Tuning Forks - a useful alternative or ‘old hat’ ?

[2nd tenor]

For random reasons I came across the general use of tuning forks by folk who have the ear and musical ability to use them to good effect. Digital tuners are of course wonderful, well provided that their battery isn’t flat and that they display the correct values, and I wonder how we got by before they arrived.

Compared to an Electronic Tuner Tuning forks aren’t cheap, say £10 for a good (John Walker, Sheffield) standard A 440 and double that for something that rings in either Bb or Eb. However their batteries never run flat and they could live to be a hundred years old and still work just fine.

Musical Tuning Forks Archives - Ragg Tuning Forks

www.raggtuningforks.co.uk

(Options noted include D# and A#, which ‘obviously’ is the same as Eb and Bb)

I wonder if anyone uses a tuning fork at all and if so in what ways and why? What did they use in the ‘good old days’?

 

[julian]

For random reasons I came across the general use of tuning forks by folk who have the ear and musical ability to use them to good effect. Digital tuners are of course wonderful, well provided that their battery isn’t flat and that they display the correct values, and I wonder how we got by before they arrived.

Compared to an Electronic Tuner Tuning forks aren’t cheap, say £10 for a good (John Walker, Sheffield) standard A 440 and double that for something that rings in either Bb or Eb. However their batteries never run flat and they could live to be a hundred years old and still work just fine.

Musical Tuning Forks Archives - Ragg Tuning Forks

www.raggtuningforks.co.uk

(Options noted include D# and A#, which ‘obviously’ is the same as Eb and Bb)

I wonder if anyone uses a tuning fork at all and if so in what ways and why? What did they use in the ‘good old days’?

Never seen anyone use them although I have seen someone use pitch pipes in a band room.

 

[J. Jericho]

Many years ago I bought an A=440 tuning fork to use to tune my wife's piano and keep it in tune. It came in handy when resonating to certain other notes, in addition to, of course A=440. I still have it , but not the piano. I have no idea where the tuning fork is today, other than that it's in the confines of my home somewhere. This fact illustrates the lack of usefulness I found in applying it to tuning my brass instruments.

 

[2nd tenor]

With the absence of replies I can but guess that those old enough to remember what was used before electronic tuners have either stopped playing or do not frequent this forum. From a contesting perspective I’d have thought that a prerequisite need would be for the Band to be tuned to a common (between bands) pitch, that need must surely have predated electronic tuners so what was done in the past?

With regard to tuning I think that tuning to a tuning fork would be hard but not impossible. I don’t know the frequencies of a Bb Cornet’s various notes but might playing one of the B’s (so second valve depressed) match the A440 pitch? If I’ve worked things out correctly then an Eb instrument would play a Gb (F#) within the stave to sound a Concert A note. The second valve slide is both short and never moved (so not really a significant variable) and once the Principal Cornet is at the correct pitch the rest of the Band can be turned from him/her.

 

[GER]

With the absence of replies I can but guess that those old enough to remember what was used before electronic tuners

My only recollection was ears, slide adjustments and 'lipping' up or down, I presume like many other things, the advent of electrical gadgets has reduced the need, and therefore the ability of the players and conductor to tune a band by ear. I used to play at a high standard on a cornet that didn't have triggers as did many others.

 

[J. Jericho]

In military band we always tuned to the oboe. In orchestra, usually the piano, but sometimes there was a diabolical tuner contraption that had a rotating disc that if you were in tune would stop turning and remain stationary. The Powers That Be always told me to change the position of my tuning slide to something ridiculous, ensuring that I was out of tune when actually playing, resulting in more complaints. I mentioned this to my trumpet teacher, and he said: "You play in tune. Set your slide where they want it, and when nobody's looking, set it back to where it should be." Problem solved.