Hello, I got a new Crossover harmonica here and I was hoping to get's some help with understanding the tuning used on it.
When I play it alone, it sounds fantastic. But When I play it in a rack along with my keyboard, it's sound very sharp.
I'm not sure if it's an issue with my embrasure, or if it's some kind of Euro make tuning spec. I picked it up in a little shop in Salzburg (but it does say A440 on it). If I narrow my airflow I can get it to sound a bit more in tune...but it's difficult for me.
Here's a link to show the pitches I'm getting with my standard airflow technique embrasure.
Thanks for any guidance!
---------- Sun, sun, sun Burn, burn, burn Soon, soon, soon Moon, moon, moon
Last Edited by on Jun 02, 2012 3:01 PM
The harmonica is probably tuned to 444. But man when you get higher on the harp, it really gets sharp! I wonder what the octaves sound like? can you change the reference pitch of your computer thingy there to see what it is? I have a feeling 1 blow is flat. I think hole 4 is more in line with what the reference pitch should actually be.
I actually went to school in Salzburg for a while. We had a school set up at Haus Wartenburg on the Redenburgerstrasse. It was about a kilometer from the tunnel. Used to drink two or three times a week at the Augustiner Brauhaus there in Muelln - we were maybe two or three kilometers from there. It was close enough that would could ride our bicycles back after about three or four liters. Would love to get back there someday. Wouldn't mind cracking open another Stiegel, either, lol. The Pizza Mann was about a block from us. That's where I started eating anchovies on pizzas.
I bought the peterson strobosoft deluxe tuner.....wow, this thing is great!.
Testing the Crossover on the strobe reveals the 4 blow C to be 25 cents sharp. I think this corresponds to concert pitch @A446.
I really like this harp, but the tuning is really difficult for playing against a guitar or piano. I anxious to go scratching and filing it with my lee oskar tool kit.....but if past results are any indication, my crossover will be trashed.
If I had a few Steigl's and some tafelspitz, I'd surely have the courage to tune this bad boy up! ---------- Sun, sun, sun Burn, burn, burn Soon, soon, soon Moon, moon, moon
Last Edited by on Jun 03, 2012 7:48 AM
@JInx Just be careful with the tuning, and nothing can go wrong--if you remove too much from the rivet end, take a little off the tip. The key is to check the tuning frequently--oh yeah, and don't bend the reed LOL
the Crossover is 443 according to steve baker of hohner. the Crossover is his baby. in a perfect world, if you set your tuner to 443 and blew in 4 blow it would zero out, being as 0=443. other notes,(3rds for instance) are -5 from 443. tuning can be a beast. he (baker) even suggests tuning one draw 6-8 cents sharp when re-tuning.
i just retuned a Crossover yesterday. they are wierd, but i dig 'em. i unless you are awesome with tools i suggest you avoid the Lee Oskar tool kit. the file is too rough and the small chisel is deadly. i use the big chisel for scraping stuff around the house. also the brass reed lifting tool can and will snag reeds. ---------- MP affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
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Last Edited by on Jun 03, 2012 12:04 PM
I took the crossover out today for a jaunt around town. I had a blast with the thing. I'm not going to mess with it, it sounds brilliant, like a trumpet section.
I wan't to tune, but not on this crossover. I picked up a 3 pack of Hoodoo Blues harps. and one of these from EC Lyons
The Crossover is tuned to a comprimise tuning and NOT equal tuning. You also have to remember that the amount of breath force you use will often drastically change how things sound. Harmonicas are NEVER tuned to real A440 for the reason that the average player often plays much harder in terms of breath force than they realize. Harps are tuned closer to A442 to A444 because if harps were tuned to true A440, in the way most players play, the harp would actually wind up being closer to as much as A437, which would be about 1/4 step flat and I'm not BS'ing you at all about that.
Just the slightest difference in your breath force plus also taking into account the way you manipulate your embouchure along with breath moisture as well as when you play, you also have the factor of a layer(s) of dead skin hitting the reed, and when those things occur, if either lands towards the riveted end of the reed, the pitch will get sharp and at the free end, the reed will get flat.
The Seydel and Richard Sleigh tool kits have very high qualityand they're pro grade level tools and in just about all of the tool kits offered by harp manufacturers, they ALL tend to have two huge weak points and that's the files and screwdriver and they're usually crap quality Chinese made products which I'd just as soon throw in the trash. The only thing each one has that's really useful and decent quality are the reed wrenches and their wrenches are made to fit only the harps that they make and every manufacturer's dimensions are ALL different from each other. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
There is no way I blow this thing hard enough to get it down to A440. It's ridiculous for hohner to stamp A440 on it. ---------- Sun, sun, sun Burn, burn, burn Soon, soon, soon Moon, moon, moon
if you tune an "a" harp to 443 it is 12 cents sharp what that allows you to do is tune the next note c# 12 cents flat and it will be in perfect tune without sounding flat. now the 5 hole draw is typically set 27 cents flat. but since you have a 12 cent cushion it sounds somewhat satisfactory. if you tuned to 440 that note would be so flat no one would want to hear a harmonica being played with other instruments.
Last Edited by on Jun 17, 2012 1:47 PM
Bob, I'm moving to Boston this fall. After watching your posts for years, knowing I have much to learn, I hope we will meet in person soon. ---------- 12gagedan's YouTube Channel
@1847: Ah, I see. So the aim of the Crossover tuning is to get the 3rd's to be in tune with other ET tuned instruments. Thanks! I'll start listening for that now. I had been focusing on the roots and 5ths.
The 3rds in 1st and 2nd position are tuned 5 cents flatter than ET. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
