Harp Tuning

[Conrad Hoffsommer]

At 16:11 10/26/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>>I have a piano client that wants me to tune her harp also. I'm open to new
>>adventures - as long as I can do it. Does anyone know how a harp is tuned?
>>Terry
>Once you've managed that (without breaking any strings -- make sure the 
>pedals are set properly) then you could measure appropriate stretch on the 
>fly, try the HT Ric suggested, etc.
>Patrick


Friends,

As much as I hate to inject reality...

The concert harp is diatonically tuned - i.e. all naturals.

That said, the mechanics of the harp are such that you only get ET semitone 
changes with pedal changes.

Those mechanics are:

-The open strings are flat.
-To get natural and sharp for a string/note you move the pedal to a 
different notch, and the disks associated with ALL of that letter 
rotate.  One or two pins mounted on each of those disks pinches the string 
and works like the offset of bridgepins to determine the speaking length.

-To change a temperament, the placement of EACH disk (distance from flat) 
must be changed.  You would have to set up discrete locations for ALL 
"enharmonics".   D#/Eb are NOT the same.  Playing anything in 6/7 sharps or 
flats would cause real intonation problems for B,C,E, or F - you would be 
forced to use enharmonics which don't exist..

Not as easy as dialing up a different temperament on an ETD, is it?

Clear as a thick dirt & water combination?

To keep this in a piano related mode, it should be noted that Monsieur 
Erard was the inventor of the pedal mechanism - He also designed and built 
pianos and _their_ actions.... ;-}



Conrad Hoffsommer - Decorah, Ia.  mailto:hoffsoco@luther.edu

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted, 
then used against you.