Virtual Strobe Tuner(s)?

[Z-Tuba Dude]

I had one sereral years ago, briefly, but I found that the rings did not work independently, like the more expensive Strob-o-Conn.

Has something changed in the design?

[Rick Denney]

I have the strong suspicion that Wade has learned tricks I have not learned. My VSAM sure seems to be just an animated imitation of a strobe tuner, and if the bands work independently, I can't tell it. But I've not figured out how to use to tune chord harmonics, etc. I also get the sense that the deplay refreshes at a rate that resonates with the frequencies being displayed, such that it's hard to get a sense of the "motion" of the disks. I've actually been rather disappointed with it. And mine sure didn't come with the goodies that came with Wade's, though I bought it on sale, so maybe it was changed at some point or there are a couple of versions.

I keep going back to my Korg AT-12 with the old-fashioned analog needle.

Rick "who honestly hasn't spent much time trying to figure out the interesting bits for a variety of reasons" Denney

[Art Hovey]

I think you are asking something like this:
If some of the bugle tones on my tuba are a little sharp and others are a little flat, will that cause the harmonics of a steady tone to display similar pitch discrepancies?

I am pretty sure that the answer is no.

When you play a steady pitch the sound that you make is a mixture of frequencies forming a harmonic series. Each of the higher harmonics has a frequency that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency. If the tuba does not like some of those frequencies (for example if your tuba has a sharp high F) then that frequency will not be as strong in the mix as it would if the tuba liked it dead-on.

If you synthesize a sound by mixing a harmonic series of frequencies and then make small changes in the frequencies of some of the higher harmonics the result is not a "steady" tone. The sound quality or flavor will be continually changing because the waveform is no longer exactly periodic.

Please forgive me if I have misinterpreted your question and replaced it with one that I found interesting.

[Kevin Hendrick]

Check the manual. It has an explanation on using a strobe wheel to tune notes that are tempered naturally. Also, the VSAM has a lot of preset tuning modes and such that you can use. Again, read the very long manual, which is like a mini textbook. Yours are the same as mine. It is all there. Trust me.

Good advice -- one of my programming instructors used to remind us (frequently!) to "Read That Fine Manual" ...

[Kevin Hendrick]

Kevin,

I'm not totally clear on what you are trying to say.

Are you suggesting that the VSAM displays harmonic information from more than one octave simultaneously and independently?

Both the manual (from which I quoted above) and the Peterson rep (in phone conversation), assert that the bands on the VSAM display do not move independently, and that they do NOT display information from multiple octaves simultaneously, independently, in real time.

Do you read the manual differently, or do you have experience to the contrary?


Regards,

DG

Neither -- just a general comment on "reading the manual" being a good thing (sorry if it was confusing).