Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] guitar tuner ?
From: Krzys Majewski (majewski_AT_cs.ubc.ca)
Date: Mon Oct 22 2001 - 18:47:07 EEST
Thanks! Given a tuning fork (or a piece of software that I'm still
looking for..) this is indeed an improvement over my current tuning
method (5th-7th fret harmonics). Well-temperedness (or the lack of it)
really is a pain in ass. Why couldn't we have come up with a more
mathematically robust scale?
-chris
Jason <hormonex_AT_yankthechain.com> writes:
> On Mon, 22 Oct 2001, [iso-8859-1] Jörn Nettingsmeier wrote:
>
> > [off-topic]
> >
> > Krzys Majewski wrote:
> > >
> > > Anyone got a guitar tuner that works? I'm actually going to use it for
> > > an electric bass.
> >
> > yeah, i got a good one. dead cheap, needs no batteries and very
> > precise. it's called Ears(tm).
> I have that too! It's a great piece of embedded systems design.
> But there is a more accurate tuning algorithm than the one Mr.
> Nettingsmeier
> describes. BUy an 'e' tuning fork, they're a little bit harder to find but
> they can be had. use it to tune the 1st (high E) string, and then match
> the 12th fret harmonic of the 6th (low E) string. Now fret the 4th (D)
> string at the second fret (an E) and tune that note to the 12th fret
> harmonic of the 1st string. Now fret the 2nd string (B) at the third fret
> (D) and tune that note to the 12th fret harmonic of the fourth string. Now
> fret the 3rd string at the 7th fret (D) and tune that note to the the 12th
> fret harmonic of the 4th string. now compare the third string harmonic at
> the 12th fret to the first string fretted at the third fret. The harmonic,
> if you've tuned everything closely, should be ever so slightly flat of the
> fretted note. This is correct. Now, tune the 12th fret harmonic of the 5th
> (A) string to the 3rd string fretted at the second fret. The guitar, if it
> is intonated properly, is now in as correct a tune as is possible.
>
> The reason this method of tuning is preferable to the simpler and more
> commonly found methods is simple. The Guitar is by it's nature not a very
> well tempered instrument. When you tune strictly to harmonics, as in the
> more common "beat frequency" method, you are not actually tuning the notes
> as they will be played on a fretted instrument. That method of tuning
> works fine for fretless instruments, because the player can make the
> proper adjustments for variations in pitch depending on the key of the
> moment. However, any tempered instrument like the guitar is inherently
> compromised, and by tuning using the method I've just described, you bring
> the instrument into tune with itself. The result is that chords sound less
> out of tune, and you will find it easier to play along withother tempered
> instruments.
>
> My name is Jason, and I am on a mission to end out of tune guitar playing.
>
>
> > seriously, unless you need one to tune on a noisy stage, you're much
> > better off with your ears and a pitchfork.
> > strike the fork and hold it over the pickup, it will give you a nice
> > loud a', which you can compare to the overtone in the 12th fret of
> > the a string. listen for beats and turn until they disappear. for
> > the other strings, compare 5th fret overtone on lower string with
> > 7th fret overtone on upper string. the notes will sustain when you
> > take your fingers off the fretboard, and you can again tune until
> > the beats disappear.
> --
> YankTheChain.com - You can pretend we're not here. That's what I do.
>
> ,
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