Hohner 364 tuning
Hello, I was thinking about getting a hohner 364. I thought It was CEG CEG CEG CEG DGB DGB DFA BDF but It looks like a low harmonica + 2 hole very weird ( 11 and 12) https://www.hohner.de/fileadmin/documents/instruments/harmonicas/hohner-harmonicas-tuning-chart.pdf Considering that the PDF ha something wrong, infact you can se that according to It a hohner 364 in D and in C shares the same tuning..... Is It a typo or it's just like it's written?
Thank you
So I should look for a sbs or a lucky 13
Thank you
m.marco:
It sounds as if your objective is to go with the Steve Baker Special tuning, i.e., holes 1-3 duplicating 4-6, only an octave lower. This gives you some nice low-end "chugging" but can be a bit confusing if what you're really looking for is simply a Low-C diatonic.
I have both the now-discontinued C SBS and a Low-C 364/24, which is more like a regular Low-C, but with extra notes on the high end.
Be aware that any harp with more than 10 holes can be more leaky, due to the longer comb and reed plates. Neither my SBS nor my 364/24 is particularly airtight.
Also, the SBS uses a pearwood comb (as does the 364/24). If that's your preference, look for an SBS. The Lucky 13 uses a plastic comb, which might be more comfortable if that's what you're used to.
Finally, yes, holes 11 and 12 on the 364/24 and hole 14 on the SBS can seem a little bit "weird," unless you've also had some experience with various tremolo harmonicas, which all seem to have tuning systems quite different from diatonics.
Update this thread to let us know which harp you end up with, and how you like it!
"tremolo harmonicas, which all seem to have tuning systems quite different from diatonics."
Not true.
German style tremolos are tuned exactly like diatonics, only blow and draw are in side-by-side holes instead of in the same hole.On double-sided tremolos, some keys will start on the equivalent of Hole 2 so as to enable more smooth switching between the two sides that are in two diferent keys. Also, some of the larger ones will go past Hole 10 in exaclty the same way that 12 and 14 hole single-reed diatonics will.
Asian tuning is different. The middle octave emulates the middle octave of a diatonic just as German tremolo does. But the upper and lower octaves see displacement of the 4 drawr notes in the scale in the upper octave, again just as single-reed diatonics do. The lower octave contains a complete scale instead of chords, and places the draw reed to the *left* of the blow reed.
Winslow:
Yep, re tremolos. I was thinking about the tremolos I have with "Asian" tuning, where the draw reeds' relationship to the blow reeds changes, and for someone who doesn't regularly play tremolo (e.g., me) can get a tad confusing, particularly in the upper register. But you are correct about basic tuning being the same. I should have clarified that by "tuning" I meant "layout."
Times I've played tremolo (mostly for cabaret shows), when I spend a week or two playing every day to get ready, the tremolo is a ton of fun. But it's the "playing every day" that's the key.
Thanks!
The standard 364 is tuned exactly like a regular diatonic but an octave lower for the C and D keys, and regular pitch for the G. And yes, Holes 11 and 12 get seriously out of alignment with the blow notes because, starting in Hole 3, you have 4 draw notes per octave (B D F A) coupled with only three blow notes (C E G) .
What you're thinking of is the SBS (Steve Baker Special) tuning that was offered as an alternative tuning for the 14-hole #365, starting in the early 1990s and ended with the 365 in 2013. That tuning is now available with Brendan Power's Lucky 13 model, with the first three holes duplicating Holes 1-3 an octave lower, then continuing with the standard tuning of Holes 1-10.