Frank Illenberger, a German engineer, has created a new, very advanced tuning app <www.pianoscope.app> which, among the usual functions of a state-of-the-art tuning app, includes two special functions.
- Rapid sampling of partials from A0 to C7, about one second for each note, less than 2 minutes for the piano and creation of tunings of choice for the piano.
- Newly Added: Ability to play back a synthesized version of each note, matching the sampled strings, adjusted for the desired tuning.
Put this together and you have
- Ability to tune by aural matching of piano strings to the synthesized tone – a tuning method that maintains aural attention to the piano throughout the process, which can include calculated overpull for pitch adjustment. Just tune the string as a unison to the synthesised sound.
- Tuning tutorials in which the synthesized tone provides a "master demonstration" which the student then copies. Examples below.
Tutorial 1: Assume A3 is tuned and checked by visual display.
Play (synthesized F3)-(piano A3), listening to the sound of the interval.
Tune (piano F3-A3), duplicating the sound of the "master" interval.
Check the tuning in visual mode.
Using synthesized D4, play A3-D4, F3-A3, F3-D4.
Tune D4, comparing all three intervals on the piano.
Check the tuning in visual mode.
Tutorial 2: Tuning an octave or P12th.
Check one note visually.
Play the second note synthetically, play and compare all interval tests.
Tune the second note aurally, duplicating the sound of the "master" interval.
Check the tuning in visual mode.
Kent Swafford pointed out that the pinch-to-zoom function of the keyboard display makes this easier.
Pianoscope offers a free two week trial of the app.
I have no financial interest in Pianoscope.
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Ed Sutton
ed440@me.com(980) 254-7413
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