Tuners and metronomes

[Wyvern]

Hi Kurt,

I use the Peterson V-SAM which works well, picking up the low tuba register unlike many tuners and with built in metronome including subdivisions, but it is not cheap!

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=210040

[Steve Marcus]

My wife recently purchased a Zoom H2 recorder which has a tuner feature. How tuba friendly/sensitive is the tuner compared to other dedicated tuners?

[Allen]

Hi Kurt,

I can't tell you which is the best, but I can describe the tuners and metronomes I have. I keep buying them, perhaps because I can never find perfection. Here are my experiences:

All in one: Korg TM-40. The tuner part is satisfactory. The metronome part is good enough, but is limited. The tempo settings do not jump in steps of 1; rather the settings jump in steps that vary from 2 to 6. You can only use one section at a time. If you want only one item to put in your instrument case, it may be good enough.

Korg MA-30 metronome. This is the great cheap metronome, and may be enough for most people. It is small and inexpensive.

Korg CA-30 tuner. This works pretty well. The very lowest tuba notes do not seem to be detected. It is small and inexpensive, the same size as its MA-30 metronome cousin, above. This is the one I most often carry in my instrument case.

Korg OT-12 tuner. This is an expensive and versatile tuner. It has an actual illuminated pointer (as well as LEDs) for indicating pitch instead of the LCD display of the others. It does transpositions, and has several historic temperaments for those interested in early music. It is also quite good at detecting low tuba notes. I mostly use this in my home practice room.

Boss DB-30 metronome. This is a small but very versatile metronome that can conveniently clip to your music stand. It is fairly inexpensive. Lately, this is the metronome I use the most.

Boss Dr.Beat DB-88 metronome. It is expensive and very versatile. It uses up batteries so quickly it can only be described as "sudden." Always use it with its AC mains adapter. I use it at home sometimes to help me work out some tricky rhythm. Boss has a later (but still expensive) model that might have better battery life and yet more rhythms, but I have not investigated it.

With the tuners, I sometimes use a clip-on pickup on my tuba; it plugs into the microphone input of the tuner. This helps when you are surrounded by other musicians tuning up. I do not recall the brand or model number of this.

Finally, I should mention that a computer with various kinds of music software can be helpful in your practice room. For learning some difficult rhythms, one can take a recording and use some software (like the free "Audacity") to modify the pitch and tempo so you can play along with it. Another thing I did once was to take a piece that I had a lot of difficulty with and enter it into Finale. I then had the computer play the piece while I played along with it.

Now, I look forward to reading of others' experiences.

Cheers,
Allen

[keegan watson]

I use the Dr Beat DB-90. It subdivides more than most metronomes will. It also has a feature that will play pitches, I like this better than a light and a needle to tell you how to tune because it opens your ears and you can tune intervals.
my $.02
Keegan

[KevinMadden]

All in one: Korg TM-40. The tuner part is satisfactory. The metronome part is good enough, but is limited. The tempo settings do not jump in steps of 1; rather the settings jump in steps that vary from 2 to 6. You can only use one section at a time. If you want only one item to put in your instrument case, it may be good enough.

actually you can use both the tuner and metronome at the same time with this model. I believe it is just the subdividing feature of the metronome than cannot be used at the same time as the tuner.

[MartyNeilan]

Ditto on the Korgs. Many of the other cheaper tuner / metronome combos work fine for trumpet and even trombone but do not accurately register tuba notes.

[lgb&dtuba]

It doesn't have a metronome, but I use the Korg OT-120 for all my tuning needs. It pretty much does it all. For any instrument.

[SplatterTone]

I got my new toy today. An Intelli IMT-301. It does metronome, tuner, pitch tones,
AND
temperature and relative humidity.
http://www.metronomes.net/Intelli_IMT-3 ... _Tuner.htm

[Leland]

I got my new toy today. An Intelli IMT-301. It does metronome, tuner, pitch tones,
AND
temperature and relative humidity.
http://www.metronomes.net/Intelli_IMT-3 ... _Tuner.htm

Sweet! Assuming that it's accurate, it'll help in building a chart for referencing tuner calibration to the weather.

Of the metronomes mentioned so far, which are the most durable? Shockproof, dustproof, etc?