Double Bass DB tuners

[pjman]

Hi;
I'm picking up the DB again after a several decade long hiatus and need some advice on tuners. I want one for tuning the strings obviously, but I also want to use it to monitor my intonation.

Suggestions, preferences?

Thanks;
Pat

 

[Marcus Johnson]

Tuners are free online. After that, the bow, and my ears. I keep a keyboard handy as well.

 

[pjman]

Thanks but at this point my ears and bow need an assist. Anyone have an experience with anything like the Zoid-Z1000 ?

Pat

 

[Paul Warburton]

These are cool.....

 

[Marcus Johnson]

Thanks but at this point my ears and bow need an assist. Anyone have an experience with anything like the Zoid-Z1000 ?

Pat

One of my students has something similar to that. I'm not convinced that they're useful for getting a double bass really in tune. They may be useful for finding a pitch onstage in a noisy situation, when you need a visual reference.

Price ain't bad, though... might be worth a shot.

 

[Mark_T]

My teacher recommended to me the following:

A Korg MA-30 metronome (can generate simple tones for use as drones)
A Korg DA-30 tuner

They're maybe $20 each. My teacher also was fairly adamant that I work on intonation using drones rather than playing to a tuner. There are good reasons (which I knew, but I did it anyway). The first reason is that you should learn to tune not in the equal temperment that the tuner gives, but to the true temper that drones will give you. The second reason is that you should listen rather than look. The tuner will be a distraction.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

That's a good teacher you've got there!

There's an Online Shruti Box that will give you drones in every key: http://www.karnatik.com/shrutibox.shtml

 

[Damon Rondeau]

My teacher also was fairly adamant that I work on intonation using drones rather than playing to a tuner. There are good reasons (which I knew, but I did it anyway). The first reason is that you should learn to tune not in the equal temperment that the tuner gives, but to the true temper that drones will give you. The second reason is that you should listen rather than look. The tuner will be a distraction.

If you tried it both ways -- looking at a tuner vs. playing with a drone -- you'll discover that intonation work is far,far easier with the drone. You wind up hearing and feeling the intonation -- it's a physical process instead of an intellectual process. Forget about the tuner -- the drone really is the way to go.

 

[davidAaronCarte]

The problem with tuners
Is a note can be up to 30 cents flat or 15 cents sharp of the note the tuner is using depending on what key you're playing in
Which means your four strings will be right in tune - but in four different keys

 

[davidAaronCarte]

If you tried it both ways -- looking at a tuner vs. playing with a drone -- you'll discover that intonation work is far,far easier with the drone. You wind up hearing and feeling the intonation -- it's a physical process instead of an intellectual process. Forget about the tuner -- the drone really is the way to go.

My teacher gave me a really good set-up for droning
If you can get a keyboard or computer synth (I use Reason for this) to play notes in Just Intonation instead of Equal Temperment, set these notes to ring out

1 (at 100% volume)
5 (around 85% volume)
8 (90-95%)
3 up an octave (75%)
7 up an octave (60%)
2 up two octaves (loud/quiet enough to barely be heard)

The volumes are approximate and vary depending on the room
But you really just want all the pitches above the tonic to just come out
If you're using Just Intonation it'll be a big rich sound you can pick most of your pitches out of
In Equal Temperment it'll just be a mess of sound and pretty useless

 

[pjman]

Thanks Guys;

A drone it is then. But which one ? Will the Korg MA-30 metronome be sufficient? It's been almost 30 years since I've played seriously and my ear was never that good to begin with. I'm also in need of a new metronome. I don't see the Korg DA-30 tuner listed on their site so I don't know what its strengths are.

Thoughts ?

Pat

 

[Damon Rondeau]

I don't really like using the tuning notes on tuners and metronomes. They usually sound shrill and awful. Then there's the battery drain issue...

If you can rig up your computer to do it, you can choose a less-obnoxious sound (using a virtual synth instrument of some kind and some music software that can operate it.) That's what I do.

I'd check out Jake's shruti link, too. (I'd have done it already, but I'm at the office, away from sound.)

 

[bejoyous]

I don't know about your tuners, but mine seems to pick up the fundamental better when I pizz the string and let it ring. Especially on the A and B strings. I guess bowing creates too many overtones.

 

[Andrew McGregor]

Drones are good, but so are some tuners. If you understand the way intonation works, a cents readout is enough, or you can get some tuners (Petersen strobe tuners for instance) that have the offsets programmed into them.

I've been using the Petersen strobe app on my iPhone... and that's made a huge difference. I understand the math, so I don't need preprogrammed intonation schemes, but just being able to measure intonation that fast is great. And the strobe display is the best because you can read it without looking at it (if the phone is on the stand, you can read both the part and the tuner at the same time).