n-Track Tuner App - iPad in Music Education Series, #2
Every music teacher needs a properly tuned instrument. As such, electronic tuners have become a staple in most musicians' gear bag. Here is a short review of a free tuning app, called n-Track Tuner. Although another review suggests that this tuner is less than adequate, but I would disagree. Like most apps, there are features here which will not be useful to everyone. Likewise, there may be useful features which are not present. As a performing musician and teacher, I had no difficulty using it and would recommend it to other iPad-savvy educators who also appreciate budget-friendly apps.
The tuner has two modes. In analyzer mode (above), the app will listen to audio through the iPad's mic. A graph of the frequency analysis is displayed against a grid that marks reference frequencies (in Hertz) and decibel levels. A triangle points to the frequency of the note that is tuning. The right side of the screen displays an overall signal level graph, which is probably not useful for tuning purposes. As you can see in the picture, n-Track "hears" a broad spectrum of frequencies. What it seems to cue in on is the high amplitude (volume) of one fundamental pitch, displaying the nearest note and proximity to it.
There are a number of options for analyzer mode that can be seen by tapping the spectrum display (above). The first option is used to view the spectrum without the tuner. Second, is the option to overlay a peak waveform that displays the highest amplitude within the last second or so. This option is not that useful for tuning and should be set to "hide peaks." Third, the type of graph style can be changed from line to bar, or to another style called "minmax," which just seems to clutter the screen. "Line size" controls the graph line's thickness. "Sharp corners" doesn't seem to make any appreciable difference to the display. Finally, "FFT size" essentially improves the resolution of the graph, providing a more accurate spectral analysis. It has three settings, and take care to note that increasing the settings makes the tuner take longer to hone in on a frequency. As such, the highest setting is not appropriate for tuning an instrument that can not play sustained and even notes (as an organ or acoustic guitar would).
The second mode (above) plays a tuning note from 29 to 19,952 Hertz. The notes can be selected by note name or by a frequency. The tonal quality of the tuning note is like a sine wave, and not at all displeasing, though it does seems to "cut" through any other sounds in the room. The volume of the note may be set, and it becomes quite necessary to lower the volume when the pitch is very high (around A7). Go but a little further up in frequency, however, and you may find - like I did - that the volume matters only to your dog, as those pitches are beyond your range of hearing!
I used n-Track to tune up a small, 2 octave harp, and had it done with no difficulty and very quickly considering I used to tune it by ear only. Then, I used the harp to record background music for a short movie. Take a listen to it below. Do you hear any notes that are out of tune?
The movie was made with an app called iMovie, which has had a bit of a learning curve for me due to its limited production capabilities. The Devil is in the details, as they say, and with iMovie, it's one thing to imagine, and another to make. I'll be posting about that soon. Thanks for reading!
The tuner has two modes. In analyzer mode (above), the app will listen to audio through the iPad's mic. A graph of the frequency analysis is displayed against a grid that marks reference frequencies (in Hertz) and decibel levels. A triangle points to the frequency of the note that is tuning. The right side of the screen displays an overall signal level graph, which is probably not useful for tuning purposes. As you can see in the picture, n-Track "hears" a broad spectrum of frequencies. What it seems to cue in on is the high amplitude (volume) of one fundamental pitch, displaying the nearest note and proximity to it.
There are a number of options for analyzer mode that can be seen by tapping the spectrum display (above). The first option is used to view the spectrum without the tuner. Second, is the option to overlay a peak waveform that displays the highest amplitude within the last second or so. This option is not that useful for tuning and should be set to "hide peaks." Third, the type of graph style can be changed from line to bar, or to another style called "minmax," which just seems to clutter the screen. "Line size" controls the graph line's thickness. "Sharp corners" doesn't seem to make any appreciable difference to the display. Finally, "FFT size" essentially improves the resolution of the graph, providing a more accurate spectral analysis. It has three settings, and take care to note that increasing the settings makes the tuner take longer to hone in on a frequency. As such, the highest setting is not appropriate for tuning an instrument that can not play sustained and even notes (as an organ or acoustic guitar would).
The second mode (above) plays a tuning note from 29 to 19,952 Hertz. The notes can be selected by note name or by a frequency. The tonal quality of the tuning note is like a sine wave, and not at all displeasing, though it does seems to "cut" through any other sounds in the room. The volume of the note may be set, and it becomes quite necessary to lower the volume when the pitch is very high (around A7). Go but a little further up in frequency, however, and you may find - like I did - that the volume matters only to your dog, as those pitches are beyond your range of hearing!
I used n-Track to tune up a small, 2 octave harp, and had it done with no difficulty and very quickly considering I used to tune it by ear only. Then, I used the harp to record background music for a short movie. Take a listen to it below. Do you hear any notes that are out of tune?
The movie was made with an app called iMovie, which has had a bit of a learning curve for me due to its limited production capabilities. The Devil is in the details, as they say, and with iMovie, it's one thing to imagine, and another to make. I'll be posting about that soon. Thanks for reading!
Comments