Request help with terminology

[IaNerd]

Consider the following:

Case 1:
Blow: D F A C
Draw: C E G B

Case 2:
Blow: B D F A
Draw: C E G B

I think I have been using the term "inverted" for both of these kinds of tunings. Case 1 could be considered "inverted" because each blow is higher than its respective draw. Case 2 could be considered "inverted" because the tonic is in the draw layer.

I think it would be best not to conflate these two meanings by using the same term. Maybe there is already a convention for naming these and I have simply been sloppy all this time.

Can you help?

[Brendan]

Personally I think of it as Case 2. I came up with the name "Inverted Solo Tuning" after discovering that I had it lurking in my Slide-Diatonic harmonicas all along - just slightly altered. Basically it's the same key scale, but with the breath directions reversed.

Here's the version in key of C I use in my Slide-Diatonics. It's not a pure Inverted Solo scale because it's altered slightly for use in Irish music. It gives me doubled C and D notes, which I find very useful because they are adjacent to the fifths below

Code: Select all

CB  CD  EF  GA  CB  CD  
dc  de  fg  ac  dc  de

The optimal full Inverted Solo Tuning (eg. for use in a diatonic harmonica as the main scale) is this:

Code: Select all

BC  DE  FG  AC  BC  DE....

Since it's for playing in C, it gives all the main notes 1st/3rd/5th as expressive bendable draw notes, as well as the adjacent fifth/tonic with the doubled C.

[triona]

I exchanged the upper and the bottom reed plates of a standard Richter harmonica, just as an experiment. The tone layout of each reed plate remained the same. Air direction changed from blow to draw and vice versa. Bending, overblow and overdraw changed fundamentally. The latter I did not yet check out completely.

I don't know how to call this. But I suppose it could be rated as a third kind of "Inversion". And it gives a very interesting new feeling of playing, especially when playing full chords.


dear greetings
triona

[EdvinW]

How about saying the top four holes of Richter are blow-high, while the first six are draw-high?

Otherwise, you could consider the breathing pattern of the first six holes regular, while the top four are flipped. How about that?

Inversion is already used, not only for Brendan's Inverted Solo, but also when concerning inverted chords, like Triona mentions. I'd prefer not to include more meanings.