Harmonica: Difference between revisions

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<h2>IMPORTED REVISION FROM WIKISPACES</h2>
All instruments with free metal reeds can, principally, be retuned. In the case of harmonicas, it is even sort of common practice.
This is an imported revision from Wikispaces. The revision metadata is included below for reference:<br>
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The revision contents are below, presented both in the original Wikispaces Wikitext format, and in HTML exactly as Wikispaces rendered it.<br>
<h4>Original Wikitext content:</h4>
<div style="width:100%; max-height:400pt; overflow:auto; background-color:#f8f9fa; border: 1px solid #eaecf0; padding:0em"><pre style="margin:0px;border:none;background:none;word-wrap:break-word;white-space: pre-wrap ! important" class="old-revision-html">=Microtonal harmonica=


All instruments with free metal reeds can, principally, be retuned. In the case of harmonicas, it is even sort of common practice - just a little tricky, though.
There are quite a number of videos in the web showing step by step how retuning is done, for example by [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQqMIhBCQCY&feature=related Håkan Ehn] .


Step-by step instructions how to retune harmonicas (and a lot of other information on harmonicas and tuning) can be found on [[http://www.patmissin.com/tunings/tunings.html|Pat Missin's homepage]].
A lot of information on harmonicas and tuning can be found on [http://www.patmissin.com/tunings/tunings.html Pat Missin's homepage].


Not to forget is that, in the case of the diatonic harmonica (aka "blues harp"), the playing technique known as "bending" already allows (within certain limits) infinite pitch variations, even without retuning. For example, it is possible to play a near-[[5edo]] scale on a standard harmonica:
Not to forget is that, in the case of the diatonic harmonica (aka "blues harp"), the playing technique known as "bending" already allows, within certain limits, infinite pitch variations, even without retuning. For example, it is possible to play a near-[[5edo|5edo]] scale on a standard harmonica (starting on E or "sort of Db" on a C harmonica):


[[http://xenharmonic.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/Harmonica5EDO.mp3|Harmonica5EDO.mp3]]
[[File:Harmonica5EDO.mp3]]


Or an [[Arabic, Turkish, Persian|arabic maqam]] (Nairuz):
Near-5edo scale, standard diatonic harmonica in C (amateurish attempt)


[[http://xenharmonic.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/HarmonicaMaqamNairuz.mp3|HarmonicaMaqamNairuz.mp3]]
Besides, it is possible to play a [[Cube_Root_of_P4|CRP4]] scale (starting on F, F# or G on a C harmonica) and a [[4edf|4EDF]] scale (starting on F on a C harmonica) - both not up to the octave, but over the respective equivalence interval.


These points (and the fact that the instrument is small and cheap) make the harmonica a good candidate as a gateway to microtonal music.</pre></div>
With a little training, licks in (subsets of) almost any tuning can be played. See the example in 15edo on the [[Porcupine_Album_Project|Porcupine Album Project]] page.
<h4>Original HTML content:</h4>
 
<div style="width:100%; max-height:400pt; overflow:auto; background-color:#f8f9fa; border: 1px solid #eaecf0; padding:0em"><pre style="margin:0px;border:none;background:none;word-wrap:break-word;width:200%;white-space: pre-wrap ! important" class="old-revision-html">&lt;html&gt;&lt;head&gt;&lt;title&gt;Harmonica&lt;/title&gt;&lt;/head&gt;&lt;body&gt;&lt;!-- ws:start:WikiTextHeadingRule:0:&amp;lt;h1&amp;gt; --&gt;&lt;h1 id="toc0"&gt;&lt;a name="Microtonal harmonica"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;!-- ws:end:WikiTextHeadingRule:0 --&gt;Microtonal harmonica&lt;/h1&gt;
The same property makes the harmonica very well suited to play [[Arabic,_Turkish,_Persian|middle-eastern]] and [[Indian|indian]] music. See separate page [[maqamat_on_harmonica|maqamat on harmonica]] .
&lt;br /&gt;
 
All instruments with free metal reeds can, principally, be retuned. In the case of harmonicas, it is even sort of common practice - just a little tricky, though.&lt;br /&gt;
These points - and the fact that the instrument is small and cheap - make the harmonica a good candidate as a gateway to microtonal music.
&lt;br /&gt;
 
Step-by step instructions how to retune harmonicas (and a lot of other information on harmonicas and tuning) can be found on &lt;a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.patmissin.com/tunings/tunings.html" rel="nofollow"&gt;Pat Missin's homepage&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Instruments]]
&lt;br /&gt;
Not to forget is that, in the case of the diatonic harmonica (aka &amp;quot;blues harp&amp;quot;), the playing technique known as &amp;quot;bending&amp;quot; already allows (within certain limits) infinite pitch variations, even without retuning. For example, it is possible to play a near-&lt;a class="wiki_link" href="/5edo"&gt;5edo&lt;/a&gt; scale on a standard harmonica:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://xenharmonic.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/Harmonica5EDO.mp3" rel="nofollow"&gt;Harmonica5EDO.mp3&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Or an &lt;a class="wiki_link" href="/Arabic%2C%20Turkish%2C%20Persian"&gt;arabic maqam&lt;/a&gt; (Nairuz):&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://xenharmonic.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/HarmonicaMaqamNairuz.mp3" rel="nofollow"&gt;HarmonicaMaqamNairuz.mp3&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
These points (and the fact that the instrument is small and cheap) make the harmonica a good candidate as a gateway to microtonal music.&lt;/body&gt;&lt;/html&gt;</pre></div>