Pano Tuner Lite +4

I reached a point where I just could not stand my piano due to the middle section (where the kids bang out their music) being so out of tune. Tuner can’t get here for another week so I just needed something to get buy. I’m not a trained piano tech or tuner but I tried (in vain) to get that middle section at least close using the upper and lower registers as a point of reference but I just couldn’t figure it out well enough to get the temperament restored. Finally, desperate for at least a “survival” tuning to hold me until the pro can get here, I tried this app. After sampling the lower and upper registers, I could visually see how the octaves were stretched and could pick a point on the +/- measurement that followed the pattern. Lo and behold it worked! At least well enough to not hurt my ears until the pro can get hear and really get it dialed in. With the paid version I can get more precise visual range and expect it will become very helpful between visits from the pro tuner. If it can do a piano this well, I imagine it would be awesome for a guitar or violin.

I had my piano professionally tuned 2 weeks ago but my tuner must have spaced out on the last octave. It was horribly sharp and the last 5 notes sounded the same. Admittedly, most of us don’t play those notes that often but when they’re out of tune, you realize you play them more than you think. It was so bad that it was just too painful for me to wait for him to come back and fix his mistake. So after ordering a tuning kit, I downloaded this app.

As any pianist knows, the uppermost octave is particularly challenging to tune by ear because the strings are so short and the tone is so tinny.
I first tested the app on middle A and sure enough it read 339.9, close enough to A440 to which the piano was tuned. And, as I heard, the last octave was at least a quarter to a half step sharp. The tuner was able to distinguish between the uppermost 4 notes which all sounded identical to my ear.

The app is simple to use and extremely discerning and sensitive, even to very small adjustments. It is so sensitive that I caution everyone to make sure there is no ambient noise in the room while you’re tuning.

I don’t know what extra benefits the paid app provides other than no ads which are very unobtrusive in a thin bar at the top of the screen. Truthfully, the free app works so well I would have been happy to pay for it.

I’ve played guitar for over 50 years and gone through several tuning apps over the last decade or so. I really like this one best. I’ve found it to be simple to use, and accurate, and adjustable to +/- 2, 5 or 10 cents. I find that for me, 2 cents is too sensitive, and 10 not quite accurate enough for my use. 5 cents has been my preferred setting and accurate enough for me to adjust my intonation when I don’t feel like pulling out my Korg with a meter and plugging in. This is definitely quicker from that standpoint. It works best when background noise is limited. Overall I’m delighted with Pano tuner and strongly recommend it.