tuner app?

[Doug]

On 10/17/2012 08:49 PM, William Scott Lockwood III wrote:
>
> There are a few free ones for Android, or you could try any of a 
> number of programs included in Ubuntu Studio.
>
> On Oct 17, 2012 7:47 PM, "Dave Stevens" <geek at uniserve.com 
> <mailto:geek at uniserve.com>> wrote:
>
>     I need to tune an instrument sometimes, anyone know of a tuner
>     app? I'd like to be able to specify a frequency or note name and
>     then read the frequency of a vibrating string with my netbook's mike.
>
>     Dave
>
There are quite inexpensive stand-alone devices that you can use to tune 
instruments. There is a very small gadget called a SNARK that costs less 
than $10,
and clips on to the body of a guitar, where it picks up the frequency of 
vibration of a string and displays the note, and whether it's sharp or 
flat. It will also
work with a built-in microphone. Because of its microphone, it could be 
used to tune any mid-range instrument--say a clarinet. (The displayed 
notes are
not limited to the standard guitar tuning, altho such devices also 
exist.) The device, sans clip, is just under 3/4" in diameter by about 
5/8" thick.

For only a little more, you can get from Korg a chromatic tuner, model 
CA40, that has an LCD display that displays a note name as well as a 
simulated meter face
with a "needle" that shows cent errors. It has it's own built in 
microphone, or you can plug an instrument pickup cord into it, using a 
standard guitar cord.
It also comes with a contact microphone that can be plugged into the 
input connector. In addition, it has a built-in speaker, and will 
produce a tone you can
tune to.  If that's not enough for, say, and orchestra, you can plug a 
guitar cord into a dirrerent jack and feed the tone into an amplifier. 
The Korg would be a
valuable tool for a piano-tuner as well. The device is 2-5/8" x 4" x 
5/8" thick.

Both of these instruments work with internal batteries.The SNARK uses a 
button cell, and the Korg uses two AAA batteries.

As a some-time musician myself, I would surely prefer this kind of tool 
to anything that required a computer, even a laptop.  These instruments 
are available
on the web, or at music stores.

--doug