[Harp-L] (no subject)

[Daniel Bernard <danielbernard13@xxxxxxxxx>]

FernandoFernandoYou said:“[W]e
listed the keys in the catalogue from low to high.” … “How do you define how
high or low a harmonica is, if each note has a high and a low note played
unison?” … You went on to describe the keys from lowest to highest D – C for
the Autovalve. … “The difference between the Marine Band Octave (Concerto) and
Auto Valve Harp is clearly the presence of valves in the Auto Valve. I wouldn't
live without them. The Marine Band Octave is also only available in C and G.” …
“To be honest, Daniel, I don't know about the sympathetic vibrations. As far as
my experience go, Just Intonation may sound fuller, but not because the
opposing reed is vibrating in sympathy. So I don't believe that you need a
valveless Auto Valve to get the intended effects of the Just Intonation
temperament. On the other hand, I haven't made experiments aimed at this
phenomena. so YMMV. And it is really easy to rip [out] the windsavers of a
harmonica. To glue them back is just a little bit more complicated, but not too
much.”




I say:


The obvious way to compare
which one is high and which one is low would be in comparison to one
another.  The Marine Band Octave is
listed as C,G!  There is the possibility
that this is in violation of Hohner’s convention of listing the low first and
the high last.  If that is true, the G,C
Concert Tuned are exactly the same as the G,C AutoValve minus the valves.  On the other hand, if C,G is indeed listed
as low to high, the Concert Tuned C is lower than the AutoValve C, or the
Concert Tuned G is higher than the Autovalve G.  Obviously I want the highest one, be it Concert Tuned, or
AutoValve.  


 


Fernado; That’s what I want
to know?


 


Ya’all out there in
cyberspace:


 


Concerning the consonance
and the interaction of the reeds in just intonation:  I really didn’t expect an answer to that one, but it’s out there,
so here I go for the benefit of whoever is a fan of just intonation.  It is not much of an experiment to prove
that the reeds in the same channel interact. 
If I was slick enough with valves, I could probably make that comparison
that way, but I’m not.  However, the
comparison is rather obvious even without valves.  


 


You can take the cover
plates off your harmonicas and feel the vibrations with your hand while you
activate the opposing reed.  I can’t say
that I feel a difference between equal temperament and just intonation.  But we all know where bends come from, and I
think I recognize the sound of the reeds interacting.  I converted a Huang Jazz Harp and a Lee Oskar Melody Maker into
just intonation.  Single notes are much
easier to bend in just intonation.  I
get the interaction even if I’m not trying to bend the note.  A nice clear single note is another
matter.  That is very hard to get on the
two harps in question.  I’ve played them
on the phone for people who swear that the just intonation makes a hissing
sound.  People that here it live swear
that they don’t hear anything.  Go
figure!


 


As a matter of pure logic,
the errors that you make tuning a harmonica will average out with the reeds
interacting in the same channel. 
Whatever imperfections remain are what I call timbre.  I have no idea if that is correct!  It sounds pretty good in chords.  Single notes also sound great if you can
avoid the elephant fart effect on the lower tones. 


 


Lee Oskar is a single note
kind of guy.  Yet I think he really
stepped on it when he decided to put pure equal temperament on his Melody
Makers.  They have the worst chords of
any harmonica going.  He doesn’t
recommend them for the blues.  Yet the
Melody Maker format will play more consonantly in just intonation than a
standard Richter tuned format in just intonation.  I’m going to write a paper on the subject.  It should be ready by Christmas.  It’s not that it will take me that long to
write.  It’s just that I don’t have time
to write it at this moment.  Till then,
you will have to take my word for it.


 


If any blues players out
there want to get some good bluesy chords in the Ionian mode rather than the
Mixolydian mode [no flat B], go ahead and put a Melody Maker into 5 limit just
intonation.  [Hohner’s Country Tuned
Special 20 comes out of the box in some kind of just intonation.  I’ve been told that they are not a big
seller.  Ya’all might be missing
something here!]  Earlier on this forum,
I asked how to play chords.  It seems
that there is no pat systematic answer to that kind of question.  But trust me, having a harmonica that plays
chords well is a huge help.


 


Dan





 
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