Fwd: [Harp-L] Blow/Draw Switch at Hole 7

["Winslow Yerxa" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Why does the tuning flip at hole 7?

The major scale has 7 notes. In C they're C D E F G A B

If the blow notes in holes 4-5-6 are C-E-G, then the draw notes will
be what's left: D-F-A-B.

But wait, that means there are 4 draw notes but only 3 blow notes. So
in Hole 7 we get C/B instead of the C/D in Hole 4. That's where the
tuning flips - in Hole 8 we get E/D instead of E/F, in Hole 9 G/F
instead of G/A. and in Hole 10, the gap gets even wider - now it's C/A
instead of C/D or even C/B. In diatonics with more than ten holes, it
continues to get further and further out of whack.

Has anyone attempted to deal with this? Sure, many times. The simplest
and perhaps oldest scheme is called Solo Tuning. It's used in the
chromatic and in some diatonics:

Each octave has 4 holes: Blow C-E-G-C, and draw D-F-A-B.

Eveything stays in sync, but you have 2 C notes side by side, one with
Draw B and the other with Draw D. This causes its own set of problems.

Some people tune the C that goes with B down to Bb or A. And there are
many more schemes out there that alter both solo and German Major
tuning. Brendan POwer once built himself an 11-hole diatonic just to
"correct" this "problem".

However, the flipped tuning in the top four holes also offers its own
set of oppotunities. I even know of some tunings that exaggerate the
contrast between upper and lower registers to capitalize on those
opportunities.

Winslow

>--- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Jonathan Metts"
<jonathan@...> >wrote:
>
>Can someone explain to me why the Richter tuning pattern of blow/draw
>switches at hole 7 on a diatonic?  And has anyone tried setting up a
>harp so that there is no switchover (draw bends and overblows across
>the entire harp)?
>
>Jonathan Metts