As an alternative to tap tuning or a drum dial has anyone considered a spectrum analyzer? They’re not cheap, but can be cheaper than a drum dial and they give a lot more information.
Of course there are also apps that you can use on your smartphone but all the ones I’ve seen have a subscription model which is a dealbreaker for me.
Ouch! See the ADDENDUM: HEAD TAP TUNING, p. 17-21, in https://www.its.caltech.edu/~politzer/pickers-guide/pickers_guide.pdf . And see fig. 8, in particular, for the spectrum of the tap sound that is otherwise identified as around 240 or 480 Hz - both A#'s. The text explains the glaring differences and how it is that some people can actually hear the A#. It also makes clear that you need good high-frequency hearing to use the standard head tap method and why some electronic tuners can "catch it" and others cannot. (It depends on the algorithm the tuner uses to settle on a single pitch.)
I do it all the time using Audacity (as David illustrates). It is free and runs on a PC. I record using my smartphone, transfer the file, and check.
The particulars of how you tap matters to get consistent, easy to read results.
This process did not replace my drum dial though but it complements it.
The point is that it would be tricky to extract the tap pitch from a standard spectrum alone. There is essentially no peak at what is heard as the tap pitch. You can use something like Audacity if you look at the waveform, the spectrogram (noting the spacings up to some four or five octaves higher), or the autocorrelations (which are tricky to interpret).
Darn it - are you trying to convince me that a banjo has overtones?
How do you hear the fundamental on a tap?
quote:
Originally posted by Laurence DiehlDarn it - are you trying to convince me that a banjo has overtones?
How do you hear the fundamental on a tap?
Check out the spectrum, when you get the opportunity, of an open plucked string. There is alot going on.
quote:
Originally posted by Laurence DiehlDarn it - are you trying to convince me that a banjo has overtones?
How do you hear the fundamental on a tap?
If you read David's info, you learn that what we consider the head tap note is not the fundamental (mode 0) note. It is thought to be a "whispering gallery mode" concoctions of many frequencies that some people can hear and some can't.
quote:
Originally posted by davidpppThe point is that it would be tricky to extract the tap pitch from a standard spectrum alone. There is essentially no peak at what is heard as the tap pitch. You can use something like Audacity if you look at the waveform, the spectrogram (noting the spacings up to some four or five octaves higher), or the autocorrelations (which are tricky to interpret).
I find the linear frequency Hann 2048 enhanced auto-correlation to display a easy to read spike if I tap in a certain way.
With resonator on, I put my hand on the strings and lightly press down on the bridge to mute the fundamental note. Then I use a wooden stick to tap a circle of 20-30 taps about 1.25"- 1.5" from the tension hoop.
I use the standard android voice recorder set to the high quality resolution. I share the file to a OneDrive cloud location. Then I boot my laptop, start Audacity, import the file, select the taps, and analyze.
If my drum dial is between 85 and 92, I know the note is somewhere near 140-280. The spike always shows up clearly for me. My tb3 likes 220 hz. Some of my others like G# or G instead. All of them sound better (to me) right on a western scale note in the 440 domain.
I feel good about my head tap note skills, so I moved on to the next topic of interest to me. Drummers focus on edge notes versus fundamental notes. It's easy to demonstrate that unequal edge notes result in overtones with dissonance. So I'm focused on equalizing my head tension beyond what the drum dial helps me do.
You got me thinking...so I grabbed my iPhone and used a spectrum app called Decibel X and captured this image while tapping the head on my banjo (set to about 92 on my dial). Its hard to capture this in real time alone with only 2 hands...but the top pink line is the peak average and the bottom is the real time signal. The green's first peak looks to be around 415 where G# should be. There are some tools to dig out the data better but you get idea. Banjo fun.
quote:
Originally posted by BruceS2There are some tools to dig out the data better
If you make some recording using the instructions that I suggested above for the tapping part then you could email me that and I'll tell you what I see.
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