2012
10:47 PM
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I, similar to Nacoran, love different tunings.
I too have a couple of LO natural minors and a couple of Harmonic Minors plus a few Melody Makers. I also have a couple of Suzuki Tremolos and a Hohner Super Chromonica and a Suzuki SCX48. Plus I made a couple of Paddy Richter harps out of a couple of clunkers.
My chroms get the least amount of use. I guess I dislike their bulk & detest the valves.
Having different tunings enables one to hold, keep, & expand interest in the harp. It opens up new opportunities to play other genres & quite frankly they are relatively easy to adapt to. I often find that just by noodling around on an alt tuning I discover I am able to play tunes that I would otherwise find difficult on a normal diatonic. Cheating? I think not as I'm all for KISS (keep it simple stupid).
I still 90+% of the time use standard diatonics and select either JI or ET tuning dependent on what I want to play.
I certainly would like to try some other tunings like the Powerbender but am fearful that my current huge collection of harps will become obsolete! So I am fighting of these GAS* attacks for now.
* Gear Aquisition Syndrome (highly contageous)
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opendoor_harps
6 posts
Mar 21, 2012
12:33 PM
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For (tuni... er- intonation setup- thanks Jim) of diatonics I prefer a compromise tuning, either a current Marine Band compromise, or closer to the MB Crossover tuning which has the 5 and 9 draws a few cents sharp. Even for the Hicksville harps, I find this is a good balance between chords and solo notes. I have a pre war Marine Band that I keep in pure JI just to remind me.
For alternate diatonic "tunings", I use a combination of Standard Richter, Paddy Richter, Country, (Natural Minor)- not so much. Currently for some tunes I take the 2 and 3 draw notes down two semitones so the low octave is almost like a solo tuned scale.
For Chromatic (Jim is the tuning wizard in this department and his document on alternate tunings is an awesome resource), I've been using a reverse slide approach for ornamentation. Where the notes go down a half step when you engage the slide rather than up.
I do like the tremolos and I have some custom session harps (that are loud enough to cut through a lot of instruments) that have been modified onto 260 and 270 combs from octave harps.
I have not tried Powerbender. Curious if anyone has any thoughts from using it?
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robbert
58 posts
Mar 21, 2012
8:36 PM
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Seeing Brendan play his Powerbenders, they seem like a great tuning to learn, and make a number of positions available w/o as much embouchure contortion as you need to master with obs, for instance. However, you do have to relearn how to play the harp, and reprogram all that muscle memory, if you have been previously used to Richter.
I have discovered that I am already heavily invested in Richter tuning, with the addition of getting used to obs, as well as chromatic harmonica. That's enough for me! If I can't make the music I want to make with all that, then I'm not sure any more alt. tunings are going to help. That being said, I do use a harmonic minor LO on a song, because I happen to have acquired it in the dim, distant past, and it's great.
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jim
1217 posts
Mar 22, 2012
4:22 AM
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@nacoran:
if you go down to the cheapest variant, you will not be able to adequately test those tunings because you'll have to struggle with a leaky instrument.
I'm offering seydel 1847 for the stock price of 75EUR in a variety of alt. tunings. No customizing of course, but I check the playability.
I don't think that I can go below that price niche (choosing a cheaper model for a start will just result in an expensive crappy model - I still have to charge for retuning work...)
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Willspear
92 posts
Mar 22, 2012
2:45 PM
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Session steels play quite well they are my go to harp for the most part.
I too am invested in richter but if I had known about power bender tuning before I had a massed a huge pile of richter harps and muscle memory I'd have used that tuning. Uniform breath patern seems way more fluid as well as draw notes being bent on all holes for expressive play. Making an instrument chromatic without choking reeds seems better to me.
I might invest in the rest of a set of power benders at some point. I just have one seydel 1847 in that tuning but I am not really good at going between tunings it's one or the other not both.
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