So why might these tunings matter? Or, to put it a better way,
to whom might these tunings matter?
I confess – as I did in another discussion – that I am a “living room” or “front porch” player. I can count my lifetime stage events on two hands. So for me the key in which I play a song is usually irrelevant. I am far more concerned about a melody’s mode. Playing a song in its native mode reduces or even eliminates the need to play accidentals. (Note: For me, playing bluesy melodies is a totally different story.)
Spiral tuning absolutely excels at playing modally, because for all seven modes there are only two breath patterns: blow for the tonic or draw for the tonic. These two breath patterns mirror each other and are the simplest possible patterns to learn and play.
Until …
we get to The Octave Change. (Duhn, duhn, DUHHH!)
With most tunings we insert an extra note (e.g. Solo, Bebop, Power Chromatic) or we eliminate one note (e.g. ED Harmonica, Easy 3rd) which preserves the breath pattern as we move to lower or higher octaves. Since Spiral tuning doesn’t have these corrective features, the breath pattern reverses every time one moves into lower or higher octaves.
And that’s a Problem.
Except … maybe It Isn’t.
You see, my style of playing – amateur as it is – usually conforms to the
“nine is fine” principle of
George Kelischek.
https://www.susato.com/collections/nine-is-fine If you don’t already know about George, look him up.
https://youtu.be/qRFiNUiIJ50 He is in my opinion a national treasure of the USA. In an email to me once Mr. Kelischek said:
I named one of my series of instrumental settings “Nine Is Fine”, because no part in any of those compositions exceeds the range of one octave plus one, the ninth note. No “overblowing” is necessary to play those tunes, which makes them suitable for nine-note instruments such as gemshorns and most capped double reeds like Kelhorns, Crumhorns, Cornamuses, etc…
I am not saying that every single melody on the planet can – or even should -- be played with just nine notes. I would however posit that
a person can accomplish a whole big boatload (metric or imperial) of music using only an octave and, when needed, a bit more.
Hey, if you really like to play a melody in one octave and then jump to another octave, check this out:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=875#p3916
So now, with “modal playing” and “nine is fine” in mind, let’s consider this Spiral-Chromatic concept. We have a tuning that is truly chromatic; all of the flats (or sharps, if you prefer) are there. And it can easily be played in any mode. And when we are playing within a native mode which doesn’t have accidentals
per se, we can actually choose between blow-for-tonic or draw-for-tonic. Zig or zag.
And when we do wander just a note or two from the main octave, we might not even notice that the breath direction has switched. No “road bumps” of extra corrective notes that need to be skipped over. I’ll take that trade 95% of the time.
But wait ... there's more! Never forget that the chordal capabilities of Spiral tunings are bested only by dedicated "chord harmonicas".
So is this a “pro” tuning concept? Probably not. But if you are a “front porch” player of melodies – like I am – this tuning might suit you well.
P.S. - I am seriously considering having my first Seydel NonSlider configured as shown in the first post (above).