A family of new modded-Richter tunings

[IaNerd]

NAME: CoG CuD No-7ths “Neck Rack” tuning for 10-hole harp


BASIC CONCEPT:
There is a family of tunings which are basically Richter harps that have been altered only slightly. Paddy Richter, Melody Maker and Country tuning come to mind. I have never been a big fan of Richter nor its nearest relatives. But earlier this week I pursued a line of thinking that went down that path (or rabbit hole?).

If you have some “beater” Richter harps lying around, and if you can tune a reed up or down a little bit, then these can be quick and easy projects/experiments.

Here is how to make a ten-holer in this new subfamily of tunings:

1. Raise the 5 draw and the 9 draw by one semitone.
2. Depending on the initial condition of the 7 draw, either:
........a. Lower it by two semitones, to match the 6 draw, or …
........b. Raise it by three semitones, to match the 8 draw.

THAT’S IT!

You now have—what I like to call—a “neck rack tuning.” In other words, a tuning that has big, fat chordal areas, especially (and in this case exclusively) the oh-so-important I, IV and V chords of blues/pop/rock. Tunings like this are particularly good for beginners, and for people who are quite busy playing guitar, drums, etc. The blow layer of this “neck rack” tuning is a IV chord straight through--exactly the same as standard Richter. The draw layer is about about half I chord (on the left) and half V chord (on the right).


WHEN/HOW: March of 2018. I have made one and love it.


LAYOUT/DETAILS:

[IaNerd]

NAME: CoG CuD No-7ths “Neck Rack” tuning for 13-hole harp


BASIC CONCEPT:
And now for something that is not completely different …

If you have a Double-Richter tuned Lucky 13 or SBS lying around, you might try this!


WHEN/HOW: March of 2018. I have not yet had one made.


LAYOUT/DETAILS:

[IaNerd]

NAME: FiG CoG CuD No-7ths “Neck Rack” tuning for 13-hole harp


BASIC CONCEPT:
And now for something only slightly different from the tuning just above (also based on a Lucky 13 or SBS) ...

You can raise the two blow by one semitone and raise the three blow by two semitones. Now the left-most three blow reeds of the harp make an inverted bVII major chord.


WHEN/HOW: March of 2018. I have not yet had one made.


LAYOUT/DETAILS:

[IaNerd]

NAME: CoG CuD No-7ths “Neck Rack” tuning for Big Six, a.k.a. “Country” Big Six


BASIC CONCEPT:
Okay, this one is interesting ....

If you take the 10-hole tuning at the top of this Topic, and then truncate it to just six holes, you get ... a "CoG CuD No-7ths 'Neck Rack' tuning for Big Six". What a mouthful.

But wait a second ... this looks really familiar. That's because this is equivalent to a "Big Six" version of the venerable Country tuning, which in turn is very nearly good ol' Richter tuning.


WHEN/HOW: March of 2018. I have made one and love it.


LAYOUT/DETAILS:

[IaNerd]

As far as fine-tuning for intonation, this is my current thinking for this subfamily of tunings:

1. The major thirds in the blow layer (i.e. all of the Es of the CEGs, and the F of the CFA) will each be lowered to 14 cents below ET.
2. The major thirds in the draw layer (i.e. the Bs and all of the F#s) will each be lowered to 14 cents below ET.
3. I will check the remaining notes to see that they are at ET (or maybe ET +2 cents for the major fifths--but I rarely make that extra effort).

[IaNerd]

Please note that the 10-holer and the 6-holer (above) each have one full minor hexatonic blues octave, and each of the 13-holers have two uninterrupted blues octaves. Also note that all of these octaves share the same breath/bend pattern.

[karl.nilsson]

That tuning of 3 major chords in a ten-holer looks like an excellent option!

I'll try it as soon as possible on my old, very seldom used SP20 in the key of F, which then will be turned into a C harp, and will come to much better use!

Thanks for the suggestion,

Karl

[IaNerd]

Glad to hear that, Karl. I've ordered a set of five Lucky 13s and intend to convert all of them. Not sure yet which way to go with the lowest-octave blow chord (i.e. whether to leave it at a IV chord or to change it to a bVII). Thoughts on that?

[karl.nilsson]

Beyond me, really. I suppose that extra F chord makes it work for 2 keys.

In your example case, C (with C, F, G) and G (with G, C, D). That is, the I, IV and V chords, respectively.

And in G you could do that kind of bluesy chugging changes between G (I) and F (bVII).

I would keep the F chord, makes it more usable.

[IaNerd]

In that lowest octave, I'm looking forward to leaving/returning home by playing: G--F--D--C (dotted quarter)--F (eighth)--G (half).