Double Bass Software for analyzing intonation

[jheise]

Hi all, just a quick update. Thanks for all your recommendations. I used TonalEnergy and also Melodyne in the past weeks. Although it's not exactly what I wanted I got some results. I used the TonalEnergy feature to measure your intonation during a practice session and give an overall percentage and also took the time to browse
full length recordings of my practice sessions with Melodyne.

Conclusion: I became far too dependent on the visual aspect of the tuner. The moment I stopped using it visually during practice, my intonation was better. There are some intervals where my ears still have to improve a lot. But generally, I guess I'm in the ballpark and have to strengthen certain aspects where the tuner probably will still be a good help - but be more observant so that I don't overuse it.

 

[DaveAceofBass]

Tonal Energy +1

 

[16fuss]

Did anyone mention the”Intunator” app? It hears your playing and plays the correct pitch back. It is not what op was looking for, but i like it a lot.

 

[flatback]

Yeah I think my intonation is way better when I turn off the tuner too, especially TonalEnergy. My cat, wife, kids, neighbors and anyone else in earshot disagree of course. They all think that when I am using the happy Green smiley face, they too can be happy and smiley faced.

 

[jheise]

Yeah I think my intonation is way better when I turn off the tuner too, especially TonalEnergy. My cat, wife, kids, neighbors and anyone else in earshot disagree of course. They all think that when I am using the happy Green smiley face, they too can be happy and smiley faced.

I could send you an app that only shows the green smiley face all the time. It seems that would solve all your problems. Which OS are you using? Android/iOS?

 

[flatback]

I was joking....I use IOS. I do find that micro focus on TE can lead me astray sometimes.

 

[Dogfightgiggle]

Since we are just tossing out intonation exercises now, here’s one that my teacher gave me:

You set two drones, one 5 cents sharp and the other 5 cents flat. One on each side of you. You play your scales, arps, excerpts, etc, but you’ve got to switch between them, matching each drone and then playing down the center as if you were holding the line in a section.

 

[Neon Scribe]

Since we are just tossing out intonation exercises now, here’s one that my teacher gave me:

You set two drones, one 5 cents sharp and the other 5 cents flat. One on each side of you. You play your scales, arps, excerpts, etc, but you’ve got to switch between them, matching each drone and then playing down the center as if you were holding the line in a section.

Wow, that sounds like a special kind of torture!

 

[damonsmith]

It is so weird how much misunderstanding this OP has created. So, you know there are ____ing etudes and exercises meant to improve your intonation. In the "old days" people just did that.
So, the idea here is to pick something, anything really, but say the first F Major Simandl exercise 5.
Record it everyday for a week and put the software to it to gauge improvement or lack there of.
So, the good idea here is not to to try to use tech as a silver bullet during practice but to have a more accurate and honest evaluation after the fact and see how doing each thing over time helps or doesn't help.

I THINK doing that F exercise improves my intonation. This would tell you: your intonation improved by .5% in 14 days of playing that exercise or something like that.

OK, to each his own, I guess, guys. My take has always been that here's a reason that string players retune their instruments so frequently, and you can't compensate for that only by muscle memory - you must be using your hearing to close the feedback loop. Which has to be somewhat instantaneous. Plus the tuning will not always be A = 440, so you need to have the ability to hear tuning and micro adjust after hitting the note. But like I said, if the approach post playing works, using software, and you are able to go back and find what worked, for a specific set of strings, finger position, angle of bass and what have you, all the better for your playing.

 

[Neon Scribe]

It is so weird how much misunderstanding this OP has created.

You're right, but also intonation is a particular obsession for most of us, so it's not surprising we take every little opportunity to air all of our thoughts on the subject!

In fact, your idea sounds like a great product that I would probably use.

 

[damonsmith]

You're right, but also intonation is a particular obsession for most of us, so it's not surprising we take every little opportunity to air all of our thoughts on the subject!

In fact, your idea sounds like a great product that I would probably use.

Queue the Dude's response to Jackie Treehorn here: I just do it the old way myself with some drones thrown in.