Littoral
151 posts
Oct 27, 2010
4:45 PM
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I've always lined them up alphabetically and that's worked fine for the last 30 years. Quick access in the dark. I'm setting up a new case and I was wondering about lining them up by the circle of fifths. It might help me think beyond the 3 positions I lean on.
Who cares? Just wondering how others deal with it. As many times as I've see a Crown bag of harps- even from people who can play.
Last Edited by on Oct 27, 2010 4:48 PM
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TNFrank
598 posts
Oct 27, 2010
4:48 PM
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I line em' up by key, lower to higher. Low F first then G then A, ect. up to D then that leaves 3 spots for my Deuce in A, Special 20 in Bb and HarpMaster in C.
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HarpNinja
729 posts
Oct 27, 2010
5:01 PM
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I always line them up by Circle of Fifths.
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Mike
VHT Special 6 Amp for Harp Blog
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nacoran
3083 posts
Oct 27, 2010
5:05 PM
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My harps usually end up alphabetical, (or at least lowest to highest, with LLF and LF at one end and regular F at the other.) When I'm going to be keying a bunch of songs sometimes I'll rearrange it by Circle. It really does speed up keying songs, but maybe at the cost of taking a little more work to keep in order, since alphabetizing things has been driven into our heads since we were kids. Arranging them to match the order you'll need them in a set can be helpful, at least until you start repeating keys.
The big question is vertical or horizontal! Some people come down strongly on vertical or horizontal, largely based on where their favorite brand harp stamps the key, but a vertical setup can save space on a crowded stage. Turboharp seems to have recently come down strongly in favor of the horizontal method with this invention:
Harmoniglo
There is some science involved too. The weighted reeds in low and super low harps that are stored vertically may slip a little in the slot and jam.
Ultimately, harpers who store their harps vertically will therefore tend to play higher tuned harps, and seem less manly. This will reduce there opportunities to reproduce and ultimately lead to them to a genetic dead end. Save yourself from genetic extinction and always store your harps horizontally.
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Nate
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garry
10 posts
Oct 27, 2010
6:32 PM
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i arrange mine in circle of fifths order. it's great. given a song key, that key harp is 1st position, the one before it 2nd, the one before that 3rd, etc. piece of cake. plus it helps me internalize the circle of fifths, in a way that sticks with me better than the charts.
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boris_plotnikov
286 posts
Oct 28, 2010
2:02 AM
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I arrange hamonicas in my gig belt by chromatic scale. C, Db, Low D, D, Low Eb, Eb, E, LowF, F, LowF#, F#, G, Ab, A, Bb, B, alternate tunings. Lows are befor regular
I actually don't know why, it works for me.
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bacon-fat
23 posts
Oct 28, 2010
5:12 AM
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For me, arranging harps by the Circle of Fifths works best.
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Last Edited by on Oct 28, 2010 8:20 AM
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AirMojo
24 posts
Oct 28, 2010
6:11 AM
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My first case was a leather shaving kit bag... harps just tossed in, no organization, and the harps got beat-up (that was years ago).
When I started organizing them, I would arrange them by pitch (or pretty much alphabetically by key)... until I discovered (thanks to Harp-L) the circle of 5ths and players organizing them in this manner.
Makes the best sense of all !
I also organize all my harps in different tunings in this manner (regular richter, low-keyed richters, Natural Minors, Melody Makers, Harmonic Minor, Country tuned, Paddy Richter, etc.
And this is why my main harp case holds over 100 diatonic harps !
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RunsWithScissors
38 posts
Oct 28, 2010
8:26 AM
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I had never considered organizing them in a circle of 5ths. How easy does that make it. I grew up on the circle with my piano teacher. You would have thought I'd make the connection. No genius here. Thanks for that bit.
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In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.
Friedrich Nietzsche
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harpdude61
438 posts
Oct 28, 2010
8:33 AM
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Circle of 5ths....especially if you have all 12 keys
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Littoral
154 posts
Oct 28, 2010
8:35 AM
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Ok, looks like fifths is a decent plan. Thanks!
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HarpNinja
733 posts
Oct 28, 2010
8:40 AM
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That way, you can just count to the position you want based on the key. If the tune is in A, your A harp is 1st, the next harp is 2nd (D), etc.
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Mike
VHT Special 6 Amp for Harp Blog
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mercedesrules
50 posts
Oct 28, 2010
9:43 AM
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.....Well, I guess someone should make a round case!
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toddlgreene
1990 posts
Oct 28, 2010
10:20 AM
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Get an old hat case. Then your circle of 5ths can really be in a circle!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Red-Patent-Round-HAT-WIG-Case-Bagmaster-/170556116711?pt=Luggage&hash=item27b5efcee7
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Black-Patent-Wig-Hat-Case-Storage-Traveling-/200534204101?pt=Vintage_Men_s_Women_s_Accessories&hash=item2eb0c51ec5
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Hat-Box-Travel-Case-/270654267603?pt=Vintage_Men_s_Women_s_Accessories&hash=item3f044060d3
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Todd L. Greene, Codger-in-training
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isaacullah
1208 posts
Oct 28, 2010
10:36 AM
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This thread has occurred before. If you search for that old thread in the archives you will find many more arrangement styles.
PS: for you Battlestar geeks: "This has all happened before, and it will happen again!"
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toddlgreene
1993 posts
Oct 28, 2010
10:39 AM
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Other than the fresh pissing matches that seem to crop up like wildfire, most subjects on the forum have been touched on many times. Sometimes when they get re-hashed by different folks you'll get good info.
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Todd L. Greene, Codger-in-training
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Todd Parrott
183 posts
Oct 28, 2010
3:53 PM
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Once I got into colored combs this solved my problem. Each key has a different color, so I can easily grab the key I need.
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wolfkristiansen
60 posts
Oct 28, 2010
4:24 PM
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For gigs, I keep mine horizontally in a cigar box that holds 10 harmonicas. They are not in any particular order, but are marked by a big letter on the top cover plate indicating their key. Some would end up on my amp or elsewhere during the gig, but always horizontal. I needed to see those big nail polish letters.
Years ago, I had a black vest I wore practically every gig. The vest had four pockets. Into those pockets went my four most used harps-- C, D, G and A. That saved half the trips to my harp box in the course of the evening.
Cheers,
wolf kristiansen
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