Re: Hering Tuning

>James Freer wrote:
>
>>~Hi again members
>>
>>Forgive a virtual repost. In it I asked what the tuning was for a Soloist 
>>- mine appears to be 444.
>>
>>
>Hello, James.  Don't worry about reposts, especially when you have unmet 
>needs :)  Unfortunately, my answer has to be "I have no clue".  I have read 
>some reports saying that Hering tuning is generally imprecise, which means 
>that there is no good simple numerical answer.
>
>But perhaps we might try to do better.  Does your computer have a working 
>internal speaker?  If desired, I can probably write a program which will 
>step through the various frequencies (430, 431, 432 ... 451, 452, 453) so 
>that, if you play an A on your test instrument, you will hear a match when 
>the computer generates the matching tone.

All the harmonicas I've come across (and that is a very large number, such 
was my propensity for destroying 'em in my misspent youth!), whether 
tremolo, chromatic or single-reed diatonic, have been tuned slightly 
"bright," the thinking being that hard playing will slightly flatten the 
notes played.  I use a cheap chromatic tuner and tune the harp to the tonic 
note already provided on the harp as long as it's somewhere between A441 and 
A444 inclusive.   If you're playing with other instruments tuned to concert 
pitch, A440, you'd have to have a superb ear to hear pitches below A444 as 
"sharp," but you'd soon pick up anything below A440 as "flat," even if it's 
just an uncomfortable feeling that something doesn't sound "quite right."   
Definitely don't fret about your harp's tuning as long as it seems to be 
somewhere between A441 and A444.

When you're checking your harp with a tuner you have to remember that the 
tuner is set to show equal temperament tuning.  A lot of harps are not in 
this tuning so you may get the impression that some reeds are "slightly out" 
- this is deliberate, as the manufacturers are trying to provide a 
compromise tuning that will not sound too out-of-tune and at the same time 
allow chords to sound "sweet" (not the case with equal temperament).

I don't know the set-up of every harp ever invented, but I do know the 
following:

Lee Oskars, Suzuki 10-hole harps and Hohner Golden Melodies are tuned to 
equal temperament.

Chromatics are tuned to equal temperament.

Hohner Echos are in a compromise tuning.  I can't speak for other tremolos.

Hohner blues harps, Big Rivers, Marine Bands and Special 20s are in a 
compromise tuning.

The only harp I know that comes in true Just Intonation is the Hering 1923 
Vintage 10-hole.

You should find ("should" being the operative word) that most Hohners and 
Suzukis are reasonably reliably-tuned.  Lee Oskars are even better, being 
the harps with the best quality control around.  As Tombo make them, I'm 
confident that Tombo harps would be pretty good as well.

Steve

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