[Harp-L] A Instead of doubled C in Chromatics: Gallison Tuning



I saw the recent posts from JR, Winslow and others regarding replacing
the left-hand doubled C with an A (and the slide in C# with a Bb) in
chromatics. I've also played with it and made a couple for customers; it
is a good tuning.

It's not widely known, but there is one top player who has been tuning
his chroms this way for years: William Gallison. William is not just a
fantastic player with great technique, taste and soul, but a very
knowledgeable harp technician with some innovative ideas for improvement
of the instrument.

One advantage of substituting the A for the doubled C (instead of the Bb
in Bebop tuning) is that, if you half-valve the chrom, it allows more
semitone bending. William does use this effect on the higher range, as
he trims his valves short enough to allow him to bend the B above the A;
you can hear it on his recent album with Madeline Peyroux. As far as I
know, all his recorded work uses chroms with this scale - which is going
back about 15 years. 

In light of his stature in the harp scene and the fact he's recorded
extensively with this tuning, I suggest it should be named for him:
Gallison Tuning. 

Gallison Tuning also gives you four built-in enharmonics: doubled F, A,
Bb, and C notes (the same number as Bebop, but different ones). It
doesn't have quite the same propensity as Bebop to make playing in
different keys easier, but the added expression available in half-valved
configuration makes up for that in my opinion.

The proviso is that you need to have a very airtight chromatic if you
wish to half-valve some or all of the notes. Half-valving most
off-the-shelf chromatics will only result in a woolly tone on the
unvalved notes, plus a marked disparity between in tone between them and
the valved notes, which can be quite off-putting. The reeds also need to
be re-set for minimum air loss.

Brendan
WEBSITE: http://www.brendan-power.com 

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