----- Original Message ----- From: Stephan Olbertz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: 17 January 2004 09:07 Subject: Re: Electronic Tuners
> Erm, is there anyone on this list who tunes by ear? :-) > > Stephan > Me, for one - and I guess just about everyone else. But I find the tuner (Korg OT-12, Vallotti for open strings = 1/6comma) very useful for: 1. Tuning a new lute up from nothing. 2. Getting very close to correct tuning, very fast, across all the strings, then fine tuning by ear. This is an important technique - when you tune one string, it changes everything else! So if you worry about getting each string perfect as you go along, by the time you've finished the tensions on the instrument have changed and those strings are no longer perfect - so the best way is to get everything nearly right, and then go back over the details. It's also difficult to get the two strings of a course in tune with each other with the tuner humming away in the background (or blurring the two notes if it's in "listen" mode), so that really has to be done by ear (and I use eye as well, watching the pattern of vibration!). 3. Tuning two or more lutes together. The tuner provides an unchanging reference, unlike the other lute(s). Happy tuning! Martin
