[Harp-L] Paddy Richter Tuning
Aongus MacCana
harmonica you can't afford to play one" I know what he meant, but somehow
cannot bring myself to attack a mouth organ with "extreme prejudice" except
as a last resort. Too many tinplate toys dismantled beyond repair in my
youth I guess.
At Willie Clancy last year I saw Rick Epping "Paddy Richterise" a harmonica
for one of the students in a matter of minutes with the minimum of equipment
so I know it can be done. (I have heard Ronald Chesney play The Flight of
the Bumble Bee on a C Chromatic, so I know that that can be done too
although I have never got much past the second bar!)
My weapon of choice for Irish music is a G Chromatic (Which I realise is a
very "cissie" way of getting the necessary notes)I am beginning to wonder
whether the Seydel 12 hole Solist - solo tuned - might not be a more cost
effective alternative - if it was available in G and if I could only learn
how to bend?
Aongus Mac Cana
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Ken Hildebrand
The Seydel 12 hole Solist is NOT solo tuned. It would
have to be re-tuned to be so.
Its a shorter version of the Hohner Steve Baker
Special (SBS-365), where the holes 1-3 are like a
regular 10-hole diatonic holes 1-3 only lower in
patch, then the remaing holes (4-12 on the Seydel) are
like the holes 1-9 on a regular 10-hole diatonic.
Its a cool diatonic harp, but made for blues-type
music.
I have retuned several harps to Paddy Richter, and
replaced reeds. I also screwed up a few, but that
seems to be part of the learning process.
Experts like Rick Epping have worked on countless
harmonicas over the years, so they naturally make it
look very easy.
The main thing is to be patient and not be in a hurry,
and also have the right tools and space to work (clean
workbench and good lighting always help!). Also
recognize when you are getting tired or frustrated and
stop working on it until you have taken a break (even
if its an hour, days, or weeks between starting
again).
Get Rupert Oysler's Harmonica Repair DVD if you do not
already have it. I'm always going back to it for
reference, because often months go by in between my
harmonica projects. Its available at:
Use your old harps or buy some of those inexpensive
harps (like the Blue Steel, Piedmonts, etc) to try
re-tuning, embossing, gapping etc. Most if not all
should have screws attaching the reed-plates to the
comb which always helps (much better then my old
Special 20's and Golden Melodies with nails/brads!).
Without retuning reeds, you can get both a Paddy
Richter harp and a Country-tuned harp by buying a Lee
Oskar Major tuned and a Lee Oskar Melody Maker and
switching the top reed plates.
The MM harp will now be a Paddy Richter and the the
regular major richter harp will now be a country-tuned
harp.
So buy a regular major tuned LO in key of G, and a LO
melody maker in key of D (labeled in 2nd position),
and switch the top reed plates.
Learning to bend just takes practice--we've all been
there, and most, including myself, need to always
practice getting these bends to be the best possible.
Try a different embouchure if you are having
problems... lip blocking or puckering is usually
always easier than tongue blocking (for me at least).
Playing harmonicas is suppose to be about having fun,
and if gets frustrating or seems too hard most people
will give up, and you do NOT want to do give up... you
want to make music and enjoy it !
Ken H in OH
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Ken Hildebrand
I should have said the MM will now be a country-tuned
harp and the regular major tuned harp will be the
paddy richter tuned harp.
Ken H in OH
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Rupert Oysler
both in regular C and in LC ( it also comes in the modified SBS-type
tuning described by Ken, in LD, LA and LC). It is also possible to order
solo tunings in other keys and in other harps (10 hole diatonics) by
clicking on the "specialities" tab under the logo near the top of the
seydelusa web page.
Hope this helps,
Rupert Oysler
www.seydelusa.com
Aongus MacCana
Thank you very much for this kind encouragement. I am pretty sure that
Seydel make the 12 hole Solist in solo tuned version, because I have a hazy
memory of a review of it in the Seydel Newsletter and they even gave music
clips illustrating the different tunings. If I can recover the link I will
send it to you. No doubt Rupert Oysler would be able to tell us whether they
do or not. When I had the good fortune to meet Igor Flach, Seydel's "Man in
Berlin" a month or two ago he gave me to understand that Seydel can supply
any tuning you want and usually not at a huge premium. The snag with the 12
hole Solist as I remember was that it only came in C. Perhaps I could
persuade them to supply me with one in G or D "at a modest premium".
Thanks for that tip about Lee Oskars. I shall invest in a pair as you
suggest at the earliest opportunity. Unfortunately my wife has taken to all
but frisking me every time I come out of the music store, as she can't
figure out how one man can never seem to have enough harmonicas.
Yes I have Rupert Oyslers DVD - It is a must have! Sadly all I am short of
is actually doing it.
Beannachtaí
Aongus
Oops...
Ken H in OH
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6:39 PM
Richard Hunter
<My weapon of choice for Irish music is a G Chromatic (Which I realise
<is a very "cissie" way of getting the necessary notes)I am beginning to
<wonder whether the Seydel 12 hole Solist - solo tuned - might not be a
<more cost effective alternative - if it was available in G and if I
<could only learn how to bend?
Dude, what's sissy about using a G chromatic to play Irish music? As I
recall, there's an extended piece by Brendan Power in the Harp-L
archives that discusses using a G chromatic with slide turned upside
down (to make the accidentals easier to get) to play Irish music.
One of the big lessons of the blues is: get it any way you can. In my
iopinion, that's a good lesson to carry into every part of one's life.
And in particular, I never ceased to be amazed when people apologize
for doing anything the easy way. Life and music are hard enough as it is.
Regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com
harmonica blog at http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp
Latest mp3s always at http://broadjam.com/rhunter
David Payne
I asked about retuning the Solo tuned Solist Pro harps to another key once. If I remember correctly, they could do a Bb, B, Db or D out of one of the Solo tuned Cs, but that was as far as they could go and solo tuning one of the Steve-Baker-type harps wasn't an option because of the low octave reeds would have to be lowered too much. . They were looking at more keys for the 12-hole harps, but they were developing this when the 1847 came up and they shifted gears to the 1847. I don't know if they will be making more later or not, I can only guess, but it will probably be a while with the 1847 whirlwind taking off like it has.
But, when you are talking about retuning a 12-hole harp, for that price of retuning one of those, you'd be better off with a Chromatic DeLuxe for your G solo tuning. They are $100, 12-hole solo tuned in any key, plus push the button in and you have a bonus Ab solo tuned harp. It's a really tight chromatic.
Dave
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Dave Payne Sr.
Elk River Harmonicas, Seydel, Hohner, custom harmonicas
www.elkriverharmonicas.com
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Rupert Oysler
seems the best way. They may make the entire harp from scratch, or just
build it with some different reeds, or possibly retune a reed.
Paddy Richter tuning, available in stock in Session and Favorite models,
is not "retuned" from a standard harp, but is made with that one reed
different. The stock available different tunings are all made that way,
not retuned from a standard richter harp. So for example when the
website calls chromatics in keys other than C "retuned", it does not
mean that they retune a C to create the harps (G, A, Bb, D, etc....).
They build them with the proper reeds in the other key (some of the
translations from German to English need some understanding).
When a special request is made, they plug it into their data base of
reeds, slots etc. and determine whether the harp can be made, how long
it will take and how much it will cost. Then you have the option of
ordering it (no obligation). SO if you do want a solo tuning in G, or
anything else, I encourage you to go to the "specialities" page on the
website and fill out a request.
Best wishes,
Rupert Oysler
www.seydelusa.com
Steve Shaw
> Dude, what's sissy about using a G chromatic to play Irish music? As I
> recall, there's an extended piece by Brendan Power in the Harp-L
> archives that discusses using a G chromatic with slide turned upside
> down (to make the accidentals easier to get) to play Irish music.
> Regards, Richard Hunter
You'd be better off with an F# chrom with the slide reversed if you wanted to play in "authentic" Irish keys with a reverse-slide harp. Of course, who cares if you can get your band to tune your way, but I'm thinking of usefulness in pub sessions. I don't think there's any shame in having a chrom to hand for those occasional awkward tunes with accidentals. You really don't have to be a virtuoso on a C chrom, able to play in any key, to play Irish music. I always take a D chrom and a G chrom to the pub, though they stay in their cases most of the evening. Then there are always XB40s, beasts which I've yet to fall in love with.
Steve
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/trad_irish_harmonica
HEAR my CD clips: http://www.gjk2.com/steveshaw/cd.htm
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Eugene Ryan
>>At Willie Clancy last year I saw Rick Epping "Paddy Richterise" a harmonica
>>for one of the students in a matter of minutes with the minimum of equipment
Aongus, if you are tuning, I would gold-plate Ken H's advice about
conditions for tuning, good light, patience etc! It's bang on.
On the subject of bending on a G solo tuned diatonic harp - this won't
give you tunes in the key of D - the note of C# would be available as
an overblow, and that isn't conducive to playing reels at fast tempos.
You will have the benefit of playing with expression if you learn to
bend, so it is well worth doing, but IMO for Irish music, the Paddy
Richter layout is a good bet. You can bend the hole 3 draw on a
diatonic down a tone to give you the major 6th in 1st position, but
it's difficult to hit it repeatedly in tune as would be needed for
Irish music. If you're in Dublin some day, give me a bit of notice,
and we can meet up and I'll bring some tools and retune a few harps to
Paddy Richter to give you some practise.
A G chrom is a good choice for Irish music, but as Richard and Steve
say, having the slide going down to the F#' scale will be more useful
for decorations - otherwise you have to do Murphy style flicks or
double/triple tonguing to get the decorations - which is great, but
then your chromatic harp is effectively a solo-tuned diatonic if
you're not also playing in D. I recorded a couple of tunes ong a G/F#
harp a while ago - I should have them back in the next month if you
want a demo. Do you play your tunes in D on the standard G chrom?
>>whether the Seydel 12 hole Solist - solo tuned - might not be a more cost
Are you breaking harps - is that why you're looking for a cost
effective replacement?
All the best,
Eugene