Harmonica
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- This revision was by author hstraub and made on 2011-09-13 16:06:19 UTC.
- The original revision id was 253671824.
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Original Wikitext content:
=Microtonal harmonica= All instruments with free metal reeds can, principally, be retuned. In the case of harmonicas, it is even sort of common practice. 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]]. 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: [[media type="file" key="Harmonica5EDO.mp3" width="240" height="20"]] Near-5edo scale (amateurish attempt) The same property makes the harmonica very well suited to play [[Arabic, Turkish, Persian|middle-eastern]] and [[indian]] music: [[media type="file" key="HarmonicaMaqamNairuz.mp3" width="240" height="20"]] A Nairuz scale, a variant of maqam Rast (amateurish attempt) [[media type="file" key="HarmonicaBayati110815006.MP3" width="240" height="20"]] A phrase in maqam Bayati (amateurish attempt) Harmonicas in [[http://www.hohnerusa.com/index.php?29|Steve Baker special tuning]] or in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=higvIZUKlJg|spanish tuning]] allow to play a full maqam Rast scale (ascending and descending): [[media type="file" key="HarmonicaSpaRast110913001.mp3" width="240" height="20"]] A Rast scale (ascending and descending), on a harmonica in spanish tuning (amateurish attempt) A pioneer in playing middle-eastern and indian music on the harmonica is [[http://straaten.com/|Roland van Straaten]]. A beautiful example (maqam Hijaz - this one is not microtonal, though) can be listened to [[http://straaten.com/CoralLoveDance2.4MB.mp3|here]]. These points (and the fact that the instrument is small and cheap) make the harmonica a good candidate as a gateway to microtonal music.
Original HTML content:
<html><head><title>Harmonica</title></head><body><!-- ws:start:WikiTextHeadingRule:4:<h1> --><h1 id="toc0"><a name="Microtonal harmonica"></a><!-- ws:end:WikiTextHeadingRule:4 -->Microtonal harmonica</h1> <br /> All instruments with free metal reeds can, principally, be retuned. In the case of harmonicas, it is even sort of common practice.<br /> <br /> Step-by step instructions how to retune harmonicas (and a lot of other information on harmonicas and tuning) can be found on <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.patmissin.com/tunings/tunings.html" rel="nofollow">Pat Missin's homepage</a>.<br /> <br /> 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-<a class="wiki_link" href="/5edo">5edo</a> scale on a standard harmonica:<br /> <br /> <!-- ws:start:WikiTextMediaRule:0:<img src="http://www.wikispaces.com/site/embedthumbnail/file-audio/Harmonica5EDO.mp3?h=20&w=240" class="WikiMedia WikiMediaFile" id="wikitext@@media@@type=&quot;file&quot; key=&quot;Harmonica5EDO.mp3&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; height=&quot;20&quot;" title="Local Media File"height="20" width="240"/> --><embed src="/s/mediaplayer.swf" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" width="240" height="20" wmode="transparent" flashvars="file=http%253A%252F%252Fxenharmonic.wikispaces.com%252Ffile%252Fview%252FHarmonica5EDO.mp3?file_extension=mp3&autostart=false&repeat=false&showdigits=true&showfsbutton=false&width=240&height=20"></embed><!-- ws:end:WikiTextMediaRule:0 --><br /> Near-5edo scale (amateurish attempt)<br /> <br /> The same property makes the harmonica very well suited to play <a class="wiki_link" href="/Arabic%2C%20Turkish%2C%20Persian">middle-eastern</a> and <a class="wiki_link" href="/indian">indian</a> music:<br /> <br /> <!-- ws:start:WikiTextMediaRule:1:<img src="http://www.wikispaces.com/site/embedthumbnail/file/HarmonicaMaqamNairuz.mp3?h=&w=" class="WikiMedia WikiMediaFile" id="wikitext@@media@@type=&quot;file&quot; key=&quot;HarmonicaMaqamNairuz.mp3&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; height=&quot;20&quot;" title="Local Media File"height="20" width="240"/> -->[ invalid file: HarmonicaMaqamNairuz.mp3 ] <!-- ws:end:WikiTextMediaRule:1 --><br /> A Nairuz scale, a variant of maqam Rast (amateurish attempt)<br /> <br /> <!-- ws:start:WikiTextMediaRule:2:<img src="http://www.wikispaces.com/site/embedthumbnail/file-audio/HarmonicaBayati110815006.MP3?h=20&w=240" class="WikiMedia WikiMediaFile" id="wikitext@@media@@type=&quot;file&quot; key=&quot;HarmonicaBayati110815006.MP3&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; height=&quot;20&quot;" title="Local Media File"height="20" width="240"/> --><embed src="/s/mediaplayer.swf" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" width="240" height="20" wmode="transparent" flashvars="file=http%253A%252F%252Fxenharmonic.wikispaces.com%252Ffile%252Fview%252FHarmonicaBayati110815006.MP3?file_extension=mp3&autostart=false&repeat=false&showdigits=true&showfsbutton=false&width=240&height=20"></embed><!-- ws:end:WikiTextMediaRule:2 --><br /> A phrase in maqam Bayati (amateurish attempt)<br /> <br /> Harmonicas in <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.hohnerusa.com/index.php?29" rel="nofollow">Steve Baker special tuning</a> or in <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=higvIZUKlJg" rel="nofollow">spanish tuning</a> allow to play a full maqam Rast scale (ascending and descending):<br /> <br /> <!-- ws:start:WikiTextMediaRule:3:<img src="http://www.wikispaces.com/site/embedthumbnail/file-audio/HarmonicaSpaRast110913001.mp3?h=20&w=240" class="WikiMedia WikiMediaFile" id="wikitext@@media@@type=&quot;file&quot; key=&quot;HarmonicaSpaRast110913001.mp3&quot; width=&quot;240&quot; height=&quot;20&quot;" title="Local Media File"height="20" width="240"/> --><embed src="/s/mediaplayer.swf" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" width="240" height="20" wmode="transparent" flashvars="file=http%253A%252F%252Fxenharmonic.wikispaces.com%252Ffile%252Fview%252FHarmonicaSpaRast110913001.mp3?file_extension=mp3&autostart=false&repeat=false&showdigits=true&showfsbutton=false&width=240&height=20"></embed><!-- ws:end:WikiTextMediaRule:3 --><br /> A Rast scale (ascending and descending), on a harmonica in spanish tuning (amateurish attempt)<br /> <br /> A pioneer in playing middle-eastern and indian music on the harmonica is <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://straaten.com/" rel="nofollow">Roland van Straaten</a>. A beautiful example (maqam Hijaz - this one is not microtonal, though) can be listened to <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://straaten.com/CoralLoveDance2.4MB.mp3" rel="nofollow">here</a>.<br /> <br /> These points (and the fact that the instrument is small and cheap) make the harmonica a good candidate as a gateway to microtonal music.</body></html>