 |
|
|
Original Post By:
obxtom
|
Date: 3/14/2010 10:04:31 PM |
| I took my flea kayaking with me today(in a drybag) and brought my clipon tuner also. I'd rather not throwit in the drybag with the uke, but I don't have a pitchpipe and have never used one. Do they work for tuning a ukulele? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted By:
Jamie_T
|
Date: 3/14/2010 10:18:37 PM |
| I've tried a couple of different ones, but when you blow on them next to an electronic tuner they show to be off a few cents or more...may get you close, but if you are playing with other folks, well, they may not be so great...
|
|
|
|
|
Posted By:
CurtSheller
|
Date: 3/15/2010 12:32:55 AM |
Try a tuning fork. Durable and it won't mind getting wet. Or, just get better at tuning your uke by ear, relative to its self.
I sometimes think we rely on tuners too much. I suffer from that at times and forget that you can actually tune it the old fashioned way. Just like we did before the advent of electronic tuners.
Jim D'Ville has a great lesson on using a tuning fork and the uke.
Un like a lot of tother things in life, the more you tune by ear the better and faster you get at it.
Curt
PA. But those tunes are so easy and fast.
|
|
|
|
|
Posted By:
joe persons
|
Date: 3/15/2010 1:25:40 AM |
obxtom,
Did you have your Flea in its gig bag and then in the dry bag? I take it you're sea kayaking and not whitewater kayaking!?
(Canoe enthusiast) Joe
|
|
|
|
|
Posted By:
Bill1
|
Date: 3/15/2010 2:09:55 AM |
Further to what Curt said, the A440 tuning fork makes exactly the same note as the A string on a uke. Also fret five on the E string and fret 9(?) on the C string and fret two on the G string.
In the workup time before you leave, tune your uke with the tuning fork as much as you can, and check it with the electronic tuner to get better at it.
With the pitchpipes, try adjusting your blowing to get the right pitch. Sometimes if you blow harder or softer you will get the right pitch, and after some practice you always get the right pitch.
|
|
|
|
|
Posted By:
Dutch
|
Date: 3/15/2010 6:37:53 AM |
A pitch pipe (metal reeds) is a harmonica (metal reeds) laid out for a specific, different use (single note for tuning). They are subject to inflection by breath speed making the harmonica a great blues instrument. If you always go for max breath speed, the pitch pipe is usable as a fixed pitch source. It can't compete with a tuning fork. But I have found most pianos can't either as they are often poorly maintained. It ids subject to slight variation making it untrustworthy, but my tinnitis is better than most poorly trained pianos.
Curt is 100% correct. A fork is cheap, can be bought in most music stores, portable, almost indestructable, takes years (decades) to rust out, fits in your eyeglass case, and will force you to learn to tune your instrument. Try it; you'll like it.
Strength & Honor
Dutch
|
|
|
|
|
Posted By:
TwoLegPete
|
Date: 3/15/2010 4:34:14 PM
(Updated: 3/15/2010 4:37:01 PM)
|
I have a nice digital tuner (Korg CA30) with a contact micro. But most of the time I use a tuning fork to tune the A-string, and then tune the other strings by comparison. For the last tiny bit of fine tuning, I play a couple of chords (A, F, C, G) and level out the beats, if there are any. The results by this methods usually sound even better than with the digital tuner...
I use the digital tuner only when I play with other people, as I find it hard to accurately tune an instrument while other people play...
The tuning fork method has also the advantage that your tonal hearing capabilities will improve...
|
|
|
|
|
Posted By:
obxtom
|
Date: 3/15/2010 8:14:53 PM |
| Thanks everyone for your comments and the time you took to give them to me. I think I will get a tuning fork and learn to use it. I'd rather take that than the electronic tuner on my more adventurous outings. I brought my flea, without the gig bag, in a dry bag. It was a close fit, but I think it would have stayed dry had I dumped. Strictly flat water on Milltail Creek-look it up, it's in the Alligator River Wildlife Refuge, in northeastern NC.
|
|
|
|
|
Posted By:
ukulele-melee
|
Date: 3/15/2010 9:21:50 PM |
| I used to keep a tuning fork in my car for tuning up my uke. My kids thought it was fun to tap the tuning fork and then touch it to their teeth, a very unpleasant sensation...
|
|
|
|
|
Posted By:
ricdoug
|
Date: 3/16/2010 3:20:51 AM |
| I just use the C on a pichpipe or harmonica and fret the reat of the strings for tuning. Ric
|
|
|
|
