Stretch Tuning

[Alyson Webber]

Thanks to this thread, I have been practicing tuning by ear, to varying degree of success. Since I now know the attack is often slightly sharp, followed by a decay, I wonder if I have been tuning “wrong.” I tune with notes sequentially played, not simultaneously. If I play a middle C, than the octave above, won’t I then be thinking the octave above sounds sharp and flatten it too much? Should I be plucking both strings at the same time?

Thanks for the input!

[charles-nix]

Allegra: An external microphone will help your tuner immensely. Some clip onto a part of the harp body; but a regular cheap handheld dynamic mic will also be fine.

I find that I tune immediately after the pluck–within a second or so. Notes must be restruck frequently; problems with pitch changing, especially when flatting are the string’s not releasing tension over the bridge pin (or nut) until after it is played strongly the first time. Always restrike once or twice more after the last adjustment is made to be sure the tension is equalized on the string and that the pin is holding correctly.

Tacye: Thanks for the info on mean temperaments! Maybe a good reason to buy another harp to play around with that!

Playing and tuning are two different skills. I know many excellent organists who don’t even notice tuning until things are playing the wrong note. And I know many superb organ and piano tuners who can barely play a hymn. You learn to play by playing. You learn to tune by tuning, and it does take a lot of time, and like playing, a teacher helps to coach on what to listen for.

Several have noted about tuners picking up harmonics–watch that carefully–if the harmonic is in tune, then I can guarantee that the fundamental note is not. Assuming you’re on equal temperament, and if you don’t know what I mean, then you’re on equal temperament. An external mic really helps this. Tuners will also lie, and show pitches both upper and lower without really having enough signal to tell. The pedal harp 7th and 1st octaves will be worst about this; if you have a lever harp, you should be ok except for the top octave or so. Again, a mic or pickup really helps.

Charles Nix

[charles-nix]

Alyson: That’s a great observation about the tuning being different when notes are struck together than when rolled. I tune using the manner in which the harp is usually played. So I tune very slightly rolled, always upward, because that is the most common way it is heard when playing.

Charles Nix

[Tacye]

I quite often tune the bottom octave on my pedal harp by playing the 1st harmonic. I find my tuner copes better and this will automatically stretch the octaves by an appropriate amount. Not of course by the only appropriate amount, but I am happy with the result.

[allegra]

thank you for the advice.

So – the plan sounds like – I should maybe get a microphone of some sort – I mostly just tune at home (quiet) so hadn’t thought I needed one, but maybe it would help with those string that won’t pick up easily (I think I have been told that headphones plugged into an iPhone/iPad will act as a microphone pick-up?). And I should tune the bit immediately after I play, before the decay/ring of the note. And try to play consistently with the same volume/strength. And the strobosoft app with the harp sweetener will give me some approximation of stretch tuning, so that my ear can learn to hear it. And I shouldn’t tune the random harmonics that the tuner shows when it doesn’t pick up a bass note, but instead tune those with some other method (different tuner/microphone/ear). (playing 1st harmonic to deliberately tune it? I don’t really understand how you would do that on the lowest octave?)

And I should muffle lower strings after each time I pluck the note, while I am tuning middle ones? I can’t reach them easily when standing up and am constantly catching my sleeve/clothing on the pins/pegs etc.I sometimes cheat and pluck them from the right side, but then I don’t get the normal attack and it probably has a slightly different sound.

[Biagio]

Allegra-

Sounds like quite a plan! Whether or not you will need to muffle those other strings probably will depend on what happens with a pick-up, and your particular tuner.

Interesting factoid: many tuners used without a pickup will “pick up” (sorry) the frequency of your country’s power supply (and all the little gadgets plugged into it). In the US that is 60 Hertz (approximately a B). At 50 Hertz, about a G. Used to just drive me cuckoo – well ok more cuckoo than usual.

You may not need to muffle with a mic but if you do, here’s a trick techies use when installing/adjusting levers or regulating a pedal harp. They will weave a length of foam through the bass strings, which are usually the guilty parties.

It all sounds very complicated but as you practice tuning it gets much much easier. I’m sure Tacye will give you excellent guidance on using harmonics for the lower octave – my harps seem to need that approach more often in the treble:-)

Biagio

Biagio

[Tacye]

Allegra – I play harmonics on the low wires the same way I do the low guts, except standing to the right of the harp for tuning. It may take a little time to find the centre of the string the first time – probably lower than you expect. I either tune the harmonic to the tuner, or the string an octave above.

[allegra]

thank you – I’ll see if I can find them!

[angie-kelly–2]

old thread, I know, but was just coming across it..
I always used a korg type tuner, and was thrilled when those little clip on pick ups became available because sometimes the tuners would just not pick up the higher notes. These days I find myself using an app on my iphone when it’s just me – sometimes just for one octave and doing the rest by ear (at times adjusting the pedals so I can make sure Cb matches B, etc.). If I’m playing with a piano I like to try and tune to it (by ear), because you never can be sure if the thing has been tuned recently – for years as a child I practiced on a piano that was 1/4 a step flat. It was perfectly in tune with itself – it’s just that A wasn’t 440. So that’s probably why I’m more inclined to make sure I match the piano.
I know very little about stretch tuning, so I’m definitely going to read up about it.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Well, the main issue is, when harpists use their tuner to tune, the first and second octave strings will sound flat. I am stretching less, but some, about 2.5 cents in the second octave, 5 in the first octave and 10 in 0 octave, give or take.
Lowering the bass strings can give murky depth, rather like using sour cream instead of creme fraiche.

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