Accessories Electronic tuner - recommendation please

[half diminished]

I reckon I'm reasonably in tune and my teacher doesn't moan about it - mind you she may be adopting the 'lesser of evil' approach!

I don't have a tuner, should I get one and if so which?

I use a rather splendid wooden pyramid metronome so don't need that facility.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Chris98]

I reckon I'm reasonably in tune and my teacher doesn't moan about it - mind you she may be adopting the 'lesser of evil' approach!

I don't have a tuner, should I get one and if so which?

I use a rather splendid wooden pyramid metronome so don't need that facility.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Ian,

You already have a tuner of sorts in GarageBand, have a look at the attached screen grab.

But, if you want a more portable tuner, I've got a Korg CA-30 which does well enough for me. I guess the important thing is to look for a 'Chromatic Tuner' rather than a 'Guitar Tuner'.

But also have a look at this article by Steven Howard: Do I Need A Tuner

Have a good Easter,

Chris

 

[Mamos]

I have a tuning fork but I also have a little seiko tuner that fits on a key ring.

It is very good and I use it for ear training as it is always with me and I can sing into it.

About a tenner from sax.co.uk http://www.saxophones.co.uk/acatalog/info_1819.html

mamos

 

[losaavedra]

I've got two guitar effects processors that have tuners in them but I never use them. My upright piano is 'boss' (I can't readily change the tuning of that myself!) regarding fixing or verifying the tuning of everything else I have here that I can 'hand tune' relatively from a given note. I don't see how I can 'tune' my alto in the same way as I tune (say) a guitar. If I play a note flat or sharp within a piece then I'm blowing it wrong for that particular note (likely embouchure problem) not that I mis-tuned the instrument in the first place.
Those pyramid metronomes are great, must get one. In the meantime I use drum loops if I can't fix the time properly myself.

 

[Col9]

After reading loads of forum posts (mostly sotw) about a year ago, i convinced myself I needed one. I got a £10 chromatic tuner/metranome/pitch generator. I have used it twice since. Its something ignorance told me to get and a little experience tells me i didnt really need. ;} Some people swear by them and some dont, although I can see how it would be easy to get obsessed with the digital needle and a little green light in the quest for the perfect pitch.

Having said that My other half uses it all the time for tunning her double bass so not a waste of money after all.

Col.

 

[Taz]

Never used one. I've always relied on my ear. (It goes red when I'm out!!))

 

[Chris98]

...although I can see how it would be easy to get obsessed with the digital needle and a little green light in the quest for the perfect pitch.Col.

That rings a bell.

I should have said originally, I got my tuner for tuning guitars and bases not for the sax. I've used it twice with the sax, the first time was very early on and got so discouraged I decided never to go there again. The second time was at Christmas when I did my first gig with the SaxPak and we were outside in the cold and having trouble being in tune with each other.

 

[TonyMoroney]

I use a Seiko SAT500, which seem to be quite popular. It was less that £20 if I recall

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/8169-seiko-sat500-chromatic-tuner.html

I use it a lot because it bugs the heck out of me when I'm sharp/flat compared to whomever I'm playing with. I particularly like it because you can choose your key for whichever sax you're playing without having to transpose. C for Chromatic, Eb for Alto, etc, Bb for Tenor etc, and F (Mezzo-Soprano anyone?), only one critique is that it'll play tones (A @ 440) but doesn't have a metronome.

Just my 2 cents.

T.

 

[Pete Thomas]

The best one I've found is the £2.59 one I have on my iPhone (Cleartune). Mind you, it won't work without the iPhone sadly.

 

[Pjonah]

I'm adamently opposed to tuners, just use your ears, you'll know straight away if your out!

I use one on my bass guitar, but thats all. The saxes all have no such vice.

 

[Pauline]

When my tuner packed up about a year ago I did a lot of research to find another one but then decided not to bother.
Electronic tuners are visual things and I thought that this was not the way to go if I really wanted to improve my ear.

So.... I tune the sax to the note on my electronic metronome and then take it from there. If I'm playing something with a play-along cd I sometimes use that to check if I sound in tune.
I have also got a tuning cd which is supposed to help train your ear but I haven't properly got to grips with that yet.

I think this approach is starting to pay off. Hope it is anyway!

 

[half diminished]

The best one I've found is the £2.59 one I have on my iPhone (Cleartune). Mind you, it won't work without the iPhone sadly.

Might try that, I have an iPhone.

 

[Moz]

I reckon I'm reasonably in tune and my teacher doesn't moan about it - mind you she may be adopting the 'lesser of evil' approach!

I don't have a tuner, should I get one and if so which?

I use a rather splendid wooden pyramid metronome so don't need that facility.

Thanks in advance.

I have a Korg CA30 tuner (about £10) and I bought a contact mic (also about ten quid) to go with it and it is invaluable for my situation...


...I play in a band which has six members, we make a lot of noise. When we first start playing or rehearsing my sax is cold. I tune with the trumpeter as we duet (duel) a lot and need to be in tune. As the sax warms up, the tuning changes on top of which when playing loud I sometimes hear as if I am playing flat (that's a subject for another thread, why does that happen?) even though I am not. The tuner with the contact mic allows me to check tuning even though I can't necessarily hear myself playing that well and allows me to change things as the sax warms up. The contact mic attaches to the bell and can only pick up what it's attached to.

Before anyone asks the question...no, you can't use a contact mic as a cheap sax mic because not only does it pick up the sound of the sax it also picks up the noise from the pads hitting the tone holes. Trust me, I tried it thinking 'sax mike for only ten quid!!'. Forget it.

Note that this tuner, and probably all tuners, give the key in concert pitch. Not really a problem as you can tranpose or put the mouthpiece in roughly the right position and fine tune using the readout on the tuner taking no notice of the note displayed.

Moz

 

[GJ77]

I agree with Pete about Cleartune. It's clear, precise and cheap (if you've got the hardware). I use it about once a week or so when doing more intensive long note and overtone exercises, or when I pick up my tenor after a long hiatus spent playing alto and baritone. That mk7 has a great ballsy tone but it's not without its idiosyncrasies- thankfully nothing I can't get around after 10 minutes spent re-acquainting myself with the old girl.

 

[Vlad]

I've had a Seiko 747 chromatic tuner for years, highly recommended, I've only used it for stringed instruments, banjo, bass etc, ( never actually used a tuner for saxophone.) ..it's a very good little thing and has built in mike so would work with a wind instrument no doubt..a PP9 battery last for ever in it too !

 

[kevgermany]

PP9 battery last for ever in it too !

That must be a monster big tuner.

 

[kevgermany]

Another ancient resurrection...

 

[richardr]

Resurrection it may be, but by coincidence my teacher recently advised me to use a tuner as part of my long note exercises - no good blowing beautiful notes if they aren't at the right pitch. I have a Snark guitar tuner which I had mislaid but which turned up this morning. It's the sort that you clip to the guitar head; I clipped it to the bell of my alto and it worked a treat.
But how do you know whether the tuner's in tune? Some time ago I compared the Snark tuner with a tuner built into a guitar. They indicated audibly different pitches for the same note.

 

[Colin the Bear]

Check the tuner is set to A 440. There's a button on the snark to alter the frequency.

 

[jbtsax]

I tune my saxophone to A concert. To me it is important to have some source for A=440 whether it is a tuning fork, and electronic key board, or a Korg Tuner. The other use for my tuner is to occasionally check the commonly out of tune notes on the sax C#2, D2, A2, C#3 and the palm keys. My experience is that it is easy to get used to the sharpness of some of the notes and they begin to sound "right" after a while. The tuner brings me back when I have gone astray.