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From: Winslow Yerxa <76450.32~ompuserve.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 15:31:20 -0500
Subject: Solo tuned diatonics

TO: internet:harp~arply.com

Recently there's been some talk of using solo-tuned diatonics.
These give a way of playing a complete major scale (and its
various modes) through 3 octaves, and of playing slideless third
position blues as on a chromatic, for less money.

=== 1. MORE MODELS

I'd like to point out that Huang has several solo-tuned models,
in addition to that little single-reed beginner model in C.

Huang makes both octave-tuned and tremolo-tuned diatonics in solo
tuning - he tends to avoid Knittlinger tuning with its
crazier-than-richter upper octave patchwork. As a chromatic
player, he seems to like using solo tuning wherever possible.

He makes the octave tuning only in C and C# (the Cathedral
Concert, available as a boxed pair or separately) - too bad, as I
feel that this is probably more attractive to blues players. The
Musette models - the tremolo ones - come in several keys,
inclusing a multi-key rotary grouping. Quality is decent and
prices are relatively low.

Anyway, these instruments give you a way of getting solo tuning
in several keys at a fairly low price. If you don't want the
tremolo part, mask off the lower reedplate with tape.

My only real quibble with these instruments is the air it takes
to play them - true of Huang chord harmonicas as well. They can
benefit from valving.

== 2. ALTERNATE TUNINGS

Alternate tunings for Solo Tuning are something I'm starting to
fiddle with. Maybe Pat Lissin has already detailed these.

The traditional way of making a harmonica in a key other than C
is to transpose the entire tuning up or down. But on most
instruments - including chromatic harmonica - you keep the tuning
and just change the notes that differ from the C scale. For F
major, you change B to Bb, for Bb, change E to Eb as well. For G,
change F to F#, and for D, change C to C# as well. And so on.

This principle can be seen in Lee Oskar's tunings - Melody Maker
in G is just a C harp retuned to a G scale, while G natural minor
is a C harp retuned to a Bb scale. It's also the starting
principle for Brendan Power's tunings - he takes a C chromatic
and re-aligns it to a G scale for 2nd position in a major mode.

But I've never seen it taken all the way through the key
signatures. Imagine a set of Huang Cadet Soloists re-tuned to all
12 keys. It'd be a way of learning how key signatures work, as
well as a way of getting familiar with the layouts of all 12 keys
on C solo tuning, without a slide or valves. (although radical
variations are possible - imagine a Db position with Db as a draw
note instead of as a C# blow note).

Of course chordal possibilities can also be accounted for. And
here that Double C becomes very useful. It allows for 4-note
chords on both blow and draw. Instead of duplicating two notes
side-by-side (as in the almost universally-despised double C's)
It can duplicate a draw note - almost essential for the basic
chords in any key.

Here's regular Solo Tuning:


DRAW D F A B D F A B

BLOW C E C C C E G C

Here's a Bb Tuning:

DRAW D F A Bb D F A Bb

BLOW C Eb G Bb C Eb G Bb

The draw chord can be Bb, Bb maj7, D minor, and a partial F
chord. The blow chord can be C minor, and with the duplicated Bb,
Eb and a partial G minor - four full chords and two partials;
that's six of the seven chords in that key. Yeah, we've got a
semitone and a whole tone in the harmony, but since when are
these so terribly dangerous?

Here's an E tuning:

DRAW D# F# A B D# F# A B

BLOW C# E G# B C# E G# B

We get B7, D# diminished and a partial F# minor on the draw
chord. On the blow chord, we get both C# minor and, thans to the
doubled B, an E major chord, along with a partial A and a partial
G# minor.

Considering how cheap the Cadet Soloist is (list $10.99, $6.60 at
Farrell's) and even the souble-reeded Cathedral Concert and
Musette (both list at $12.99, $7.80 at Farrell) this is not
costly to play around with.



Well, we can do the same thing with a diatonic, whether solo,
Richter or Knittlinger tuned. I started out doing this with the
cheap $5 tremolos you can get in Chinatown, then decided to try
it on a




Winslow Yerxa
Harmonica Information Press
Z