Questions tagged [tuning]
The system of pitches used by an instrument or in a piece of music, or the practice of adjusting the pitches that instruments or voices produce to be in accordance with the chosen system. When relevant, please also include the tag of your instruments, e.g. [guitar] or [violin].
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How to use a spectrum analyzer to help practice an instrument
I recently started playing the trumpet my first brass instrument and I got a tuner to help with practice. I got istrobesoft by Peterson on android, it got a display of its real time spectrum analysis ...
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Custom scale and key signature
I am currently experimenting with microtonality in LilyPond. Mainly, I would like to switch to the Pythagorean tuning and lower or raise pitches by a syntotic comma, as in the this snippet. However, ...
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How to open piano for tuning
I am trying to open my piano for tuning, but I am not sure how to do it right.
The fallboard hinges on the upper panel, and weirdly the fallboard is connected to the body.
Here's a picture:
And here ...
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How bad is Gibson's tuning instability?
I recently tried a Gibson SG Tribute in a guitar shop. I liked the feeling a lot. The fretboard felt great and the neck felt very comfortable.
However, I have heard many comments from my friends and ...
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Why is C the tenor of phrygian?
After teaching some students about medieval church modes, I took a question as to precisely why the tenor/confinalis of phrygian/mode III was C rather than B. I answered according to what I had been ...
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Is it possible to play in D-tuning (guitar) on keyboards?
On a guitar it's possible to play in different tunings and depending on this the positioning of fingers and the sounding will vary, but is the same possible on keyboards, I as a keyboard player can't ...
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How to calculate 21-limit just intonation
I am looking for ratios of 21-limit just intonation tuning system to later compare it with the 31-EDO tuning system since they are to some extent similar and close. How could I calculate 21-limit just ...
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What would've given more accurate consonant ratios than 12?
So my understanding is 12 notes was chosen in a chromatic scale cause in tuning, the twelfth root of two gives values quite close to simple ratios. For example for a fifth, the twelfth root of 2 ...
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Piano oscillation on a single string
Why is that when the hammer hits only one string on the piano, there is an oscillation and not a solid note throughout. I hear it like a wave of sound, not an absolute pitch. It doesn’t happen on ...
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Why is the solo/featured instrument in so many Baroque-era concerti silent during the slow movement?
Is the reason the soloist is
often silent during a Baroque-era concerto simply to provide a break from all the virtuosity often required within the outer movements? Or is it to allow a string soloist ...
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Why is equal temperament based on n-th root of 2?
Why is Equal temperament based on defining the smallest ratio as the n-th root of 2, 2^(1/n). Or how did someone arrive at conclusion, that he/she/they must use 2? Is it because A5 is A4*2?
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Notating Octatonic Music in MuseScore
I'm trying to do something with MuseScore that I'm not sure is possible, and I'd appreciate some help trying to figure out a creative way to do this.
So I'm trying to write in an octatonic mode with ...
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Consonant vs. Dissonant Major Thirds: Historical Process and Significance of Tuning System
In the comments to the question Why is the fourth against the bass considered a dissonance?, I wrote
A 5:4 third was considered dissonant until musical tastes changed and declared it consonant.
To ...
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What is this sound effect called? [closed]
In this video:
...from 1:13 to 1:20 there is a special sound connection between the clarinet and the accordion. I don't know how to describe it but sounds like a very ...
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Is there a way to find the pitch for noisy electronic output? [closed]
Is there a method available to help differentiate notes on a wide variety of electronic noise sounds (not-quite white/pink noise, heavy buzzing, fuzz, etc.)?
I've taken on an odd project where I am ...
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Do classical musicians sometimes go deliberately out of pitch?
Can anyone explain to me what's going on?:
I am not and have never been a professional classical musician, but I don't think you need to be one to see that something ...
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Dissonance in SWV 447
I'm a huge fan of Heinrich Schütz and in particular of the Dresdner Kammerchor's recordings of his work. This moment in bar 169 of "Vater Abraham, erbarme dich mein, SWV 447" really caught ...
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When and/or how did Western music shift from downward to upward scale concepts?
The ancient Greeks constructed their scales from top to bottom.
For example, Wikipedia:
Note that Greek theorists conceived of scales as descending from higher pitch to lower (the opposite of modern ...
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Best strategy for tuning a 4 piece kit?
I recently got an acoustic kit after playing an electric kit for a while. There's a lot to learn, but one thing that I keep getting hung up on is how to tune my kit.
I've read a bunch of guides, and ...
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How to indicate the temperament to use when playing on a score? [duplicate]
If I understand correctly, when you only play in a specific key, just intonation is more exact than equal temperament.
Therefore I would like to how to indicate on a score that a piece should be ...
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Why does a digital piano need stretched tuning?
This post is a follow-up question to this answer:
https://music.stackexchange.com/a/14264/86549
From what I could make of that answer, the need to stretched-tune a piano comes from the strings' less ...
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How Do I Change My Guitar Tuning?
I'm new to guitar. I don’t really understand the tuning and its relationship with music notes. Can someone explain how I can get my guitar tuning to
F, Bb, D, F, Bb, F (Capo on 1).
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Tune of wind instruments and the strength of blow
First of all I want to inform you that I wasn't that close with music in my life so I might not know the obvious and mix up terminology. I am gathering information for an engineering project involving ...
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Floyd Rose detuning after the first dive-bomb past dropD and can't recover E tuning on the adjustments without unlocking WHY
I have a Jackson js32 roads special. I get it in E tuning Lock it down and after the first dive bomb it knocks out of tune so far I can't get it back without unlocking it WHY someone please help
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Funk Strumming While Fretting High Up the Neck Produces Odd Tones
I recently started to dabble into Funk Rhythm. I'm making decent progress, but I have noticed that when trying to play chords around the 12th fret using Funk strumming, the chord sounds 'off', like ...
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Changing the key of a practice chanter
There are tunable practice chanters for sale that some say can be retuned from the key of A to C. Would love to hear from anybody who has tried / done this to learn what's involved.
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How does 5 Limit tuning get its ratios?
I want to know how 5 Limit Tuning calculates ratios.
I am currently reading Harmonic Experience by W.A. Mathieu and in some of the beginning pages he says something about "five-limit lattice"...
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How do you tune a guitar to open D without a string breaking?
I was tuning my guitar to open D, because people had been nagging me about it, saying how it's just better.
Anyway, I was tuning, turning the knobs to what sounded right, so I started playing and then,...
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Can I have a 24" / 60cm C string on a Harp?
We just got a new lever harp. It starts at F, around 24" long.
After I tune it, I'd like to be able to play each note in increasing order, to validate the tuning. But F Major requires B flat, ...
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Are there advanced high-quality violins like Strads with 4 fine tuners? Does any concerto virtuoso use 4 fine tuners? [duplicate]
Are there advanced high-quality violins with 4 fine tuners? (like Stradivarius.)
Are there advanced violin concerto virtuosos players using violins with 4 fine tuners?
Below are some related ...
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Is there a list of Just Intonation chords as defined by Fétis, using ratios?
One way of ‘spelling’ chords in just intonation is using ratios - such as 10:12:14:17 (multiplications of the frequency of an implied ‘missing fundamental’). Fétis is quoted in Wikipedia (and here by ...
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5th Fret Method of standard guitar tuning
I usually use some some of tuner to tune my guitar, but occasionally I will try to use the 5th fret method. In attempting to do so today, something puzzled me about the string setup on the guitar.
The ...
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Electric guitar's 6th string buzzing, but through the amplifier, the buzz sound is not coming. Anything to be concerned about?
I just bought a new Cort Les Paul electric guitar.
Except for the 6th string, all other strings are working fine. No buzzing.
But the 6th string (fattest one), on plucking, is buzzing when not ...
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Sharpened 5th in otherwise regular diatonic scale
Generally, I'm very pitch intolerant; out of tune vocals can send me running from the room. I'm particularly intolerant of 3rds & whether they push or pull depending on whether the feel is minor ...
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I'm having issues tuning my classical guitar [closed]
For some reason I cannot tune my classical guitar, I've used phone apps and actual tuners.
I'm starting to believe that the issue is that the guitar is too cheapy. I bought for 100$ from the brand ...
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How to think about being 'out of tune'
I have been listening to quite a bit of the Dirty Three lately, and on songs like "Hope" the instruments/guitar are not in tune, and I love the sound. I feel similarly about some West ...
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How to interpret this tuning description for a kalimba? a' c" c' a' A f' e' e" b'
This is the tuning description for my kalimba, but I have no idea how to read it. I don’t know the difference between capital letters and lowercase nor the meaning of the apostrophes.
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How can I improve my ear for intonation?
I play tenor trombone, possibly switching to bass trombone. I need to improve my ear for tuning and noticing whether or not I am either sharp or flat. How can I practice in this area?
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Why would the E string on a violin go flat when its peg is released?
This is pretty self explanatory. The moment I stop holding the E string peg in place, it immediately goes back down to an Eb. Why is this happening? Is there a good fix to this?
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How to practice improving intonation (singing) [duplicate]
I am an experienced musician, I'm a music ed major, having studied piano for over 10 years and singing for 4 years. I have sang in a couple musicals, a vocal jazz ensemble, and a choir. I also passed ...
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Snare drum tuning- "doofy" sound and 2 fundamentals, what causes this?
For the last song I recorded, I tuned the snare very wet, since it sounded much drier on recording than in person. I ended up getting a good sound, but when I went to mix the song, I found that the ...
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How to check piano tuner's work?
We haven't had our piano† tuned in a a few years (since before the pandemic began), and I have a tuning scheduled soon.
One thing I have wondered about when having the piano tuned in the past is how ...
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Can a smartphone's accelerometer be used for tuning instruments? [closed]
Similar to a clip-on tuner, the vibrations of the instrument itself will be detected instead of its sound.
Procedure:
Phone is held where it can sense vibrations of the instrument
Play the instrument
...
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On the fly tuning of drums
I was watching Whiplash for the first time, and they mention tuning the drums at the start of the session, but that made me think. In every other instrument I know of, you can do on-the-fly pitch ...
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Is there anything about a strat that lends itself to Eb standard tuning?
I have read that Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix tuned their Fender Stratocasters to Eb standard. I have not heard of it being done to other guitars.
Is there anything specific to a Stratocaster ...
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Restringing Acoustic guitar
I always have issues restringing the high E string. It breaks when tuning it. So today I used 2nd string as the first one and tuned it to High E, does it have a significant impact on tonality?
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Why does my guitar tuner alternate between high and low for the high e string?
When tuning my guitar, the tuner kept alternating between too tight and too loose for the high e string- I hope that's correctish terminology. Although it was getting the correct string.
Although most ...
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1912 Steinway B
I purchased a rebuilt 1912 Steinway B four months ago. It has been tuned three times since I got it. Each time, it seems like after playing 20-30 minutes the intervals start to migrate. Perhaps it is ...
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I broke my G string and my other 3 strings are out of tune too
It’s Thanksgiving break right now and I have a Christmas concert next Saturday December 4th, so I brought it over to my Abuela’s house to practice.
However, my grandparents keep the house hot, so my ...
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How does string age affect intonation?
I had a recent issue with my high e string where the saddle was adjusted as short as possible but the twelfth fret was still very flat. I read online that a new set of strings may fix this, and that ...
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