TUNING THE HARMONICA

As a new subscriber to the tunings list, I guess I'd better introduce
myself. My name is Pat Missin and I play several instruments, but my main
weapon is the humble harmonica, or rather many different harmonicas, which I
play in a variety of traditional and avant guarde styles. For the last ten
years or so, I have also worked on the repair and modification (mostly of my
own harps, for reasons of poverty and their ever-increasing price), but I
also service them for other people.

Most of my instruments are diatonic and I set them up in just, or slightly
tempered tuning, but some of them pose a few problems. Like the harmonium
that Helmholtz et al, used for their experiments, the harmonica produces
very strong combinational tones, some of which can sound quite unpleasant,
even on a well tuned harp. These tones are often unbearable on an equal
tempered harmonica, such as the standard chromatic instrument.

For those of you who do not know, the chromatic harmonica is based around
repeating groups of four holes, each with a blow note and a draw note. The
blow notes in each group are C, E, G, C and the draw notes are D, F, A, B.
When a button is pressed, another set of reeds is brought into play, tuned a
semitone above the first set, allowing a complete chromatic scale. (Actually
there are a few duplicated notes in each octave E# as well as F; B# as well
as C, but in equal temperament, these are to all intents and purposes F and
C.) The blow notes seem to cry out for a just major triad (on C and C#), but
the draw chord poses a bit more of a problem. D, F, A and B tuned as a G7
without a root, sounds great as a full chord in the key of C, but the
septimal seventh causes the individual intervals to sound horrible in, for
example, the key of F.

When the chromaatic is played in many different keys, I guess equal is an
obvious choice, but many players (Irish folk players, for example) use it as
a modal instrument, using the semitone button for ornamentations, but
sticking to a few closely related keys (in the case of Irish music on a C
harmonica, the favored modes would be C ionian, G ionian and mixolydian, D
aeolian and dorian). The presence of the notes D, F and A in the draw chord
suggest that it should be tuned towards D minor or F major. I've tried
various meantone ideas, but I wondered if any of you out there have any
other suggestions (other than "buy a synthesiser...").

Also, if you play all the notes on a C chromatic, you get the folowing
sequence: C, C#, D, D#, E, E#, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, B#, C and C#; the
next octave starting again from C. That's sixteen notes to the octave - this
must suggest some ideas to someone out there - please let me know.

Pat Missin.


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