Just Tune
Tuner is a chromatic tuner for the acoustic instruments you use regularly. Sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where you've forgotten your tuner, or its batteries are dead. Just Tune's Tuner App is a great substitute.
Download Just Tune now from the iTunes App Store. Click HERE. For application support please email me at justgus@me.com
Tuner
We created our own implementation of the Fast Fourier Transform tuned specifically for the ARM processor. It delivers great response time accuracy allowing you to carry your tuner around with you wherever you are. Also, the Just Tune Tuner is a chromatic tuner. It just gives you the note that’s being played, whether its played on a Guitar, Piano, Violin, Flute, Saxophone, Banjo, Dulcimer, or Bagpipe.
Tuner doesn't need any user interaction. It starts to work as soon as the screen is displayed. It uses the built-in microphone on the iPhone or an external mic plugged into the headset jack on the iPod Touch. As soon as a pitch is detected, the Tuner will indicate the pitch using the led gauge.
Everything you need to tune an Instrument
Pitchfork
In addition to detecting the note being played, Just Tune can also generate notes to use to tune with. The Pitchfork panel accomplishes this. It is a simple implementation of a sine wave generator. Please note that the built-in speakers of the iPhone do not have a great bass response, so the lower frequencies may not be very audible. Do not increase your volume to her these frequencies because you run the risk of damaging your built-in speakers.
Metronome
Metronome is a simple beat box you can use to keep you in time when practicing. It provides accurate tempos up to 360 beats per minute (BPM). Metronome indicates the beat both visually and, most importantly, with audible clicks.
To tune your instrument, simply increase or decrease the pitch of the note played until the gauge lights the green led at top. If the leds display to the left of center, the pitch is too low. If the leds display to the right of center, then the pitch is too high.
The tuner has indicators to let you know how much the pitch is off in hundredths of a semitone or "cents". The little numbers are given each 10 cents.
When you play a note the Tuner indicates the strength of the signal in the bar at the bottom of the screen. You want to get at least a quarter of the bar to get a good signal reading. Also avoid going into the red zone as clipping will degrade the pitch detection.
The Tuner provides notes for an equal tempered scale. The default root frequency is "A=440 Hz". This means that all "A" notes will be some multiple of 440 Hz (i.e 220 Hz, 880 Hz etc.). However, some orchestras use alternate calibrations such as "A=442 Hz". Also some instruments use alternate calibrations as well. For example, the bagpipe is typically tuned to "A=478 Hz". Just Tune can handle these cases as well.
To change the calibration of the Tuner, simply drag your finger to the right or the left. Dragging your finger will cause a label to appear indicating the calibration. To reduce the current calibration, drag to the left. To increase the calibration, drag to the right.
The important part of a metronome is that it makes sounds at the proper tempo. However, the Metronome also lights an led when a mechanical metronome arm would be at each end of its sweep. To change the tempo, simply drag the "weight" up or down until the desired tempo appears in the BPM indicator.
This method of setting the beats is sometimes difficult when you're looking to set a specific tempo such as 120 BPM. To set specific tempos simply tap the BPM indicator, a keyboard will appear allowing you to type the desired tempo.
With Metronome you can also "find" a tempo by beating it. If you are listening to a particular piece of music, you can find the tempo by tapping the button on the left side of the screen in time with the music. After three or four taps Metronome will set its BPM indicator to the desired tempo. Then simply wait a few seconds and the metronome will start to play at the tempo you were just beating. Alternatively you can also swipe to start the metronome playing.
Pitchfork generates tones that you can use to tune an instrument. It generates tones in 8 octaves and plays them back either from the headset jack or through the iPhone or iPod Touch's built in speakers. The speakers on the iPhone and iPod Touch are tiny. Therefore they do not play notes in the lower frequencies very loudly. A good pair of earbuds will allow you to hear many more notes.
To begin playing a note, simply tap the screen. The display will change to indicate that the note is being played. Tap the screen again to stop playing.
The note and frequency being played are displayed in the bar near the bottom of the screen. The note name is given, followed by the octave in parentheses. Then the actual frequency in Hertz (Hz) is given.
To quickly change the pitch, simply drag up or down on the screen. The note will change in the note indicator. Here select the note name and octave desired and tap Done. This will return you to the Pitchfork view where tapping the screen will play the desired note.
This is a good way to quickly scroll through notes. However, to be more precise a note selector is provided. Simply tap the note indicator and the Note selector screen will appear. Select the note name and the octave.
Like the Tuner, the Pitchfork provides notes for an equal tempered scale. However, because some orchestras use alternate calibrations such as "A=442 Hz", the Pitchfork must be able to handle that as well.
Changing the calibration of the Pitchfork is exactly the same as it is for the Tuner. Simply drag your finger to the right or the left. Dragging your finger will cause a label to appear indicating the current calibration. To reduce the calibration, drag to the left. To increase the calibration, drag to the right.
To start the metronome at the currently indicated tempo, simply swipe left or right. The metronome will start to beat the rhythm at the tempo the weight is currently set. To stop the Metronome, simply tap the screen.
You'll notice that there are two buttons at the bottom of the screen. One labeled Tip, the other labeled Tap. Tapping the Tip button will cause Metronome to play a distinctive "tick" sound. Tapping the Tap button will cause Metronome to play a lower pitched "tock" sound. This unique interface allows you to create an almost infinite range of tempos and beat patterns. Metronome will "record" the pattern you tap at the tempo you tap it and then allow you to adjust the tempo of that pattern faster or slower by moving the weight or changing the BPM.
For example, lets say that you want to play the theme from "Mission Impossible". This beat pattern is distinctive in that it is in 10/8 time with two sets of three beats, followed by two sets of two beats. Emphasis in this pattern is on beats one, four, seven, and nine.
To enter this pattern, start tapping the buttons. Tap the Tip button on the beats to emphasize, that is, beats One, Four, Seven, and Nine; and tap the Tap button on the other beats (i.e. beats Two, Three, Five, Six, Eight, and Ten). The buttons will turn green while you are recording a beat pattern. Also a little green strip will appear at the bottom of the screen with a vertical bar for each Tip in the sequence and a dash or a horizontal bar for each Tap in the sequence.
If your beat pattern is more than four beats, then Metronome will detect when you have stopped beating and start to play the pattern automatically. If your beat pattern is less than four beats, then you will have to swipe to start the Metronome. The beat pattern is recorded at the tempo it was tapped.
To clear the beat pattern, tap the screen twice. To change the tempo without clearing the beat pattern, drag the weight up or down. The beat pattern will be retained and played at the new tempo. Or you can tap the BPM indicator to set a more accurate tempo for the beat pattern. This is ideal for drummers who want to increase their practice tempo.
