Talking Tuner 4+
HotPaw Productions
-
- Free
Screenshots
Description
HotPaw Talking Tuner is a hands-off, sound-activated, talking musical instrument tuner. It uses speech synthesis to talk and tell you if a sound is in tune or not, so you don't have to look at your Mac. Talking Tuner does not require that VoiceOver be enabled.
A few years ago, I received a request to develop an iPhone app that could assist a vision-impaired individual with tuning their musical instruments. This is a Mac version of the iOS HotPaw Talking Tuner app.
Talking Tuner will listen for a note to be played, and then, after waiting for the end of the sound (so as not to talk over it), will speak the note name, and how many cents sharp or flat the end of the note is estimated to be.
Using headphones may help make it easier to hear what this app is saying while tuning. Make sure to turn the volume up high enough to hear it.
The pitch estimation algorithm works best for notes between 2 octaves below Middle-C to 2 octaves above Middle-C. It may not work as well for very low notes, very high notes, or with any background noise, harmony, or accompaniment present. The default tuning resolution is about +- 3 cents (3/100ths of the pitch difference between semitones). Optional higher resolution tuning settings available in the app's Preferences may result in a slower tuning response.
What’s New
Version 1.0.3
Bug fix for better compatibility with newer macOS releases
Ratings and Reviews
Functional
This app does what the packaging says it speaks the note the input device (microphone) hears.
This app developer seems to have put a lot of time into the talking bit and less into the rest. While the talking has its place, possibly when tuning a piano I do not think that is the bulk of the people that may download this app.
Pros
1. The treble and bass clef on the left of the display is nice.
2. The piano display below the staff is also nice
Input level monitoring on the right is useful for configuration.
CONS
1. The largest portion of the display is devoted to blank space. This is an absolute waste.
2. The note detected, is displayed in the staus bar at the bottom of the layout. Too small to see. Unnecessary with so much layout space unused.
3. Input device is also stuck on the status bar, but slightly oversized. Looks messy and is also only accessed once so could be hidden in a setting or preferences tab. It is already in the preferences so remove it from the screen.
4. The or - cents is particularly annoying all the time. Useful for the initial tune, but would be nice to turn that off.
5. the settings are not remembered when the app is closed, so next time I have to reconfigure the Auto speak and resolution.
So what would I change?
Well, I'm glad you asked :)
1. Staff and keyboard display moved to centre of layout, taking most of the space, big and bold.
2. Note, Frequency and offset moved into the left layout panel, Where music staff is now.
Note: E4#
tuning 2 cents
3. Option to change the size of the music note, so I can see the A6 from across the room is neccessary.
4. Have the option of displaying if the note is flat or sharp of in tune by simply displaying << or >>
so <<D is greater than 10 cents flat and A> is greater than 5 cents sharp
App Privacy
The developer, HotPaw Productions, has not provided details about its privacy practices and handling of data to Apple. For more information, see the developer's privacy policy.
No Details Provided
The developer will be required to provide privacy details when they submit their next app update.
Information
- Seller
- Ronald Nicholson
- Size
- 675.3 KB
- Category
- Music
- Compatibility
-
- Mac
- Requires macOS 10.11 or later.
- Languages
-
English
- Age Rating
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2020 HotPaw Production
- Price
- Free