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From: dijk~orldaccess.nl
Date: Tue, 03 Sep 96 22:29:02 GMT
Subject: Tuning system for the chromaticaly played 'diatonic' harmonica?

Which tuning system is the best for the chromaticaly played diatonic harmonica?

As I already mentioned on the list, I received Pat Missin his overview of
tuning systems including diatonic harmonicas and chromatic harmonicas.

It is striking that the number of tuning systems for the diatonic harmonica is
much larger than the number of tuning systems for chromatic harmonicas.
Ofcourse the reason is very simple, I think. The diatonic harmonica was based
on the major scale. But a lot of music is based on other scales than the major
scale. First, people did try out different tuning systems. After a while,
bending and overblowing/drawing became a standard technique. So, different
tuning systems became less interesting. Am I right? It is only a thought and it
sounds logical to me but I don't know if the history is the way I think it is.

So, musicians discovered techniques to be able to play more pitches than
originaly intended by the manufacturer. A diatonic harmonica player uses the
following techniques to be able to play a chromatic scale on the diatonic
harmonica; draw, blow, draw bend, blow bend, over draw, over blow.

Because of the interference of the blow and draw reed during the act of bending
a note (or overblowing/drawing which is physicaly the same), the tuning system
is a very important bases concerning the bending possibilities (and ofcourse
the chromatic possibilities). Am I right?

Does a perfect tuning system excist concidering the possibilities of bending
and overblowing/drawing? Which one is the best? I can imagine, the Richter
tuning isn't the best in this situation because it does not concider the
bending and overblowing/drawing techniques.

So, maybe the name 'diatonic harmonica' is no longer valid, because the tone
division of such a harmonica is not based on a diatonic scale at all.

I hope someone has experience with this subject.

Wim Dijkgraaf
The Netherlands