Square Hohner mouthpiece screw nut

[Age]

I play at 440. Maybe your friends are playing at 442.

Oh I'm pretty sure I "play" 440 also, but it all starts with a .442 Chromatic. By the time I get it "loaded" to get the sound I like, it comes out right on the button of the .440 recording, or piano I'm playing along with.   If I were a "heavy loader," (like some guys I've met) I'd prolly start out with a .444.

[Grizzly]

We all got loose screws here. (Considering the original topic) Pitch to me is much more interesting.

Yes, I can hear a slight difference playing a 442 harmonica against a 440 piano, but not enough that it bothers me (or, presumably, my audience). Beyond that difference, things get a little testy. Some of my dozen or so harmonicas are still tuned sharp, say around 444, which makes me search for a more appropriate one.

I'm lousy at loading reeds, but a hertz or two is somewhat within reach. Factory 444, loaded to 440, for me is totally unrealistic. And yes, the technique is akin to bending.

There's a story about a jazz saxophonist who tuned sharp more than just a little (he's not the only one to do so) to add brightness to his sound. I heard a YouTube of him awhile ago, and all he really accomplished was to sound out of tune. Painfully so.

So bend or not bend, load or not load, tune to where you sound the best, and ignore the rest of the flock.

Tom

[Ed McCullough]

After I get the middle to octaves of my four octave harmonica tuned to 440, I will tune in so I can play double stop octaves. After that I will tune the top most and bottom most octaves to the middle to octaves. That's the plan. This seems to go on forever.

[Age]

Tommy Morgan once told me he sometimes used a .445 which, after loading, still kept him just "sharp" enough to keep his harmonica "on top" of the music, which actually made sense to me.

[Ed McCullough]

Yes, I understand the trick of tuning your instrument a tiny hair sharp so you can sound brilliant when you are playing with an accompanist. I might do that with one of my harmonicas.