The Tremolo
Lexicon
There is some confusion concerning various terms used in describing tremolo harmonicas, as well as harmonicas in general. Hopefully, this will help clarify.
| Accurate tuning | Reeds and Reedplates | |
| Comb | Richter tuning | |
| Covers | Scale tuning | |
| Keys | Solo tuning | |
| Precise tuning | Ten-holer, Twelve-holer | |
| Numbering System |
The accuracy of harmonica tuning refers to how closely a harmonica is tuned to a particular standard. The most common standard today is A-440, which refers to the A nearest middle C on a piano being tuned to 440 Hz (cycles per second). There are other standards in regular use, however, including A-443 and A-438. Currently I am not prepared to report the accuracy of harmonica tuning, because real data of this sort requires special electronic equipment. However, I do report precision, which is a different datum, and actually quite a bit more useful for tremolo harmonica in particular.
The comb of a harmonica is the wood or plastic (occasionally, titanium or other very durable substance) item in the middle of the "sandwich" of which a harmonica consists. The lips and tongue of a harmonica player interact directly with the comb, opening and blocking various holes, to control notes being played.
The covers of a harmonica are the metal shell-like items on the very outside of the "sandwich" of which a harmonica consists. Much of the overall strength of a harmonica depends upon the quality of metal of the covers. It is by far best for covers (and thus the whole "sandwich") to be held by screws, rather than nails, for reasons of both overall strength and repairability.
The "key" of a tremolo harmonica is a term from music theory. It refers to the particular set of notes which a given tremolo is capable. Most tremolos made are in the key of C. Almost as many are available in G. A very large amount of music is in neither. At this time, the only tremolo very available in all keys both major and minor is the Tombo 1521. However, Tombo 3121 is reportedly available in all keys if one asks a well-equipped dealer, and the Suzuki Humming Tremolo is available in quite a few keys.
The precision of a harmonica's tuning refers to how closely the spacing of the different notes reflects the standard spacing of a given scale. This spacing exists regardless of tuning precision: for instance, a harmonica could easily be made very precise in tuning, but reflecting something odd and unusual in accuracy, like A-427. A tremolo has a special situation vis a vis precision: since each note has two reeds, one of which is off-tuned by a few cents (hundredths of note-gradations), precision in a tremolo also refers to how consistent the tremolo off-tuning is throughout the instrument.
Reedplates are flat metal plates, right underneath the covers. Each reedplate has many very small strips of similar metal attached (often riveted), positioned just above larger but similarly shaped holes. These are the reeds. When a musician causes air to move through the holes, the reeds vibrate, and sound is generated.
Richter tuning is somebody's idea of arranging the notes of a harmonica in such a way that certain chords are easily available at the great and terrible expense of disposing with easy and straightforward runs all the way up and down scales and chords, which runs are wonderfully available on non-Richter instruments like Tombo, Huang, Suzuki, and Merano, and so vital for close ensemble and accompaniment. This author has been told that some people find the certain chords useful, and don't care about the runs. This author, along with many other people he has communicated with, finds Richter tuning to be idiotic and very counterproductive for close ensemble and melody. Because of Richter, the author cannot use lower third of his Hohner Double Echo except for certain kinds of boring and distant accompaniment. Reference to this arrangement of notes as "Richter tuning" is not always fully accepted in the harmonica world, but there is no other term in common use, and it is almost always recognized. For very specific information about Richter tuning, please see Pat Missin's excellent page on the subject. Almost all ten- and twelve-holers made for the U.S. market are Richter-tuned, as well as nearly all Hohner and all Hering tremolos. Tombo, Suzuki, Huang, and Merano tremolos are not Richter-tuned.
Scale tuning is an arrangement of notes in a tremolo harmonica where if the instrument is 21-tone, there will be 21 different notes, all of which are consecutive notes in the key of the instrument. Scale-tuned instruments are sometimes called "solo tuned", for reasons which are nebulous at best (see lexical entry for Solo Tuning for more detail). This is also sometimes referred to as "Asian tuning" or "Asian tremolo design", because nearly all of the tremolo harmonicas fitting this description are or were designed, manufactured, and most commonly used in east Asia. Pat Missin, harmonicator extraordinaire, has made available very good specific information on this page. For the purposes of this author, who is writing from a player's and not a technician's point of view, “scale tuning” and “solo tuning” are sufficiently similar to be equivalent, effectively synonymous to the player.
Solo tuning is an arrangement of notes in a tremolo harmonica where all consecutive notes in the key of the instrument are available. Solo tuning is not quite the same as scale tuning or Asian design, because the "do" note (or first note in the scale) is repeated twice in each series. But solo-tuned instruments can be played in a manner very nearly interchangeable with scale-tuned instruments, and since the terms "scale tuning" and "Asian tuning" have not yet caught on strongly, most retailers use the term "solo tuning" to refer to both scale and solo. For very specific information, please see Pat Missin's excellent discussion of the subject. For the purposes of this author, who is writing from a player's and not a technician's point of view, “scale tuning” and “solo tuning” are sufficiently similar to be equivalent, effectively synonymous to the player.
These two terms refer to the most common variety of harmonica in western Europe and the Americas, the ten- or twelve-holed harmonica, of which a very well-known variety is the Hohner Blues Band. Some use the term "diatonic" for this, but since tremolos do fit the purist definition of "diatonic", a more specific term is indicated.
Ten-holers and twelve-holers usually are made with one number, one through ten or twelve, visible over each hole. For quite a long time there has been a standard musical notation system for harmonica, using these numbers. And until recently there has not been any such system for tremolo. However, since Hohner's recent introduction of the Hohner Echo Celeste, there has been such a number system for tremolo, and it is at least substantially related to the ten-/twelve-holer number system. The only problem is, the original number system is mostly designated for Richter tuning, whereas the Hohner Echo Celeste is gloriously solo-tuned. For a brief description of Hohner's numbering system, try here.