Keith, thanks.
I have tuned most of my 11 tremolo harps. Mostly just small adjustments to the tremolo speed on a couple notes per harp. But one harp did get a complete retune from very dry to medium. I tune the top row just like any other harp. I use the Boss Tuner app on a smart phone (Motorola). The bottom row I tune by ear by playing normally and listening to the tremolo speed of the different notes. Pat Missin has a good article on tuning a tremolo:
https://patmissin.com/tunings/tun10.htmlA well tuned tremolo sounds nice. A poorly tuned tremolo sounds horrible. Before you tune a tremolo spend some time learning to play it. The problem may be you. I have a video (actually still pictures) describing how I go about tuning a tremolo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr8azN7D1psDry tremolo needs more precise tuning than does wet tremolo. Wet is more forgiving when moving from note to note. Embrouchure can effect tremolo speed. (If you don't get the same amount of air into each hole of a reed pair or if you choke the air going to one reed in the pair and therefor flatten that reed a bit. This can actually be used during a performance if you notice your tremolo speed on a note is not what you want. Push the harp up a bit against your top lip to pinch air flow to the top reed to flatten it and speed up the tremolo. Or pull the harp down a bit against your bottom lip to pinch the air flow to the bottom reed to flatten it a bit and slow down the tremolo.)
Years ago the following information was posted by Rick Epping (retired from Hohner) on how to tune an Echo harp. He also shows how to adjust the fomula for a drier tremolo. I have never used this formula, but I have no doubt that Rick Epping knows what he is talking about.
This will give you Hohner's Echo tremolo tuning:
Tune the lower pitched reed set to whatever absolute pitch and temperament
the instrument is given (e.g. A-440 and Just Intonation).
Tune Middle C on the higher pitched, or tremolo row 22-1/3 cents sharp of
Middle C on the lower pitched, or concert row. For every semitone increase
in pitch, decrease the amount of tremolo tuning by 1/3 cent. So C# above
Middle C on the tremolo row should be 22 cents sharp, D above Middle C
should be 21-2/3 cents sharp, C above Middle C should be 18-1/3 cents
sharp, etc. Similarly, increase the amount of tremolo tuning by 1/3 cent
for every semitone below Middle C. So B below Middle C on the tremolo row
should be 22-2/3 cents sharp, G below Middle C should be 24 cents sharp,
etc. Middle C is not actually found on a 54 C/G, but, for reference, is
the note in Hole 1 blow of both an 1896 Marine Band C and a 270 Super
Chromonica C.
It will be easiest if you first make a chart in cents of the concert row,
accounting for its absolute pitch and temperament. Then from this you can
compute and chart the tremolo row's values in cents.
The only tremolo tunings I know of where a tremolo row is pitched below
concert, are found in 3-voice tremolo tunings like those used in
musette-tuned accordions. In this case, the middle-pitched row is tuned to
concert and the lower pitched row is tuned flat of concert, but not as flat
as the higher pitched row is tuned sharp. For example, the upper tremolo
Middle C might be tuned 27-2/3 cents sharp and the lower tremolo Middle C
might be 21-1/4 cents flat. So, instead of the simple, single tremolo
sound of a 2-voice tremolo like on your Echo, one gets a combination of
three tremolo sounds at the same time: the concert reed beating against the
high tremolo reed, the concert against the low tremolo reed, and the low
tremolo reed against the high tremolo reed. This is what gives true
musette tuning its full, "wet" sound.
Reduced tremolo tunings are popular among many genres of harmonica and
accordion players. It's easy enough to develop a custom tremolo tuning:
First, tune the lowest note on the tremolo row to the speed of tremolo
(beats per second) you desire, then tune the highest note to the speed you
desire for it.
Then measure the number of cents sharp of the concert reeds for each of
these two tremolo reeds, and subtract the amount of the higher tremolo from
that of the lower tremolo.
Finally, divide the difference between the highest and lowest tremolo reeds
by the number of semitones separating them and decrease the amount of
tremolo tuning for each semitone above the lowest note, as with the
standard Echo tuning described above. For example, on the Echo tuning, G
below Middle C is 24 cents sharp and G three octaves up is 12 cents sharp.
The difference, 12 cents, is divided by the number of semitones between
the two notes, which is 36, giving a value of 1/3 cent. This is the value
that is added to each semitone on the way up.
Best regards,
Rick
