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If you look for a tuner app in the Android app store, there are like thousands of choices. Most of them are adware, or they don't register my double bass very w

If you look for a tuner app in the Android app store, there are like thousands of choices. Most of them are adware, or they don't register my double bass very well. I would have no idea where to begin looking for an app that is better in some way, or that even works. That market has pretty much disrupted itself. Fortunately I learned to tune by ear, so a tuner app is really a first world problem.

lucas_membrane 5y ago
With on-line music sessions now spanning the globe, and only a small minority of people able to achieve perfect absolute pitch, standard pitch is the lingua franca of internet music, and should be widely useful.
- asdff 5y ago
  What is standard pitch?
  - YZF 5y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A440_(pitch_standard) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A440_(pitch_standard) Most people that tune by ear tune relatively, e.g. they tune each string to another string. If there's no standard reference then it'll sound fine but you can't play with anyone else who is tuned to the standard... Though many people can tune to a reference pitch as well without using a tuner.
    - asdff 5y ago
      Oh yeah, my chromatic tuner is set to 440 hz. My guitar stays in pretty good tune to my ears at least but I would retune it with the tuner if playing with other instruments for sure or if it were to get out of tune (never seems to). When I change strings I do check my intonation too. Pretty easy to set on stratocasters. I think a lot of guitars especially are not set up well and intonation is probably off even if the open strings are in tune.
      - YZF 5y ago
        fun fact: it's impossible to get perfect intonation across the scale length on your standard fretboard guitar (like a Strat). The intonation adjustments (like checking the 12th fret) are a compromise. Of course, that's better than just having it wrong all over ;) A lot of people (myself included) just don't notice these small "errors" and sometimes it actually makes for a better sound...
        analog31 5y ago
        Indeed, likewise on all wind instruments. Perfect tuning is a niche feature in music.
robbedpeter 5y ago
Guitar Tuna is an excellent app with minimal distractions, simple and intuitive ui, and lets you calibrate, which can be invaluable. Tunes down to A1 with excellent bass presets. There are ads in the free version, and removing them / unlocking extras costs $12.99 . Best way to filter apps I've found is to look for three things: domain appropriate pricing, high numbers of good (believable) reviews, and a lifetime greater than 12 months. Very few crapware apps have all three at once - it also helps to ask relevant communities on enthusiast forums when it comes to craft - I've found great bubble level recommendations from a woodworking forum. Going to Twitter or social media comes in third, it's tough to get a good signal noise ratio from the hordes. Eventually ai might be able to curate for quality, but having multiple social proxies can help in the meantime.
sixothree 5y ago
So maybe if google curated their store a bit, you wouldn't have that problem!

lucas_membrane 5y ago

With on-line music sessions now spanning the globe, and only a small minority of people able to achieve perfect absolute pitch, standard pitch is the lingua franca of internet music, and should be widely useful.

asdff 5y ago
What is standard pitch?
- YZF 5y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A440_(pitch_standard) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A440_(pitch_standard) Most people that tune by ear tune relatively, e.g. they tune each string to another string. If there's no standard reference then it'll sound fine but you can't play with anyone else who is tuned to the standard... Though many people can tune to a reference pitch as well without using a tuner.
  - asdff 5y ago
    Oh yeah, my chromatic tuner is set to 440 hz. My guitar stays in pretty good tune to my ears at least but I would retune it with the tuner if playing with other instruments for sure or if it were to get out of tune (never seems to). When I change strings I do check my intonation too. Pretty easy to set on stratocasters. I think a lot of guitars especially are not set up well and intonation is probably off even if the open strings are in tune.
    - YZF 5y ago
      fun fact: it's impossible to get perfect intonation across the scale length on your standard fretboard guitar (like a Strat). The intonation adjustments (like checking the 12th fret) are a compromise. Of course, that's better than just having it wrong all over ;) A lot of people (myself included) just don't notice these small "errors" and sometimes it actually makes for a better sound...
      - analog31 5y ago
        Indeed, likewise on all wind instruments. Perfect tuning is a niche feature in music.

robbedpeter 5y ago

Guitar Tuna is an excellent app with minimal distractions, simple and intuitive ui, and lets you calibrate, which can be invaluable. Tunes down to A1 with excellent bass presets. There are ads in the free version, and removing them / unlocking extras costs $12.99 . Best way to filter apps I've found is to look for three things: domain appropriate pricing, high numbers of good (believable) reviews, and a lifetime greater than 12 months. Very few crapware apps have all three at once - it also helps to ask relevant communities on enthusiast forums when it comes to craft - I've found great bubble level recommendations from a woodworking forum. Going to Twitter or social media comes in third, it's tough to get a good signal noise ratio from the hordes. Eventually ai might be able to curate for quality, but having multiple social proxies can help in the meantime.

sixothree 5y ago

So maybe if google curated their store a bit, you wouldn't have that problem!