Talk:Richter tuning

Origin

I'd like for this article to contain information regarding the orgin of Richter tuning. I assume Richter is a person's name, so who is he? How does he factor into the history of harmonicas? When did all of this happen? -Verdatum (talk) 15:17, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Richter was a person, but

• His first name seems lost to history. (Chelminski has actually provided a first name for Richter (“Joseph”), but didn't say where he got it and has since admitted that he's forgot where he got it.)
• He wasn't the inventor of Richter tuning, whose origin also seems lost to history. Richter was apparently a maker of harmonicas, but just how the name of the tuning got associated with him is… well, yeah, lost to history.

The introduction of Richter tuning to harmonicas occurred in the 19th Century. But one can find Richter-tuned accordions that predate these harmonicas. I don't know enough about the history of the accordion to know when Richter-tuned accordions first appeared. And I don't know whether one can find other sorts of instruments that were Richter-tuned before the accordion.

Some or all of what I just told you is in Häffner and Lindenmüller, but I don't have it at hand to back-up any of what I just told you, so I cannot presently incorporate it into the article, and you're not in a great position to trust me. But I thought that I'd do what I could to address your curiosity. —SlamDiego_←T 04:08, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Here's something that doesn't meet WIkipedia source guidelines, but may meet your requirements: “So just who was this Richter guy and what exactly did he invent?” by Pat Missin. —SlamDiego_←T 04:14, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Wow thanks! I didn't expect such a rapid and complete response. Obviously, the link provided isn't a peer reviewed journal or anything, but it is attributable to a single author. For a source, I would consider it better than nothing until we can find a published dissertation by a musicological anthropologist (slightly tongue-in-cheek). I'll see what content I can add when I get the chance. -Verdatum (talk) 13:30, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Tuning sequence

In the chart describing the original Richter tuning sequence, I believe that the sequence is a bit flawed. As I recall, for 10 holes, the tuning is:

hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
blow note	C	E	G	C	E	G	C	E	G	C
draw note	D	G	B	D	F	A	B	D	F	A

and for 16 holes:

hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
blow note	C	E	G	C	C	E	G	C	C	E	G	C	C	E	G	C
draw note	D	F	A	B	D	F	A	B	D	F	A	B	D	F	A	B

I do not know the Richter tuning for 12- and 14-holed C harmonicas, but I am absolutely sure that these are the standards for 10- and 16-holed ones. —BlueCaper (talk) 13:00, 2 October 2012 (UTC)

I think this 10 holes tuning sequence should be used in the Summary section of the article, instead of the 16 holes scheme which is there now. This 10-holes scheme is by far the most common scheme today, commonly referred to as "Richter tuning" (regardless of whatever that lost-in-history Mr. Richter really invented). Finding references should be easy, e.g. book Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN13: 9781118880760. This most common 10-hole scheme is not present in the article at all, although "Country tuning" refers to is as being modification of it.Vaclav.hanzl (talk) 09:28, 26 November 2018 (UTC)

Wouldn't it make more sense if each of the alternate tuning charts used the same key? It looks like some are using C (which is usually the default key for lessons) but other ones are using G, which makes quick comparisons harder. Nacoran (talk) 20:35, 8 May 2021 (UTC)

This article is really confusing. Most of the tunings seem to be for diatonic harmonicas. For consistency there should be one harmonica type (so, for instance a 10 hole) in one key. Also, since most of the other tunings are for diatonic harmonicas aside from not being a 10 hole layout the Richter tuning is not what you'd see on a Richter tuned harmonica. If the article covers multiple instruments it should show the layout differences between them. I don't know how to format on Wikipedia, but for a C diatonic 10 hole harmonica this doesn't match up.

The proper layout would be

C E G C E G C E G C D G B D F A B D F A

Someone else has pointed this out. If someone wants to help me with formatting I could help fix this article, but I just don't have the formatting skills. Nacoran (talk) 19:17, 18 September 2021 (UTC)