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This guitar tuner is specifically developed for fast and easy tuning of guitars. Six and seven string acoustic and electric
guitars and four, five or six string bass guitars can be tuned. The tuner reacts quickly and accurate (± 0.5 Cent) and is
insensitive for surrounding noises. The sounding string is recognized automatically and the deviation is displayed clearly.
The sounding tone is displayed on a scale as well in case the deviation is bigger then 50 Cent so the tone is in range of
another note. This comes in handy when tuning a new string for the first time. “Quadra Flat Tuning” is supported for tuning
without removing the capo. The frequency of the A4 is adjustable between 430Hz and 450Hz in 1Hz steps.
The guitar tuner runs on a pc or laptop with a Windows operating system. The tuner works with internal as well as with
external microphones.
Please take some time to read this manual. This will certainly save you a lot of
time later on. Do you find things missing, in error or unclear please send me an
e-mail.
A short user manual.
Tuning tips.
The trial version.
Short explanation of some important terms.
User friendliness.
The microphone signal.
The sound levels of the strings.
The frequency spectrum of the tone to be tuned.
The tone to be tuned.
The deviation of the tone to be tuned.
The tone to be tuned on the scale.
Set the frequency of the A4.
Guitar or bass.
Quadra Flat Tuning.
How much is a Cent?
Settings.
System requirements.
1. Select the microphone.
You can do this by clicking on the 'menu' button and selecting 'settings'. After this you can select the microphone from the
list. If the guitar tuner does not receive any microphone signal then this 'settings' screen will pop up automatically. Check
in the lower right graph (microphone signal) of the guitar tuner if the selected microphone produces a signal.
2. Adjust the microphone's sensitivity.
You can do this by clicking on the 'Microphone Volume Settings' button in the 'settings' screen. A Windows screen will be opened
where you can adjust your microphone's sensitivity (volume). Configure the microphone sensitivity halfway the scale and make
sure that the checkbox for selecting the microphone is selected. It is often possible to enable the “microphone boost” here through
the “advanced” button. Mostly this is not advisable because the microphone will become too sensitive then.
3. Start tuning.
Play the string that you want to tune, and watch the upper gauge to view the deviation. The deviation of the tone is also given as
a number in the “Cent” screen. Touch the other strings with your fingers to prevent them from producing sound and disturbing the
measurement. The tuner reacts faster and more accurate if the microphone is placed closer to the string.
4. Tool tips.
By hovering above a screen or button with the mouse, a tool tip with a short description will be shown. A tool tip is a small
yellow block of text floating above the screen or button.
• Release the string using the tuning peg on your guitar until just below the right pitch. Play the string and tune it upwards slowly
while viewing the deviation gauge on the guitar tuner. The deviation should approximately be between -3 and 3 Cent. If the tone is too
high then repeat the previously described process. The tuning process should end with tensioning the string (tuning up) and not with releasing it.
• Touch the remaining strings with your fingers to prevent them from producing sound and disturbing the measurement.
• Place the microphone close to the string that you want to tune. The measurement is faster and more accurate if the microphone is placed
closer to the string.
The trial version of the Guitar Tuner runs on every pc or laptop that conforms to the system requirements as stated in this manual. You may
install the trial version of the Guitar Tuner on multiple computers and send it to your friends. The trial version does not support tuning
the lower B, E and A strings. The rest of the strings can be tuned. It is the intention that this is enough to test the Guitar Tuner. The
function “quadra flat tuning” is not supported by the trial version.
• Frequency:
number of waves per second of a tone (pitch).
• Sound:
the range of waves that can be observed by the human ear.
• Herz:
the unit of frequency. 1 Hz = 1 wave per second.
• Frequency spectrum:
the collection of frequencies that make up a sound.
• Tone:
sound with a fixed pitch.
• Note:
notation for a tone with a certain pitch and length.
• Pitch:
the perceived frequency of a tone, the fundamental frequency.
• Fundamental tone:
lowest frequency in a harmonic series.
• Overtone:
a sinusoidal component of a waveform, of greater frequency than its fundamental frequency.
• Scale:
an ascending or descending ordered series of notes.
• Octave:
the interval between one musical note and another whose pitch is twice its frequency.
• Cent:
unit for the relative pitch of a tone with respect to a tone in the scale.
• Beating:
oscillation in sound that occurs when two frequencies are added together.
The guitar tuner is easy to use. There are a number of advanced features, like the graphs, but these are not necessary for the
tuning process. Also the settings are kept to a minimum. All complicated things are configured automatically as much as possible.
After this the different screens of the instrument tuner are explained.
This screen displays the signal measured by the microphone. With this screen you can check if your microphone works. This
screen is not used for the tuning process.
These sound level gauges displays the sound levels of the strings. As soon as the Instrument The sound levels that are displayed here
depend on the sensitivity of the microphone that is configured in Windows. These gauges are not used for the tuning process.
This screen displays a small graph of the frequency spectrum of the note to be tuned. This screen is not used for the tuning process.
This screen displays the note value of the sounding string. The note value is displayed as a large character in the middle of the screen.
The number left to this character shows the string number. For a six or seven string guitar the high E string is number 1 and the low E
string is number 6. The low B string is number 7. For a bass guitar the G string is number 1 and the B string is number 5. The high C string
is not being numbered. In the upper right corner of this screen the frequency of the A4 is displayed. Normally this is 440 Hz, but this value
can be adjusted with the slider at the right side of the Instrument Tuner. In the upper left corner the frequency that the selected tone
should have is displayed. The 'Quadra Flat Tuning' setting is displayed in the lower right corner.
This screen displays the deviation of the measured tone with respect to the closest tone in the scale. The display ranges from 50 Cents
too low to 50 Cents too high. The red line indicates the value of the measured tone. The measured tone is tuned when the red line is in the
middle (on the green zero-line) of the gauge. A small deviation (+/- 3 Cents) is permitted because this can not or hardly be detected by
the human ear. If the red line is on the left side of the middle then the tone is too low and if the blue line is on the right side of the
middle then the tone is too high. The number in the small screen “Cent” shows the deviation of the tone in Cents.
This screen shows the measured tone on the scale. The vertical lines show the different notes. The notes on the guitar are indicated
by green characters. A blue vertical line shows in which note the measured tone lies. If the measured tone is in range of one of the
notes on the guitar then the tuner will measure and display the deviation of this tone. The blue vertical line is then on top of one of
the green characters. With this screen you can see if a tone that is out of the range of the notes on the guitar is to high or to low.
This comes in handy when tuning a new string for the first time.
With the slider on the right side of the Instrument Tuner you can tune your instrument in another pitch than the standard A=440Hz.
With this slider you can set the A frequency between 430Hz and 450Hz with 1Hz steps. All other keys will change accordingly. The current
pitch (frequency) of the A is displayed in the top of the screen that displays the note value.
You can change between tuning a guitar and a bass using the buttons “Guitar” and “Bass”. While tuning a guitar the notes B1, E2, A2, D3, G3, B3
and E4 can be tuned. While tuning a bass the notes B0, E1, A1, D2, G2 and C3 can be tuned.
Each time the 'Flat' button is pressed, the number of b's will increase in the bottom of the screen that displays the note value. This way
it is possible to tune 1 to 4 tones above the displayed note value. If the capo is used then it is not necessary to remove it. Press multiple
times on the 'flat' button depending on the capo's position.
The deviation of a tone with respect to the closest tone in the scale is indicated in Cent. 100 Cent is the distance between a tone
in the scale and the next. If the tone to be tuned has a deviation of 50 Cent then its pitch is exactly between two tones of the scale.
The guitar tuner configures its settings automatically as much as possible. This way the tuner is easy to use. The number of settings
is kept to a minimum. By pressing on the button 'Menu' and selecting “Settings” the microphone to be used can be selected. If the
microphone does not work right away then it is possible that your Windows settings are not configured as they should. The Windows screen,
where you can change the microphone settings, can be shown by clicking on the 'Microphone Volume Settings' button.
The guitar tuner runs on machines starting from the Pentium II 300 MHz. The tuner runs on Windows 98, Me, 2000 and XP and uses the
microphone input. This can be an internal microphone like they are present on many laptops, but it can also be an external microphone
that is connected to a soundcard. A USB microphone like they are present on some web cams or head sets is possible as well.
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