TubeNet

Can anyone recommend a quality tuner for tuba? Something that will pick up notes below A. Looking for what is out there and available, not so concerned about what the price might be. More for knowledge and perhaps switching to. Thanks

Thanks! I don't have an iphone or adriod, but I know people who use them also.

the elephant wrote:

bloke wrote:I can't play in tune any better than my Korg CA-20 tells me that I'm out-of-tune.
If anyone else can, I'd love to hear their secrets.

This thing reads inaccurately. Line up ten of them. (We did.) Play a note. All of them will read a few cents off from one another.I used one of these for years. We noticed in rehearsal that they did not line up accurately, some being off by 20 cents. NO ONE in our group uses them any more. Sometimes you can actually hear that the "needle" is way off from true. They are crap. Don't use them.

Are you serious? I didn't know tuners could be that off. I use my cheapo Korg for reference. But intonation is all relative when you are playing with others.

The CA-30 was MUCH improved, but still had problems. I once had one that had to be set to A=439 to match to other CA-30's 440. But we did a test with mine and 4 others once, and mine was the only one off. At least the 4 others matched.

Has anyone used one of these? I am curious to see if it works on the tuba.

http://www.turbo-tuner.com/pages/videos.htm" target="_blank


As for the best tuner, I go with Peterson Strobe Center 5000
http://www.amazon.com/Peterson-Strobe-C ... 87&sr=8-10" target="_blank
I don't have to wait for the tuner to catch what note I am playing; hence, I can play most pieces in tempo while checking my intonation on all the notes.

I love my Peterson iphone app. It's very good in loud rooms, as well. I hate having to try to get a pitch center while the horns are playing Strauss Eb Horn Concerto in octaves before a rehearsal, but I can leave it on the stand with all of the background noise. It acts like it's just me. Unless my bass bone player sticks his bell in my stand to mess with my head (which he loves to do). Great use of $10 if you have an iphone or ipod touch.

I also use the big peterson that Elephant showed (thanks, tax payers) that the band checked out to me. Very reliable. Good metronome function too.

If money is no object, the Peterson 590 is excellent; Peterson also has an iPhone app that works well. For small & portable, I like the Yamaha TD-1. it fits in a cassette case (for those of you who REMEMBER cassettes) works well and is VERY portable.

Wade-
I can't find the Android app for Istrobosoft--I see mention of a guitar android app--are you sure it is available for Android?
Thanks-
mark

The Peterson Stroboflip is a terrific tuner. Picks up low sounds like a champ and is very portable.

In my woodwind contexts I have met the StroboConn a couple of times. The partials activated separate wheels and the point was to get all to look like standing still at the same time. Part of the trick was about a controlled resonance technique, but the staff of tuning experts also knew how to apply corrections to the bore and to the tone holes to achieve the optimal tuning of all the partials.

This long prelude just to ask: do the modern fake (that is electronic) stroboscopes show separate tuning for the octaves and fifths contained in all notes?

I now have 3 samples of the red Snark (one for each of my three playing seats). I like them for being very sensitive to small pitch deviations as opposed to the more digital right or wrong models liked by some teachers for their students.

Played my Boosey F with a mute tonight and the low F triggered the Snark to show a C. Which is not at all insane considering mutes shift the balance between partials, and the Snark picks the loudest partial.

Klaus

Wade-
Thanks. It'll be -for Android-"gStrings Free" for now.
mark

jonesmj wrote:Wade-
Thanks. It'll be -for Android-"gStrings Free" for now.
mark

For what it's worth, gStrings is by no stretch the best free Android tuner. I had it for a while (it was the only game in town for a while), but it was inaccurate, twitchy, and a pain in the buttons to get to pick up my tuba. I've had a much, much easier and more confident time since switching to DaTuner, also free, easier to read, and seems to be much more consistent and secure.

HI-
Thanks-I'll A/B them and check it out.
mark

Has anyone put up their tuner they know to be true against the Dr Beat DB 90 reference tones? I try to use my ears to work on my pitch by playing intervals and simple etudes against drones. I guess I could try my Korg CA 20, but I never knew the Korgs were highly inconsistent.

I use a Korg CA-30 and the Android app DaTuner. They seem to work well.

tuneitup wrote:Has anyone used one of these? I am curious to see if it works on the tuba.

http://www.turbo-tuner.com/pages/videos.htm" target="_blank" target="_blank

Yes! I had two of the Peterson virtual strobes and sold them when I discovered the turbo tuner. I don't play tuba, but on euphonium and trombone it locks in instantly and is so much easier to use and less "glitchy" than the Petersons. HIGHLY recommended!!!

bbocaner wrote:

tuneitup wrote:Has anyone used one of these? I am curious to see if it works on the tuba.

http://www.turbo-tuner.com/pages/videos.htm" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Yes! I had two of the Peterson virtual strobes and sold them when I discovered the turbo tuner. I don't play tuba, but on euphonium and trombone it locks in instantly and is so much easier to use and less "glitchy" than the Petersons. HIGHLY recommended!!!

I do not like the tuning display (as demonstrated in the videos) at all! The the off-center rotation looks very confusing to me.

On the other hand I don’t like a too simplistic approach either. Like just showing a note name when the pitch is within an ‘acceptable’ slot.

Needle tuners sometimes are too sensitive leading to erratic movements. Tuners with LED lights indicate degrees of sharpness or flatness, but are not precise enough for my taste, especially not for tuning a harp.

My favourite still is the red (vibration sensor & microphone) Snark, which visually combines needle and LED type tuners. The movements are more steady than with a needle and more precise than with the row of LED’s.

And the Snark is small and handy, which also is one of my main complaints. I have 3 samples for my 3 playing positions sin my home. Two days ago 2 of the Snarks had disappeared from their normal placements. I even had to spin the York Master BBb, where it normally sits on the rim. Wasn’t there, so reconstructing my playing from the day before was necessary. That Snark was found sitting on the leadpipe of my F bass. The one used for the plucked strings was found sitting on the headstock of a ukulele, which was in its case. The Snark is so small that it will go with instruments into their cases or bags without causing any problems in respect of closing lids or pulling zippers.

Klaus

I use the Boss TU-12H and absolutely love it. Best tuner I've ever had and don't have any plans on buying a new one as long as this one works.

tuben wrote: Do NOT look to a tuner, of ANY price to be able to always pick up low pitches on the tuba. I have a VSAM like what elephant posted that I use for reference and odd temperaments in my work, but have found that even that GREAT tuner will often register a fifth above the note I'm playing on tuba.

VSAM is a good tuner, but the fact is it is one of the worst tuners I've ever tried at locking in on a pitch. The turbo tuner is so much better!! And, you did remember to hold down the button as you turned it on in order to activate the extended low range for tuba, right?

dgpretzel wrote: Do you know anything more about the extended range? I don't see anything at the Sonic Research site about it. However, maybe I am not being thorough enough.
DG

Sorry, I wasn't really clear. The turbo tuner will tune down to C0 (16.35hz) without any special settings. The Peterson VSAM will only go to C1 (31hz) unless you hold down a button while you turn it on in which case it will go to C-1 (8hz).