Brendan Power & Alternative Harmonicas Forum

On this day (17January2019) I altered several of the comments and diagrams above, to make them clearer and more consistent.

Note that in the tuning below, the tonics of the slide-out layer have been moved from the 1, 5 and 9 draws to the 3, 7 and 11 draws. ADDENDUM, Jan. 13, 2020: Please note that, by using the slider, a complete Ionian scale can be played from 1 blow to 3 draw. Also note that, in the slide-in layer, the...

Bravo! Thank you very much! This is the re-tuning scheme that Brendan used just above. The slide-in layer contains the same notes but one semitone higher. In a 12-hole slide chromatic Solo harp, a total of 18 (out of 48) reeds must be re-tuned. If one started with a Bb major Solo harp, the result wo...

This reminds me of a related concept. In some tunings of some Electronic Wind Instruments (EWIs), one special key will raise the pitch by two semitones, and a different key lowers the pitch by one semitone. Pressing both gives the additive effect of raising the pitch by one semitone.

Thanks, Edvin.

Also, here is a helpful site for chord progressions of particular keys: https://www.guitar-chords.org.uk/c-harm ... hords.html

Now I am wondering if a better re-tuning (from C Standard Richter to C Harmonic Minor) would be a simple spiral, starting with D in the 1 blow and ending with C in the 7 draw. Of course, the Es and As would be flatted.

Thoughts?

Before I re-tune a Kongsheng Baby Fat to Harmonic Minor, I ask for your opinions on hole 7 .... Here are two re-tunings. The former retains more of its Standard Richter character in terms of reversing the breath pattern in hole 7. The latter un-reverses the breath patterns; in other words, it contin...