Tuning app for phone

[EriKon]

The title

Any experiences if there are any tuning apps for smartphone which are better than others, especially for brass instruments?

TIA!

[piezer]

I recently bought TotalEnergy Tuner and wouldn’t go back to anything else. It’s well worth the 3 or so dollars. It has a built in metronome and you can record yourself within the app.

[BGuttman]

I've been using something called "n-Track Tuner". It also will play drones, but the tone quality is kinda odd. Best thing? It's free. Another thing I like is that it will give a sort of spectral display of the note. Not terribly important for tuning but interesting nonetheless.

[Burgerbob]

tunable and tonal energy are the top picks by far. I prefer tunable myself, but...

I prefer to just use a physical Korg tuner, and keep the phone away from my practice for less distraction. The farther my phone is, the better and more productive I am.

[BGuttman]

tunable and tonal energy are the top picks by far. I prefer tunable myself, but...

I prefer to just use a physical Korg tuner, and keep the phone away from my practice for less distraction. The farther my phone is, the better and more productive I am.

I guess there's the generation gap at work. I don't live on my phone, even though I use it for more things than a lot of folks of my generation (Baby Boomers). I can have a tuner on the phone and it's useful. I also use the timer. But I don't spend a lot of time texting or playing games on it. Full disclosure: I own 3 Korg tuners and have used them as well.

[muschem]

I use iStroboSoft (https://www.petersontuners.com/products/istrobosoft/) for tuning on my iPad, paired with a RØDE directional mic (https://rode.com/en/microphones/mobile/videomic-me-c). My iPad has USB-C, but RØDE also makes a version with Apple's lightning connector (https://rode.com/en/microphones/mobile/videomic-me-l), as well as a version with a 3.5mm connector (https://rode.com/en/microphones/mobile/videomic-me). I find the unidirectional mic is helpful when tuning in an ensemble, but the phone/tablet omnidirectional mic works pretty well if you're tuning in a practice room/studio.

iStroboSoft costs a bit more than TonalEnergy, but it's produced by Peterson, and I like the familiar strobe display. For drones, I use the Drone Tuner app (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/drone-tuner/id1326016622).

[DaveAshley]

TonalEnergy is a marvelous app for tuning. It has many features that I wished I'd had a long time ago. Check out some YouTube videos about the features and how to use them. (DRONES!!! )
I've always had pretty good ears, but MAN that app took them to the next level!

iStroboSoft is also great. It's probably the best if you want a visual display of your pitch. I've come to prefer using my ears with drones, but ISS certainly comes in handy for spot checks.

It's not a tuning app, but Politonus is also absolutely indispensable, IMO. Serious musicians who aren't using an ear-training app are doing themselves a disservice - ESPECIALLY jazz musicians!

[afugate]

It's not a tuning app, but Politonus is also absolutely indispensable, IMO. Serious musicians who aren't using an ear-training app are doing themselves a disservice - ESPECIALLY jazz musicians!

This was new to me. I've used GoodEar in the past, but this looks more useful.

--Andy in OKC

[Bach5G]

Are any of these war training apps voice controlled?

[Posaunus]

I prefer to just use a physical Korg tuner, and keep the phone away from my practice for less distraction. The farther my phone is, the better and more productive I am.

[OneTon]

I have been using Cleartune. It is either free or cheaper than dirt. It does everything I need it to.

[Kbiggs]

There was a neat app called Flutini, but it looks like it’s defunct now.

http://www.novasession.org/flutini.html#.YvFE7S9lCfA

It would record while you played, and then give a read out of what you played. You could get info like your E2’s were 60% in tune, 30% were flat, and 10% were sharp. I’ll see if I can find a current version.

Does anyone know of any current apps like this?

[heldenbone]

If you browse Fdroid.org (android only, sorry) you can find a variety of tuners with differing interfaces, as well as other stuff useful to musicians;

Semitone - tuner-metronome-piano, Rehearsal - recorder, Audio - audio spectrum display, Wavepad - audio file editor, Practice Hub - Tuner-Metronome-Drone, Cythara - Tuner, Tunerly - tuner, Tuner - strobe-style tuner, numerous metronome apps.

[Kbiggs]

Real Time Tuning Analysis (RTTA) is the app that replaced Flutini. Here is a link that describes the app: http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/RTTA.htm

You’ll find links at the bottom of the page for iPhones and Android.

[meliant]

I think others have recommended it already, but my favorite is Tonal Energy. It’s simple and has a ton of nice features. The only downside is the $3.99, but I think it’s worth.

[rizzo67]

tunable and tonal energy are the top picks by far. I prefer tunable myself, but...

I prefer to just use a physical Korg tuner, and keep the phone away from my practice for less distraction. The farther my phone is, the better and more productive I am.

I use an old phone with no sim card inside, so there is not more distraction as with an physical tuner. Also there is no possibility to load advertising.
The tuner I prefer is called pano tuner, quite fine visual apperance, not with a needle, more like a band speedometer so you can gliss without the gap from one tone to the next.

[heldenbone]

These days I'm in general agreement with Aidan about distractions. My practice sessions already look like Short Attention Span Theatre. The clip-on tuner I have been using was recommended elsewhere; I think in a different TromboneChat thread. It is a d'Addario 'cello and bass tuner supposedly better attuned to low notes. It seems to discern my grungy bass trombone pedals and double-trigger notes better than others I've tried:



It uses the ubiquitous single CR2032 coin cell for power. I compared it to three different generations of Korg tuners, a handful of "Fender" labeled chinese imports, a Seiko clip-on, and numerous Android apps installed on a Samsung S10E phone. YMMV - Cheers.

[Chiptingle]

I like APTuner on my iPhone, a free strobe tuner that hasn’t let me down.

[FerdHA]

I use "Tuner T1" on Android. Visual feedback looks like a sideways ECG, great for making sure vibrato is even.