My modular chord harmonica

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!
Alan
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2017 3:17 pm

My modular chord harmonica

Post by Alan » Sat Sep 29, 2018 6:08 pm

I finally got a 3d printer and was able to put this together.
IMG_4913.jpg
IMG_4913.jpg (477.69 KiB) Viewed 13928 times
Without the harmonicas
IMG_4914.jpg
IMG_4914.jpg (479.18 KiB) Viewed 13928 times
I have three big sixes in my BE GooD tuning so with those in place you have power chords in half the circle of fifths.
F,C,G,D,A,E
I put a regular big six in whatever key I want to play Richter on for a given song so I can solo in whatever position makes the most sense for the song.

The first version I made like this was just with two stock Big Six harmonicas and wedges.
A folk big six is holes 4-9 richter in C so gives you C and Dm chords.
If you combine that with a standard Bb harp, (F and Bb chords)
Then you get the I IV V vi in F.

CrawfordEs
Posts: 100
Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:06 pm

Re: My modular chord harmonica

Post by CrawfordEs » Sun Sep 30, 2018 3:20 am

Nice!
Easy changes too. Good work

User avatar
Brendan
Posts: 819
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 2:28 pm
Contact:

Re: My modular chord harmonica

Post by Brendan » Sun Sep 30, 2018 8:34 am

Nice one, Alan! I like the simple design and use of magnets for quick changes - they are wonderful things :-) With a design like that I assume you must have printed with supports?

BTW can you remind us of your BE GooD tuning?

Alan
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2017 3:17 pm

Re: My modular chord harmonica

Post by Alan » Sun Sep 30, 2018 7:32 pm

Yes I printed it with supports and a raft. Or maybe its a castle model.
IMG_4869.jpg
IMG_4869.jpg (606.18 KiB) Viewed 13912 times

Alan
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2017 3:17 pm

Re: My modular chord harmonica

Post by Alan » Sun Sep 30, 2018 7:53 pm

I tried for a while to come up with a spiral tuning to allow me to play lots of chords. There are many different options on paper, but I found when I built one and tried it out I didn't like the way it sounded. To my ear, a harmonica chord sounds best when at least one note is repeated as an octave. Song chord progressions sound jarring to me when you jump too far up or down a scale which was a problem with some spiral tunings.

A power chord is a term I've heard used by guitar players with the idea being you just play a 1 and 5 of a given chord and it will sound fine with essentially any version of a chord. C and G together sound good when the band is playing Cmaj, Cmin, C6, C7 etc.

So I came up with a 4 note series on a big six with the first one I made being BE draw and GD blow which was the inspiration for the name BE GooD.
It lets me play chord accompaniament and do simple solos.
The C version is CG and EA.

This gives you a C power chord, an A power chord.
In C you get 1,3,5,6 which means the major pentatonic scale requires one bend.
In A you get 1, b3, 5,b7 so you get the minor pentatonic scale and the option for the blues scale.

With one in F(D), C(A), G(E) I have half the circle of fifths covered which allows me to play any song that comes up in the local bluegrass jam. (I think they're allergic to accidentals)

I then have a fourth slot open to put in a standard big six if I want to play richter tuning for a solo for any reason.

One interesting thing I learned along the way is that many harmonicas use nonferrous cover plates so magnets won't help them stay in place.

User avatar
IaNerd
Posts: 588
Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2017 6:42 pm
Location: Iowa, USA

Re: My modular chord harmonica

Post by IaNerd » Mon Oct 01, 2018 9:53 pm

Bravo!

User avatar
IaNerd
Posts: 588
Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2017 6:42 pm
Location: Iowa, USA

Re: My modular chord harmonica

Post by IaNerd » Mon Oct 01, 2018 9:58 pm

Alan: On this forum I have posted quite a few tunings which could be a good match for your hardware. I invite you to look into those.

User avatar
Brendan
Posts: 819
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 2:28 pm
Contact:

Re: My modular chord harmonica

Post by Brendan » Sat Oct 06, 2018 6:17 am

I understand about the aim of getting adjacent notes in fifths, but how does it look in terms of hole numbers and blow and draw notes on the Big Six?

Alan
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2017 3:17 pm

Re: My modular chord harmonica

Post by Alan » Sat Oct 06, 2018 9:38 pm

Assuming you stick with the pairs of power chords I put together you start one chord on the 1 and the other on the 5. So there are two options:

1 2 3 4 5 6
C G C G C G - blow
E A E A E A - draw

or
1 2 3 4 5 6
G C G C G C - blow
A E A E A E - draw

I prefer lower notes so I've chosen the lowest possible stock starting note for blow 1. In the seydel configurator that is G3 or higher, so I have some that start on the 1 and some that start on the 5 in the first blow slot.

User avatar
IaNerd
Posts: 588
Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2017 6:42 pm
Location: Iowa, USA

Re: My modular chord harmonica

Post by IaNerd » Thu Dec 27, 2018 3:01 pm

Alan: Are these available for sale?

Post Reply