Whilst on the subject of tunings that allow the diatonic harp to be played chromatically, without requiring overblows, I forgot to mention the diminished tuning:
BLOW C Eb Gb A C Eb Gb A C Eb HOLE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 BLOW D F Ab B D F Ab B D F
This is an interesting tuning - so good they patented it twice!! Once by Dr. John Yeadon (who calls it the CAT tuning) and once by Magic Dick and Pierre Beauregard. Kind of makes a mockery of the patents things, huh? Actually, I thought of it myself without any help from anyone else - in fact it came to me in a dream! I think I have mentioned this before in connection with tunings for the slide chromatic, but it is a flexible set-up for the short harp. The chromatic scale can be played by a repeating pattern of blow, draw bend, draw; blow, draw bend, draw; etc. This means that any scale pattern can only have three forms. Any phrase starting with a C, can be transposed to E, Gb and A, by just starting on the next hole upwards, without altering the "fingering" (for want of a better term). Whilst it wouldn't be my first choice for a blues number, there are a lot of juicy blues licks lurking in here, as well as more avant garde stuff.
If anyone tries this out, can you let me know what you think?
-- Pat.
PS: Sorry about my descent into phallocentric double entendre on April 1st. I guess you now won't believe me when I tell you about my harp which is built on a rubber comb...
