Peterson iStroboSoft Tuner App
Hello Harp Techs, the Peterson iStroboSoft tuning app[1], with two of my favorite “upgrades”; Harmonica Sweeteners and Harmonic Tuning can take the guesswork out of harmonica tuning. I use this on my iPhone as a Chromatic Tuner.
The Peterson iStroboSoft works well with all types of tuning modalities, including;
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Tuning Table by Master Harp[2]
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The French Tuner by Andrew Zajac[3]
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or simply tune the reed plates still attached to the comb[4]
Start up page
iStroboSoft main screen
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Five scrolling columns will be displayed (not obvious on these still photos ;o):
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1st column/left = FUNDAMENTAL, will represent the pitch/note that I am currently tuning (in this example, a C). The scrolling column will move up-if sharp (#) or down-if flat (b). In my case, the column was moving downward. The -11 displayed above “cents” indicates how many cents I will need to correct the reed in order to reach 000 (yes 000, read on).
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The little triangle (to the bottom right of the “cents”) will point you in the direction of the correction (upward to sharpen my -11c flatted reed).
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The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th columns are the overtones of the note being tuned. When correcting a beating/oscillating/pulsing octave, these scrolling overtone columns will help you zero-in the degree of correction required for the second reed of the (two reed) octave.
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The large letter (shown C) will display the note being tuned
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The number shown to the right of the note will identify where that note is positioned within the octave; 5 tells me it is middle C. For this article, I used a G harmonica that I had on my bench. As a coincidence, Middle C happens to be located on draw reed 5-right smack in the middle of the harmonica. The iStroboSoft would have displayed a 4 for the Low C and a 6 for the High C.
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On the bottom left, the arrow pointing to the left will take you to the screen where you can select
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Mode that you want the iStroboSoft to behave; Harmonics (shown above), Classic, Guided
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Tuning as Automatic or Manual
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Display in Cents, Hz, MIDI
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Speed of the scrolling and processing
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Noise filter (if you are in a noisy environment)
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Boost (microphone)
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Also displayed on the bottom left
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A vertical EQ type bar to indicate the iStroboSoft is active, or not
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To the right of this bar will display the current TRANSposition setting (relative to the Key of C). I recommend to keep your setting +0 [Key:C]
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Beneath the TRANS, will display the type of Sweetener you had upgraded your iStroboSoft. For this example, you will see SWEETENED MMB. This refers to the “Modern Marine Band” (Compromised Just) setting I applied to my tuning session. All Hohner harmonica settings were provided to Peterson by former Hohner USA Technical Director, Rick Epping.
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On/Off button
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Located on the bottom right of the screen
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CONCERT A 442.0 refers to the 442hz that I calibrated my tuning session to
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HARM refers to the Harmonics mode that I set my tuning session to
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The arrow pointing to the right will direct you the Settings screens
On the Settings screen, there are numerous choices. Most noteworthy are Sweeteners, Temperaments, Tuner Settings;
Sweeteners take the guesswork out of tuning your harmonica for the best voicing. Select your favorite Hohner model, then simply tune all reeds to 000 Zero on your main screen
Most of my customers enjoy playing the “Compromised Just” tuning, which can be found with MMB-Modern Marine Band and S20-Special 20
When I work on a Special 20/A harmonica, I would select E as my root note (Crossharp/2nd position).
Here are my preferred settings
One last thing, in the Harmonics mode, the Peterson iStroboSoft app will select the strongest fundamental or overtone signal and display that column as the brightest (notice column 3 in this example).
Like anything new, there will be a learning curve to the Peterson iStroboSoft app. I found this tool to be a good investment of my time and money. Let me know your experiences.
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
References:
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https://www.petersontuners.com/products/istrobosoft Available from the Apple App Store and Google Play
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https://www.bluesharmonica.com/harp_tech_studies_3
