Re: recommended tuner?

["Tim Moyer" <wmharps@xxxxxxxxx>]

david j. brown wrote:
> I am getting tired of using my ear to tune reeds.
> Any recommendations for a cheap (but good) electric tuner?

The tuner I use wasn't cheap (~$120), but I like it a lot.  It's a 
Korg OT-12 Orchestral Tuner.  It has a lot of features I don't use, 
but some things that I like a lot.  First and foremost, it has an 
analog needle, not a set of LEDs to indicate pitch.  This is just an 
old man's preference.  I has adjustable calibration, and, 
importantly, it displays the calibration setting on the LCD screen, 
so you never have to wonder what you have the baseline set to.  It 
has a broad range of sensitivity (A0 - C8), which is good for all 
those low- and high-keyed harps.  It has a "Sound" mode that will 
emit the tone that you're trying to tune to, which makes it easy to 
tune to beats.  It also has a "Sound Back" mode that will auto-detect 
the tone being played, and play that tone back.  I've found this 
useful sometimes.  I like to use mine with the Korg contact mic, 
which you can clip onto the harp for close-up detection of the note.  

Of course, you still need your ear to fine tune a harp, but tuners 
are very useful for setting reference pitches for all the notes 
before you fine tune.  A strobe tuner is good for tuning with 
difference tones and chords, as it can display more than one pitch at 
the same time, but you can accomplish the same thing with your ears.  

- -tim

Tim Moyer
Working Man's Harps
http://www.workingmansharps.com/