JOKER "superchromatic"

Anything apart from the two mainstream default harmonicas (Solo-tuned fully-valved chromatic, and un-valved Richter 10-hole diatonic). Alternate tunings, different construction, new functionality, interesting old designs, wishful-thinking... whatever!
Philippe
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Re: JOKER "superchromatic"

Post by Philippe » Wed Apr 27, 2022 11:36 pm

Gentlemen

Your devotion and inventiveness leaves me speachless!
Thank you for your inspirations and kind regards

Philippe

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Brendan
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Re: JOKER "superchromatic"

Post by Brendan » Thu Apr 28, 2022 5:04 am

This sounds like a man trying to gracefully end a thread...

Sorry Phillipe, it's not so easy - we can keep discussing the minutiae of harmonica tunings till the cows come home... 😂

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Brendan
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Re: JOKER "superchromatic"

Post by Brendan » Thu Apr 28, 2022 5:08 am

Edvin: Yes, but...!!!

Overblows overschmoes... 🤬 I'd have the harp half-valved, so they don't apply to moi.

Surely a slider version with displaced scales tickles your fancy? Think of all the EXTRA bends, overblows etc possible, in addition to the new slide enharmonics.... Hard to resist for a serial thought experimenter like yourself, I would imagine!

Aaaargh, my head hurts! 🥴

EdvinW
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Re: JOKER "superchromatic"

Post by EdvinW » Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:15 am

Phillipe: Excuse us if we get a little too carried away, it happens. Your harmonica, as it is, clearly does what you want it to do, and you should use whatever design you think works best for you.

Even for your current design though, overblows might still be something to consider. Each overblow would be identical to the blow note to the right, with the difference that it could be bent a little bit up or down for expression. In parts of the range, if the reeds are well set up, overblows can be bent upwards more than a semitone with some practice. It could also be used to reduce jumps, for instance having blow C and (overblow) E in adjacent holes.

You mention you've experimented with designs with and without valves, and one way to get the most of your tuning could be to employ "reverse halfvalving": to use outside valves on every blow note and no valves on the inside for the draw notes. This would allow the valved draw bends you mention, but also overblows to get more bendable versions of the blow notes!

Brendan: Of course it tickles me! It would have full note bends on every note, octaves in adjacent holes (half of them two holes away if you exclude OBs..), over 3 octaves in 16 holes... It would even have single-hole 3-note minor arpeggios(!) for every note, and single-hole 3-note major arpeggios for every other note :D What's not to like? Most of this would apply almost as well to a halfvalved version.
Last edited by EdvinW on Fri Apr 29, 2022 10:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
Edvin Wedin

Philippe
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Re: JOKER "superchromatic"

Post by Philippe » Thu Apr 28, 2022 12:01 pm

Brendan: I get excited every time I find a notification about a new post on your forum so I hope the cows wont come home soon!
Edvin: Reverse halfvalving might do the trick once I manage to overblow.
Both: What do you think of incorporating x-reeds to enhance bending?

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