What tuner do you use in the studio

[paranoid30]

maybe this is a stupid question, but why wouldn't a regular pedal tuner be fine in the studio?

I've always used a normal pedal tuner, the only thing I pay attention to is to use the same tuner for all instruments, so that even if it has a small pitch problem, it will be consistent across all instruments...

 

[paparoof]

so using a pedal tuner works in a studio? Does the Turbo Tuner or something like a Korg Pitch allow true bypass so it doesn't interrupt the signal while recording?

Yes. Turbo Tuner is true bypass.

Strobe Tuners by Sonic Research - Turbo Tuner Home Page

 

[Burwabit]

I just have them fix my tuning in ProTools

 

[bassfran]

IME, some of the cheaper clip ons don't read a 'B' string too well.

I'd go with any Petersen you can afford. A strobe tuner will allow you to set your intonation, has 'sweetened' tunings built-in, etc..
And make sure the whole band tunes to the same tuner for better overall accuracy.

 

[BigBobbyBass]

Is there a difference between studio tuning, and everyday tuning?

 

[paparoof]

Is there a difference between studio tuning, and everyday tuning?

there shouldn't be. ;-)

 

[BigBobbyBass]

there shouldn't be. ;-)

I thought maybe I was doing something wrong all these years..

 

[buldog5151bass]

With a clip on tuner, I always check the octave harmonic for my E and drop D to make sure.

 

[Real Soon]

Handheld Korg TM-50. Superb accuracy on every instrument I've used it on, and I even use it for setting intonation.

With that said, only studio recording I've done has been for my own stuff, so unplugging is a simple matter of deselecting record enable/monitoring in the DAW, but even in a pro setting, I'd imagine tuning only needs to happen once, and checking it once or twice during the session should be plenty.

Or on a pre or other pedal with FX loop, at least some of them mute the signal when the FX loop is enabled with no return plugged in, making the tuner a ready insert for lightning-fast checks whenever you want 'em.


As for pedals...I just haven't felt sufficient motivation to invest in a decent pedal tuner when I've got a more than decent handheld that cost less than a PoS pedal would.

 

[jmac]

Vintage 1980's Conn Strobo Tuner.............

+1 I've been using one since 1990ish.

Is there a difference between studio tuning, and everyday tuning?

IME, everything is different in the studio. Stuff that can pass for a live show just won't cut it in a studio. Regarding tuning, the most important item I learned was that everyone should use the same tuner.

 

[basspraiser]

I have a Peterson Strobe tuner that is wonderful!

I leave it at home though...use a cheaper Planet Wave unit when I am out.

 

[BigBobbyBass]

+1 I've been using one since 1990ish.

IME, everything is different in the studio. Stuff that can pass for a live show just won't cut it in a studio. Regarding tuning, the most important item I learned was that everyone should use the same tuner.

I guess I've just been lucky.

 

[basspraiser]

Regarding tuning, the most important item I learned was that everyone should use the same tuner.

This does help! We have found a few "minor" issues because I use an in-line Planet Wave unit, the guitarists tune to the tuner built in to their board (pedal box) and an acoustic guitarist tunes to the tuner built into his Takamine.

Out of all of them, the Tak tuner seems to be off a bit from the rest....

 

[edencab]

there was different thread on here about pedal board set ups....I'd say 80-90% of them had the TC Elec. Polytuner, a few Korgs and others

 

[Slpbass81]

Most tuners will work but I would recommend having all instruments use the same tuner.

 

[Slevage]

I don't bother tuning. We just run everything through auto tune on the mix down.

 

[RunBeerRun]

Any, right now I just use software. In a studio, you could just tune to someone else, lol.

 

[jasonbraatz]

Every time I've been in a studio recently I've had to make a tiny correction on one of my instruments intonation before getting going, so I like having something on me that is accurate enough and with a large enough screen to set intonation.

I was using a Planet Waves strobe desktop tuner, but the battery life on that thing makes it unusable. I just grabbed a Korg Pitchblack Portable off of Amazon for $30 and that seems like it'll do the trick going forward.

 

[Real Soon]

Sidenote... any tuner that cannot put an instrument in tune with A at 440Hz (or 55Hz for open A string) should be recalibrated, and if that's not possible, thrown away or put into a sculpture or something. A tuner that doesn't tune is just a piece of PCB and metal.

Not that everyone's gonna have a tuning fork in the silverware drawer for checking their tuner on a rainy day, but having to mess with getting everyone to use the same tuner due to variances between tuners is a painfully useless waste of time. And in a studio session, every second/minute counts as $ ticks away.

It seems like a minor thing, but in that same thought process, it's entirely avoidable. Of course, this all ignores the feature and occasional use of tuning to a different reference frequency, but the principle remains.


So it does raise the question for me: can your standard-issue pedal tuners be calibrated by the user? Like if I had a test tone to run through one, would I be able to then turn an internal pot to set the reading to dead center? Or would I have to recompile its firmware with adjustments to offset the hardware's readings (in other words, have the manufacturer do the job)?

 

[Pako]

I use my Korg Toneworks. I've had it for years, the thing is awesome!