Brendan Power & Alternative Harmonicas Forum

Re: modular-reed harmonicas In the near past I spent crazy amounts of money using Seydel's Configurator to try out alternate tunings. More recently I have been trying, whenever practicable, to buy cheap Chinese harps on Amazon and then re-tune them. So for an alternate-tuning geek like me, the prosp...

The re-tuning recipe for a 10-hole harmonica that is shown in the September 12 post above requires some fairly drastic changes to some of the reeds. The following three recipes are more practical.

http://brendan-power.com/forum/download ... iew&id=317

I just received this yesterday. I've tried the circular kinds but I like this linear layout much better. Made of thick, sturdy plastic. 2-sided with tons of information. Dead simple to use. Wish I had this years ago.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B074MRBC ... p_mb_pd_t2

Sometimes evolution involves simplification rather than elaboration (think: lizards --> snakes). In that fashion, we take the 6-chord tuning from above and reduce it to the most essential four chords: I -- IV -- V -- vi. Getting there by re-tuning a Richter Lucky 13 entails re-tuning two additional ...

This extends the concept just above to a 13-hole format. Note that once again, the job of re-tuning the top chambers actually gets easier.

download/file.php?mode=view&id=336

Having the I, IV and V chords within a tuning is a real advantage when playing popular western music of the 20th and 21st centuries. After that, probably the next most important chord in common progressions would be the vi chord. Therefore .... http://www.brendan-power.com/forum/download/file.php?mo...

Another way to arrive at the "August 28" tuning (above) via another commonly available tuning:

download/file.php?mode=view&id=290

The Post above ends with: "One plausible way to reassign the last two draw notes is: A (a repeat of its neighbor to the left), requiring a raise of one semitone, and then D, which requires no change at all." Here is the diagram for that idea: http://www.brendan-power.com/forum/download/file.php?mode...

DIAGRAM FOR THE ABOVE ADDENDUM: In the diagram below, a Lucky 13 in the key of F can be re-tuned to become the Extended August 28 tuning in the key of G . In like fashion: a Lucky 13 in G can become this new tuning in "band" key of A. a Lucky 13 in Bb can become this new tuning in "band key" of C. ...

ADDENDUM: Regarding the "August 28" tuning (above) vis-a-vis 12- and 13-hole harmonica formats : To extend and make complete the lowest (partial) blues scale octave , a "chamber zero" can be added. For a harp in the key of C (Crossharp G), that added chamber would be a (G blow)/(B draw). This chang...