Posted by Tony Z. on January 10, 2003 at 11:04:38:
In Reply to: "who needs an ear, I got a TUNER!" posted by dp on January 10, 2003 at 10:27:13:
After extensive warm-up, my top BBb tuba palyer lays out the "tuning note" for the brass band. There are usually 4-5 tuners operating in the room. Tiny, breath-like whispers of, "...a little sharp," or, "..just a tiny bit flat," drift through the room. I remember back to high school when the dulcet tones of the first KORG bit into my eardrums. "That's the right pitch!" we would hear. I had never heard an instrument that sounded anywhere near that. "...a bit high...a little low..." I don't really think we ever sounded any better.
Yes, a relative tuning of your horn is important, but I feel that we are sometimes overdependent on the electric tuner.
I ultimately had the band turn off all the tuners. They were listening. What a nice sound!!