I've finally come to the conclusion that tines of certain thicknesses and cross sections can only cover so much of the musical spectrum, even when you modify them by filing the thickness.
I purchased another roll of electrician's fishing tape, this one being 1/8 x .045. The previous roll that I struggled with to create all the notes in three octaves, was 1/8 x .062.
Again, I created tines by length, and then adjusted the note by carefully filing the bottom until I hit the desired note. I did this for about 1 1/2 octaves.
When I started plucking the tines of the entire keyboard, I noted that some of the old thicker tines sounded very much like some of the newer thinner tines. I checked with the meter, and they were exactly the same. So I can only get about 1.25 octave with each thickness of fishing tape.
This means I will have to purchase music wire from about .07 to possibly .110 in order to create the other octaves I wish on my a little over three octave Kalimba.
I had originally purchased a chromatic tone meter, a very basic Korg one. After some use, I realized I needed something more accurate, an orchestral type meter that also provides the octave numbers. I hope this will help me learn just what range each sized tine or music wire has. I get the feeling that it is going to be one sized tine or wire per octave in order to not get overlap.
You may ask why I am going to all this trouble, and the answer is just to learn, and satisfy my own insatiable want to solve problems. I've been like this ever since I was maybe around age 5. It drove my parents nutso, and it got the kids always picking on me. Both, in their own ways were attempting to stunt my want to figure things out, even when it sometimes became obsessive, and yes, I sometimes get obsessive. I guess you can call me the female version of the "Mad Scientist".
CaleyAnn
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