From: "Michael Polesky MPA" Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 21:01:11 -0800 Subject: 64 reeds in place of tenors - a success
Hi All,
Well I have neglexted to mention something that I have been trying out recently. Siegfried came up with the idea of putting the "lower 3 octaves" of 64 plates in my recent tenor CB-12 from him. This means he took some 64 reed plates and cut off the highest octave to make a 12 hole "tenor tuned" set of plates. The thinking behind this is that the reeds for normal tenor tuning are made just slightly lnger than those for regular tuning which, at the very high end, are particularly short. the 64 reeds are longer than both and the high end has "normal length" reeds like the middle of a 270 regular C tuned in a sense.
I have to admit that this is a great success. The longer reeds at the bottom are somthing I have grown used to anyway from playing 64's. they are rather "normal". However, the top notes are truly much easier to blow and control with the "moderate length" reeds rather than the short ones. The end result is an instrument that plays beautifullly and more "evenly" in the top octaves. It does have the feel of a 64 in the bottom octave and 64's with their very long low reeds need a little adjustment. Since I have been playing 64's for a while the size of the reeds throughout is comfortable. It is, in fact, the size of tenor tuned reeds that are 'abnormal" in that sense. However, I like the tenor tuned low notes and I wager the best arrangement would be to have about tenor sized reeds at the bottom leading to the 64 sized reeds at the top. This would leave the reeds nearly all the same length with only a minor change compared to the more drastic ones currently produced. I'll have to wait for someone to build me those plates ;-).
I recevied today in the mail a long awaited Silver Virtuoso from Bill Romel and this also included 64 instead of tenor tuned plates on a 12 hole. Again the advantage of the longer reeds at the top is clear and the bottom is excellent and "normal" to play. I think the 64 reeds in a 12 hole chromatic are very successful for the tenors. I may stick with this preference for all my custom harps as time goes on. It is often difficult to fit these plates in the same small space as regular 270 or 12 hole plates, so they usually will require their own body (i.e. a new harp!). having tried this combination in a CB and a Virtuoso I can tell you I love it. Hats off to Siegfried for the idea.
I'll give everyone an update on the new Virtuoso very soon. I will still call this almost a "prototype" because Bill came up with wonderful new ideas at every stage and the next version will have even more special features. These are available, of course, with regular tunings and will work fine with special tunings as well and nearly anything else you can think of. The CB you should all know about. If not, nothing like a good plug for these babies. I'll be happy to expound ;-).
