#Free piano tuner software series#

Also on the graph is a “best fit” line that is used to interpolate for notes that have not been measured yet, and to extrapolate to the top octave where inharmonicity is not measured. The inharmonicity affects the tuning of pianos, and each piano will be tuned differently because pianos are designed with different lengths of strings and sizes of wire. Shorter and thicker strings have high inharmonicity, while longer or thinner strings have low inharmonicity. The inharmonicity is a function of the length and stiffness of piano strings. Inharmonicity is the degree to which the harmonics of a note are “out of tune” with the fundamental (lowest harmonic). The right graph plots the measured inharmonicity of each note on the piano on a logarithmic scale. There are 3 possible displays in the graphing area that can be accessed by swiping left or right or tapping on the left or right sides of the graph. (A cent equals a hundredth of a half step.) The dial and numbers are less accurate and slower to respond to changes in pitch than the spinning strobe display, so it is best to use the strobe for fine tuning. Finally there is a pointer with a non-linear scale that indicates how sharp or flat the note is, again in cents. If a harmonic is not present in the tone, the corresponding spinner will not be displayed. Each set of spinning bars represents a specific harmonic of the note being played, and small numbers in the lower right indicate which harmonics are being measured. Clockwise spinning means the note is sharp, while counter-clockwise indicates the note is flat.

#Free piano tuner software series#

Surrounding the center circle are a series of spinning bars, similar to a stroboscopic tuner’s phase display, whose direction and speed indicate how out of tune a note is. The text in the center of the screen displays the note being played and how many “cents” sharp or flat it is. There are multiple ways to see whether a note is sharp or flat. Information displayed on the tuning screen The recommended order is to tune the midsection first, starting at the tenor break (often around D#3), tune up through the treble, and then tune the bass last. This stops the inharmonicity measurement and prevents the tuning curve from changing during a fine tuning. Lock the tuning curve using the “ear” button on the right.If you skip this step you might consider quickly sampling inharmonicity for all the notes on the piano (except the treble) which takes less than 2 minutes. The benefit of doing this pre-tuning pass is that the app will gather more inharmonicity data and further refine the tuning curve. Even if the piano is within ☓ cents of standard pitch it is still advisable to run through the notes quickly and fix any outliers, as this will result in a better fine tuning.

Rough tuning (optional): If the piano is more than about 10 cents sharp or flat you should do a rough tuning (“pitch adjustment” or “pitch raise”).

Note: if the unisons are significantly out of tune you will get better and faster results by using mutes to isolate single strings. The program is always listening and will automatically calculate an ideal tuning curve based on the inharmonicity of the sampled notes. It is important to sample notes in the mid-section, tenor, and bass. Play several notes across the range of the piano, playing each note for approximately 2 seconds.

Sample inharmonicity to create a tuning curve.

Create a new tuning file (Menu > New tuning file) or load a saved file (pro version only).