best electronic tuner for banjos?
Maxine G.
try someone else's, I find that the banjo's overtones make the tuner's needle
go back and forth and never really settle anywhere, which makes it not all
that useful. My banjo has a skin head which make the overtones even greater
than with a plastic head.
Does anyone have any recommendations for specific tuners that work well with
skin head banjos?
Hope you all had fun at Mount Airy!
-Maxine
mg at pcg dot net
Cleoma
Bill Evans uses one that he attaches to the peghead of the banjo, and it seems
to work pretty well. You could email him and ask him what kind it is.
bev...@nativeandfine.com
Suzy
To reply to this posting, remove "nojunk" from my email address.
Bob Gregory
in alt.banjo.
Cleoma <cle...@aol.comnojunk> wrote in message
news:19990607114239...@ng-da1.aol.com...
Mike Stanger
allows hands off tuning. Korg may have a newer model out- this one is 8
years old or so, but I expect the newer ones would work as well as this
one does.
Stanger
Joe Cline
The tuner that Bill Evans uses is indeed the InteleTouch; I've had a
little trouble with mine, but when I called the company, they told me
to send it back, and they'd replace it, no questions asked!
The DT-1has been replaced with the DT-3, which has some improvements,
and some "improvements" if you get my drift. I have one of each, and,
overall, I think that I like the DT-1 better, but YMMV.
Joe in Charlotte
OdTmHrp
works great for tuning the banjo
to different tunings, it is easy to use
while other people are playing.
I got mine from First Quality Musical
Supplies www.fqms.com
.
Mike Stanger
what does YMMV mean?
Stanger
bob
the DT-3 model...several years old but works great...I have used every tuner
there is out there over the years, but I really like the Borg stuff...mostly
I use whatever I have at the time until I drop it to many times!!) No
affiliation...yada yada yada...I just like the product.....
Bob
Banjo Pickin & Beer Brewin .. :)
Maxine G. wrote in message
<3jJ63.4466$F7.4...@typhoon-sf.snfc21.pbi.net>...
Bart Veerman
clamp could sure stand a little redesigning.
>>>>> hints on coping with tinnitus and five string banjo tabs: <<<<<
on the new address --- http://www.iprimus.ca/~haruteq
>> may your moments of need be met by moments of compassion <<
Kerry Blech
I just got a Korg CU-12 digital chromatic tuner, about the size of
a cassette tape. I mostly use it for fiddle, but I have, and Allen
Hart has, used it to attempt to tune a banjo (Allen's has a skin
head, like yours, mine is plastic). Still some needle deflection,
as you describe, but not nearly as bad as my previous tuner (a Boss).
Nice things about this one -- price: street price of about $20;
battery saver: if no signal comes through within 20 minutes, it
automatically turns the battery off -- I used up lots of
batteries with the Boss without ever getting anything in tune
<g>.
I also use a plug-in transducer (one I bought years ago from
John Hatton's Cleff'd Ear) so that I don't have to rely on the
tiny condensor mic on the tuner -- allow you to "tune in a crowd".
I've seen the one that clips onto the instrument's head and
it seems to be very nice too, but is about 4 times the cost
of the one I got.
Regards,
kerrrrrry
Maxine G. wrote:
>
> Every once in a while I think about getting a tuner for my banjo. Whenever I
> try someone else's, I find that the banjo's overtones make the tuner's needle
> go back and forth and never really settle anywhere, which makes it not all
> that useful. My banjo has a skin head which make the overtones even greater
> than with a plastic head.
>
> Does anyone have any recommendations for specific tuners that work well with
> skin head banjos?
>
> Hope you all had fun at Mount Airy!
>
> -Maxine
>
> mg at pcg dot net
--
Blec...@WolfeNet.com
"When you get above the clouds, you can do just as you choose."
- The Rector Trio, Asheville, NC 1930
Bob Gregory
news:7jhqgv$lds$1...@news.monad.net...
> I use Borg digital tuners and have for many years...
I suppose resistance is futile ;)
OT Fiddler
can design a circuit to add to the Boss tuner to add the automatic power-off
function. If someone can provide the circuit, I'm sure some of us could
build it ...
Anyone? Anyone?
Larry Wheat
Kerry Blech wrote in message <375D1E24...@Wolfenet.com>...
>Hi Maxine,
>Nice things about this one -- price: street price of about $20;
>battery saver: if no signal comes through within 20 minutes, it
>automatically turns the battery off -- I used up lots of
>batteries with the Boss without ever getting anything in tune
><g>.
>Regards,
>kerrrrrry
Glenn Godsey
>
>Chalk up another one for the Intellitouch. Only thing though, the
>clamp could sure stand a little redesigning.
Some people swear by the Intellitouch and some swear AT them. The tuner, itself,
works well, but the clamp doesn't transmit worth a dam on a lot of instruments.
I took the clamp off, replaced the screw, and attach the tuner tightly to
bracket nuts with a rubber band. It works very well like this for me, but it was
lousy with the clamp no matter where I attached it.
I used to perform several times a week and I have had a lot of experience with
electronic tuners for over 20 years (and I became something of a tuner collector
;^). I still think my Boss chromatic from about 1976 is the best when used with
a pick-up plugin, but it is bulky and expensive.
Kerry, how steady is the reading from yours on a banjo?
Glenn Godsey
Mark Borzillo
away. I think tuners cause lazy ears and if you ever want to really get
those harmonies right, you need a good one.
Mark
LABourdillon
tuners, I still have no problem with my W.M.Kratt Super Pitch Pipe. :-)
...larry
Mark Borzillo wrote in message <7jkdhh$7ia$1...@dumber.ktis.net>...
Jerry Dallal
for about $15 consider a SignalFlex SF-30 Universal Tuner Pickup
distributed by Kaman. It clips onto your instrument and plugs into your
tuner to turn it into an Intellitouch type of tuner.
Robert Palasek
been impressed with Korg electronics.
Their displays are ALWAYS easy to read, for ALL
of their devices. I recognize this as a
conscious and deliberate engineering design
decision on Korg's part.
8 or 10 years ago I bought a Korg DT-1 and have been
using it ever since. I paid $110 for it new.
I liked the idea of a chromatic tuner because when
I was still trying to get the pitches right on the fiddle,
if something sounded wrong I could check, and sure
enough I was off pitch. I could correct immediately.
Almost like having a teacher with a good ear right there
for your whole practice session.
It was my intention, when I bought it, that I would
use the tuner to check against what I heard when
tuning my fiddle strings to open 5ths. For the first
6 months I did this, and found I could hear the correct
interval, and sense whether I was sharp or flat and
verify my guess with the tuner. But instead of throwing
the crutch away after a learned this, I got lazy and just
used the tuner. Occasionally I have to tune without it, and
I seem to do ok.
As far as getting the pitches right, I later learned
that if you don't have the play perfectly tempered
chromatic intervals but play the "natural" scale it sounds better.
In a sense, I was learning the wrong scale, the same one that
I would learn if I were checking my pitches against the piano.
I was doing all single string stuff then.
In retrospect, I think
learning pitches by playing a lot of double stops might
have been a better way to get there, to hear and finger the
correct pitches of the scale by listening to how they ring
against other strings; this is speculation,
I'm not sure I'll ever know.
Last Christmas I bought a Korg chromatic tuner for
my son who plays electric bass and is in to
rock and roll. The model was CA-10, and the price is
now down to $25. Electronics keep getting smaller and
better and cheaper. It was a nice stocking stuffer.
Readable display. And he always plays in tune now.
I can't say how it would work for a banjo.
No one plays banjo at my house . . . yet.
Bob Palasek
in northern Calif.
Nigel Gatherer
> ...I think tuners cause lazy ears and if you ever want to really get
> those harmonies right, you need a good one.
There may be something in what you say. However, if you've ever tried to
tune a mandolin (or whatever) in a noisy pub you might just have wished
for a tuner handy.
--
_ _ _ _
| \| (_)__ _ ___| |
| .` | / _` / -_) | Nigel Gatherer
|_|\_|_\__, \___|_| gath...@argonet.co.uk
|___/
Tim Rhodes
last year. Very nice, convienient and easy to read, but I was disappointed
when I got under the tent in the band line and found that the banjo picked
up too much external sound/vibration. In the noisy environment, the banjo
acted like a mic and the Intellitouch wouldn't track.
The Korg with a clip on condenser mic has the same problem, but to a much
lesser extent.
For less noisy environments, the Intellitouch is my preference.
--
.. Tim Rhodes ........................ http://rhodes.cc.vt.edu/~rhodes ..
.. Lead Systems Engineer, Virginia Tech ............ Tim.R...@vt.edu ..
Kellie A. Allen
for exercising good manners in an old-time music world. You may have a
wonderful ear, and I may a pretty good ear myself, but there are plenty of
people out there who will play out of tune and not even know that they are
doing so.
Kerry Blech
>
> I don't mean to start something, but really you should throw that crutch
> those harmonies right, you need a good one.
A few years ago I'd have agreed with you, but I had a serious ear
infection
and now have a lot of low-end and middle-range distortion in one ear,
which
causes me to greatly doubt myself when tuning an instrument -- one side
effect is that this condition tends to make a lot of different noises
all come to the same volume with what I am trying to focus on, so if
there is any other noise going on while I'm tuning, I can't hear the
pitch. I had to have friends tune my instruments for me for a while
until someone suggested an electronic tuner. Now I play with more
confidence (and those notes that seem to be "off-pitch" are placed
there intentionally now -- "natural" vs. "well-tempered" scales).
So I think there is a place for such "crutches," especially for those
who are trying to tune at a massive festival or crowded bar scene.
Regards,
Kerry
Joe Cline
>
> I don't mean to start something, but really you should throw that crutch
> away. I think tuners cause lazy ears and if you ever want to really get
> those harmonies right, you need a good one.
When I started going to fiddler's conventions almost three decades
ago, every time you went from one session to another, you had to
retune. Since the advent of electronic tuners, almost everyone at
Galax or Mt. Airy is tuned to the same pitch. Makes roaming around a
whole lot less stressful.
As far as tempered vs. natural tuning, anytime you play with a guitar
or mandolin, you are having to deal with tempered tuning. Natural
tunings are only in tune only on a fretless instrument. There is a
reason that tempered tunings have been around for over two hundred
years. (Sorry, "ghost")
Joe in Charlotte
Sluys Guys
Intellitough tuner stopped working soon after I bought it and I seem to have
misplaced the warentee information.
Thanks, Nancy
Glenn Godsey
>
>I don't mean to start something, but really you should throw that crutch
>away. I think tuners cause lazy ears and if you ever want to really get
>those harmonies right, you need a good one.
For over a decade I played fiddle with a popular bluegrass band. This group only
played bars and clubs and had a big following. Tuning on stage was always very
difficult.
Around 1975, I had a revelation. I was emcee on the big stage at Winfield and
the original incarnation of New Grass Revival was playing to a huge crowd. Sam
Bush and Courtney Johnson stationed their spouses backstage, and several times
during each set, someone would pass an instrument back to one one of the girls,
sometimes with a broken string. In the midst of a very loud performance,
standing by a huge bank of speakers, one of the girls would quickly attach a
pick-up to the instrument, plug into a Boss electronic tuner, and, like magic,
hand back a perfectly tuned instrument. This was in the midst of an uproar where
it would be impossible to hear anything but the performance.
Since that revelation, I have never been without an electronic tuner and a
clip-on pick-up.
I remember the days when I would walk up to session where everyone would be half
a step sharp to standard pitch, then drop by another session where everyone was
1/2 step flat. Occasionally, I have had to perform with an individual who
insists on tuning by ear in the midst of band situations. That person has never,
ever, been in tune with the group and it is embarrassing.
I am a really traditional OT musician who started playing at the knee of Eck
Robertson in 1941, but nowadays, I think there is no excuse for joining a
session and not be tuned to standard pitch.
Glenn Godsey
Glenn Godsey
Onboard Research in Carrollton, Texas. Phone: 972-446-9700
OdTmHrp
Mark Borzillo
where an electronic tuner can be of benefit. I just wonder why piano tuners
still tune the old fashioned way if the electronics are so good. I maintain
there is real benefit to keeping the ear fit at all costs. Surely one can
tune a string back to standard even in a jam. I'll grant you on stage, with
lots of sound reinforcement, it's difficult, but in acoustic situations why
not use the old ear for all it's worth?
Mark
Bart Veerman
>tune a string back to standard even in a jam. I'll grant you on stage, with
>lots of sound reinforcement, it's difficult, but in acoustic situations why
>not use the old ear for all it's worth?
others play out of tune. Sounds to me they ought to appreciate it when
"offenders" get a little electronic help and feel better they don't
have to butt in all the time :)
Ray Wakeland
>
> I just wonder why piano tuners
> still tune the old fashioned way if the electronics are so good.
As I think you are suggesting here, no ordinary electronic tuner would
be adequate for a professional piano tuning job. Piano tuners work at
much higher accuracy.
It is also true that pianos are "stretch" tuned, which means that the
fundamental frequencies of the highest notes are tuned sharp with
respect to the lower notes. This is so that the *harmonics* line up
correctly. This is done for the simple reason that it sounds better.
Ray Wakeland
Tock
I used to tune pianos on the side with an electronic tuner. Discovered
pretty quick that ya can't use it on anything other than the center strings
on the middle octave; the rest has to be done by ear, or else it usually
sounds worse than when ya started on it. Yep, the ear is more sensitive
than these electronic dohickeys.
--Tock
Glenn Godsey
"Tock" says...>
>I used to tune pianos on the side with an electronic tuner. Discovered
>pretty quick that ya can't use it on anything other than the center strings
>on the middle octave; the rest has to be done by ear, or else it usually
>sounds worse than when ya started on it. Yep, the ear is more sensitive
>than these electronic dohickeys.
Well, yes. I, too, have tuned a couple of pianos by ear. But, I wouldn't want to
try it in the middle of a stage performance or a loud session where no one ever
stops noodling. And: there is no universal ear to provide a universal standard
pitch. And: the piano, being an even-tempered monstrosity (a result of some
unfortunate plunges in royal musical tastes in the 18th century), is never
really in tune. A fretless banjo and a fiddle can play in tune with traditional
modes - a piano can't. Piano lovers, don't bother to tell me how piano is trad
in OT music. I know that - I played with one in a square dance band in 1947. It
didn't sound right to me then, and it doesn't sound right to me now - not with
fiddles and banjos. I don't mean to insult anyone - this is just the way one old
coot hears it. Some people love the thumping church rythym, but, if there is a
piano in a session, I walk right on by...........Glenn Godsey
bob
best thing you could hope for was having an in-tune piano around...I'm sure
it was an advantage for me in the long run...
I personally hardly ever use a tuner at home unless I've just changed my
strings or I'm using one of my banjos which haven't been played in a long
time...(a good banjo never goes out of tune...right!!!) ... :)
But when I'm recording or playing on stage I use them religiously...
But as one poster noted people do seem to overuse tuners...As my first
mentor taught me, "To really learn to play the banjo...you first need to
learn to tune...so the notes are in your soul forever"
But we are talking about a banjo here... :)
Bob
Banjo Pickin & Beer Brewin... :)
>Mark Borzillo wrote:
>>
>> I don't mean to start something, but really you should throw that crutch
>> away. I think tuners cause lazy ears and if you ever want to really get
>> those harmonies right, you need a good one.
>> Mark
Jon Bryan
nos...@pacbell.net says...
> than with a plastic head.
>
> Does anyone have any recommendations for specific tuners that work well with
> skin head banjos?
I have a Fiberskyn head on my Ome, and the new Korg CA-20 chromatic tuner
works great. It also works great on my wife's harp (which is actually
what I bought it for). I paid $20 or $25 for it.
--
Jon Bryan
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Gordhin
transducer Kerry describes, this year after years of insisting that tuners
didn't work on banjos without much distortion. Well, this one does tend to
"bob" a little, but it's great for getting close to pitch fast. It's not
perfect, but I'm not even close. Tuners do not replace ears (thought they
might be fashionable as such), but they can help. Gordy
Mark Borzillo
frequencies get tuned slightly flat and the lower ones slightly sharp??
thanks
Mark
Mike Stanger
sharps and /or flats certain notes a tiny bit to make everything work
more harmoniously. If a banjo bridge is in the correct position, though,
and the neck is accurately fretted, all the strings should be tuned to
the pitch of the tuner. The B string often sounds a little off after
tuning to a tuner, though, so sweeten it to your ear if it bugs you.
Stanger
ghost
>I don't mean to start something, but really you should throw that crutch
>away. I think tuners cause lazy ears and if you ever want to really get
>those harmonies right, you need a good one.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(That's a "You are ***so*** right!").
(I learned that from somebody I once knew in North Carolina.)
Robert Bowden
>
> I am a really traditional OT musician who started playing at the knee of Eck
> Robertson in 1941, but nowadays, I think there is no excuse for joining a
> session and not be tuned to standard pitch.
>
> Glenn Godsey
Glenn:
I've never met you but I am in complete agreement. Temperature, humidity
and just playing hard will cause tuning havoc with most good (and not so
good) acoustic instruments. I've noticed more and more professional
bluegrass bands are using tuners on stage these days. It is a rare banjo
player that manages to stay in tune for more than one capo change and
remain true to standard pitch. I know, I have played banjo for over 30
years.
Yes, ear training is certainly important but in a band (or jam) setting to
whom are you going to tune? Many bands like to use the guitar as a
reference but if the guitar goes flat or sharp for any reason then so do
the rest of the instruments. In a 5 piece B.G. band if everybody re-tunes
to the guitar that could be as many as 21 strings re-tuning at once.
Granted, that rarely happens because someone is usually astute enough to
realize that someone has gone out of pitch. There is one thing more
annoying than having to tune to a reference instrument in a band and that
is that YOU are tuning to a tuner(and you are up to pitch) and the rest of
the band is too stubborn to use one.
R. Bowden
Roger Woods
pedal steel guitar. Temp, humidity, and playing hard can cause big
detuning problems. Keeping a pedal steel tuned is sometimes a real
problem, depending upon whether it is outdoors or indoors picking. If
the inside is air conditioned, I have to let the rig adust to the temp
and humidity before I tune. Get there early and set up.
It is always a pleasure to go on stage with musicians who use a
standard tuner for the guitars and bass. I tune off them and make any
needed adustments for detuning during the set by slightly adusting the
position of the bar until the end of the set when I can retune.
If I am off topic with this posting, my apology.
On Tue, 06 Jul 1999 15:52:20 GMT, RBO...@ns.net (Robert Bowden) wrote:
>I've never met you but I am in complete agreement. Temperature, humidity
>and just playing hard will cause tuning havoc with most good (and not so
>good) acoustic instruments. I've noticed more and more professional
Roger Woods, Norfolk, VA.
See my sailing stuff, fat stuff, or whatever tickles my fancy!
http://members.tripod.com/~PublisherRLW/
Email: 1rw...@pinn.net (Remove the 1)
Mike Stanger
would either fight their instruments all night trying to tune as they
went from jam to jam or just live with the disonance and sound like
crap. I noticed at Weiser this year that a tuner "etiquette" has
developed... if aperson joined a jam, it was polite to ask for a tuner
if they didn't have one before they joined in. The biggest improvement
that tuners have made in these situations is that, even if the banjo
player's b string sounds a little out to him, it will sound great when
played against the fiddles, mandos, basses, guitars, dobros, etc. Jams
are a lot sweeter now than they used to make 'em.
Stanger
Jim Orr
There's a very good article in the most recent Piano and Keyboard (July/
August 1999) by Steve Brady, piano technician, discussing pros and cons
of electronic tuning aids. He uses one for piano tuning, but quotes
Franz Mohr, former Steinway & Sons chief concert technician, who said in
1992 that he was "personally dead set against" the use of these devices.
Visit: www.pianoandkeyboard.com, which doesn't seem to have the text of
the article, but which will send you a free trial issue containing the
article (if you get your request in soon enough that july/august is the
most recent issue).
--
Jim Orr
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
Rex Hunt
>With regard to using electronic tuners on pianos:
>
>There's a very good article in the most recent Piano and Keyboard (July/
>August 1999) by Steve Brady, piano technician, discussing pros and cons
>of electronic tuning aids. He uses one for piano tuning, but quotes
>Franz Mohr, former Steinway & Sons chief concert technician, who said in
>1992 that he was "personally dead set against" the use of these devices.
>
>Visit: www.pianoandkeyboard.com, which doesn't seem to have the text of
>the article, but which will send you a free trial issue containing the
>article (if you get your request in soon enough that july/august is the
>most recent issue).
>
>--
>Jim Orr
>
matter) using an electronic tuner for anything other than a reference
will not give you an in-tune piano. The term I have heard used is
"tempered" in that the instrument is tuned to sound right across it's
entire range which does not mean each note is perfectly, ie. mathematicaly,
in tune. Any instrument with fixed notes, eg. frets, is like this.
I've heard that picky classical violinist will tell you that there is
a difference between G# and Ab. Of course this has nothing to do with
banjos which are never in tune for more than a few seconds anyway ;)
Rex
Ken Blake
news:7mi2ok$i...@cris.bus.indiana.edu...
Temperament is not so much a matter of sounding right across
its entire range, as a matter of sounding right in all keys.
The tuning of a banjo or guitar, or any fretted instrument,
has to be tempered just as a piano does, if you want the
ability to play it in different keys without retuning. For
that reason, an electronic tuner used on either would need
to be tempered (or the temperament applied manually after
being tuned exactly).
It's my understanding that that last phrase in parentheses
above is the way pianos are actually tuned. First they are
tuned accurately, then they are tempered.
But at any rate, it seems to me that tuning piano and
fretted instruments are nearly identical, and what device
works for one should work for the other.
--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup.
LABourdillon
...larry
Rex Hunt wrote in message <7mi2ok$i...@cris.bus.indiana.edu>...
chuckf...@gmail.com
> Hey, Joe...
> what does YMMV mean?
> Stanger
Your Mileage My Vary