Electronic tuner
Pocket-sized Korg chromatic LCD tuner, with
simulated analog needle
An electronic tuner is a device used by
musicians to detect and display the pitch of
notes played on musical instruments. The
simplest tuners use LED lights or a needle to
indicate approximately whether the pitch of
the note played is lower, higher, or approxim-
ately equal to the desired pitch. More com-
plex and expensive tuners indicate more pre-
cisely the difference between offered note
and desired pitch. Tuners vary in size from
units that can fit in a pocket to table-top
models or 19" rack-mount units. The more
complex and expensive units are used by in-
strument
technicians, piano
tuners and
luthiers.[1]
The simplest tuners only detect and dis-
play the tuning for a single pitch (often "A" or
"E")[2] or for a small number of pitches, such
as the six pitches used in the standard tuning
of a guitar (E,A,D,G,B,E). More complex
tuners offer chromatic tuning, which allows
all the 12 notes of the scale to be tuned.
Some electronic tuners offer additional fea-
tures, such as adjustable pitch calibration,
different tempered scale options, the sound-
ing of a desired pitch through an amplifier
and speaker, and adjustable "read-time" set-
tings which affect how long the tuner takes
to measure the pitch of the note.
The most accurate tuning devices are
strobe tuners, which work in a different way
to regular electronic tuners; they are basic-
ally stroboscopes. These can be used to tune
any instrument, including the initial "beating"
of steelpan drums, bagpipes, accordions,
calliopes, bells or any audio device much
more accurately than regular LED, LCD or
needle display tuners. However, strobe units
are generally much more expensive, and the
mechanical elements of a mechanical (rather
than electronic-display) strobe require peri-
odic servicing. Therefore, these tuners are
mainly used by specialists and professional
instrument technicians.
Types
Most tuners contain a microphone and/or an
input jack (for electric instruments such as
e