Happy Harp retuning

Joe may be interested to know that it is also possible to retune the fixed reeds on harmonicas, by scratching away metal from the root or end of each reed with a file or screwdriver.
One end sharpens, the other flattens. I can't remember which is which at present though ;-)

Someone on the list must know immediately which is which.

--
~====================================================~
Charles Lucy - lucy@harmonics.com (LucyScaleDevelopments)
------------ Promoting global harmony through LucyTuning -------
for information on LucyTuning go to http://www.harmonics.com/lucy/
or Lucytuned Lullabies go to
http://www.lucytune.com or http://www.lucytune.co.uk or http://www.lullabies.co.uk

--- In tuning@y..., Charles Lucy <lucy@h...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_38825.html#38825

> Joe may be interested to know that it is also possible to retune
the
> fixed reeds on harmonicas, by scratching away metal from the root
or end
> of each reed with a file or screwdriver.
> One end sharpens, the other flattens. I can't remember which is
which at
> present though ;-)
>
> Someone on the list must know immediately which is which.
>

***Thanks, Charles! Wouldn't it be interesting to have a *chorus* of
different harmonicas, all playing in microtonality!

J. Pehrson

In-Reply-To: <3D6054F8.8030105@harmonics.com>
Charles Lucy wrote:

> Joe may be interested to know that it is also possible to retune the
> fixed reeds on harmonicas, by scratching away metal from the root or
> end of each reed with a file or screwdriver.
> One end sharpens, the other flattens. I can't remember which is which
> at present though ;-)

Full instructions are at <http://www.patmissin.com/tunings/tunings.html>

> Someone on the list must know immediately which is which.

Filing the free end must sharpen, because you're shortening the
wavelength.

Graham

Scratching away metal from the tip (unattached)
sharpens the note and vice versa. I have extensively
used following web site to listen to the tempered and
just tuned notes.

http://pages.globetrotter.net/roule/accord.htm

This site allows you to listen to two notes at the
same time, with different tunings and also allows you
to detune the note and try to tune it using your ears.
You can always cross check the accuracy later.

It was easier for me to practice this way before
scraping the metal off of the reeds.

-Vivek
--- graham@microtonal.co.uk wrote:
> In-Reply-To: <3D6054F8.8030105@harmonics.com>
> Charles Lucy wrote:
>
> > Joe may be interested to know that it is also
> possible to retune the
> > fixed reeds on harmonicas, by scratching away
> metal from the root or
> > end of each reed with a file or screwdriver.
> > One end sharpens, the other flattens. I can't
> remember which is which
> > at present though ;-)
>
> Full instructions are at
> <http://www.patmissin.com/tunings/tunings.html>
>
> > Someone on the list must know immediately which is
> which.
>
> Filing the free end must sharpen, because you're
> shortening the
> wavelength.
>
>
> Graham
>
>

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs
http://www.hotjobs.com

--- In tuning@y..., graham@m... wrote:
> In-Reply-To: <3D6054F8.8030105@h...>
> Charles Lucy wrote:
>
> > Joe may be interested to know that it is also possible to retune
the
> > fixed reeds on harmonicas, by scratching away metal from the root
or
> > end of each reed with a file or screwdriver.
> > One end sharpens, the other flattens. I can't remember which is
which
> > at present though ;-)
>
> Full instructions are at
<http://www.patmissin.com/tunings/tunings.html>
>
> > Someone on the list must know immediately which is which.
>
> Filing the free end must sharpen, because you're shortening the
> wavelength.
>
> Graham

Filing or scratching to remove some of the metal *near* the free end
will put the center of mass closer to the fulcrum (i.e. fixed end) of
the reed tongue and will therefore increase the frequency, raising
the pitch. Do not file anything off at the very end; this would
shorten the tongue and cause air leakage between the tongue and the
frame, which should have a very close fit (without touching) for the
reed to function properly.

Removing enough metal near the fixed end of the reed to have a
significant effect on the pitch would severely weaken the reed
tongue, so that should not be done. Instead, to lower the pitch,
remove some of the metal about midway between the two ends; this will
put the center of mass closer to the free end of the reed tongue,
decreasing the frequency and thus lowering the pitch.

(This information can be found in Helmholtz's "Sensations of Tone".
It was provided for the benefit of 19th-century experimenters, who
frequently used the harmonium to explore alternative tuning systems.)

--George