[Harp-L] Fourkey (and other altered tunings)

[dmf...@yahoo.com]

(1) If you want to try an altered tuning - ANY altered tuning including the "Magic" tunings, the easiest and probably most inexpensive option is to just go on the seydelusa.com website and use their "harp configurator" to order whatever layout you want.

(2) A lot of people ask "Why not just use a chromatic?" I know I've had long debates with Randy Singer over this one! (And he's an accomplished overblower and chromatic player.) But I find the short harp to be more satisfying. I like the way it feels in my mouth. I like the way it feels in my hand. I like the way it fits in my pocket. And most of all I like the intimate direct connection I feel with each note. I just don't get that same feeling from any chromatic.

(3) A question: What is a "Diatonic" harp? Is the Fourkey a diatonic harp? I think that term doesn't do justice to the Fourkey. Sure it can play diatonic scales. But it can also play a complete chromatic scale without resort to overdraws or overblows and just two ordinary draw bends in a 12 note chromatic scale. I'm searching for the appropriate term to include all "short harps" including Richter and all other alternate tunings. I'm thinking "10/20 harp" is a better descriptor. 10 holes/20 reeds. Any other ideas?

(4) What does it take to convince some of you harp-l people to give the Fourkey a try? I've already posted a Youtube video of me playing Charlie Parker note-for-note right out of the Omnibook on the Fourkey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Thib725Ig

Playing Bird on a "Short Harp" is like a dream come true for me. I thought that would have you all running to order your own Fourkeys.

But maybe Bird's not your cup of tea. So if that doesn't convince you then what does it take? I'm open to suggestions. I've been playing alternate tunings for many years and I've tried dozens of them. I'm trying to tell everyone the Fourkey is the most revolutionary alternate tuning I've ever played. But nobody seems too excited. So what does it take to get your attention? I'll take requests for my next YouTube.

(5) Regarding patented tunings, the harmonica community should acknowledge and thank Andy Newton, undisputed inventor of the "Fourkey" (as confirmed by Pat Missin, who ought to know) for immediately releasing his remarkable discovery into the Public Domain. Thanks Andy!

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[Jonathan Ross]

Jazzmaan writes:

"(3) A question: What is a "Diatonic" harp? Is the Fourkey a
diatonic harp? "

Yes. It would need at least twelve notes per octave to be considered
chromatic (this has been done on a Richter-harp, or at least on the
similar to Richter in usage All-American Bakelite). The Fourkey
tuning has more notes available than most other tunings (German Major
Diatonic, Melody Maker, Natural Minor, etc...) but that does not make
it a chromatic instrument.

" I think that term doesn't do justice to the Fourkey. Sure it can
play diatonic scales. But it can also play a complete chromatic
scale without resort to overdraws or overblows and just two ordinary
draw bends in a 12 note chromatic scale."

Bends have essentially the same issues in terms of differences in
timbre, articulation and pitch control as overblows/draws. You may
only have two bends as accidentals and the other notes as naturals
available in the Fourkey, but that doesn't mean those two notes are
any less problematic than they would be in any other tuning. You
would still have to choose key, position and the like in order to
avoid or exploit that difference as with most other diatonic tunings.

" I'm searching for the appropriate term to include all "short
harps" including Richter and all other alternate tunings. I'm
thinking "10/20 harp" is a better descriptor. 10 holes/20 reeds.
Any other ideas?"

Richter is the appropriate term for the instrument, IMO, but not the
tuning, thus my suggestion of German Major Diatonic (GMD). Richter
was originally used to denote the construction of the instrument and
not the tuning (notably, most diatonic harmonica types have used this
same tuning layout, whether Richter, Wiener, Knittlinger or other).
Richter has transformed itself into being a catch-all for the tuning
as well, which ends up leading to oxymorons, a Richter tremolo for
instance.

"(4) What does it take to convince some of you harp-l people to give
the Fourkey a try?"

Most people here won't even try natural Minor or Country tuned. And
those take essentially no relearning. So the odds that they want to
try something as truly different as Fourkey would seem very slim indeed.

()() JR "Bulldogge" Ross
() ()
`----'

[Winslow Yerxa]

If the Fourkey is a diatonic, what key is it on?

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5

--- On Tue, 10/21/08, Jonathan Ross <jro...@comcast.net> wrote:

[Jonathan Ross]

Winslow asks:

"If the Fourkey is a diatonic, what key is it on?"

A good point. It is hard to pin down a single key, as it encompasses
several full diatonic scales in the layout. That doesn't by default
make it a chromatic instrument, though.

Remove two keys per octave from a synthesizer, is it still a
chromatic instrument (as defined in a more or less 12TET framework)?
You can get the same notes as the two keys by careful use of the
pitch-bend wheel (assuming the generalized control layout of most
synthesizers). Actually, that's not a great analogy, as the sound
production would still be the same for the bent notes as for the
unbent ones, unlike in a harmonica. But, the visual image of the
keyboard missing two keys is a good one, IMO.