ABSTRACT
I [Bryce] am in my living room on a Sunday morning strumming my beautifully built but slightly out-of-tune classical guitar. The fl uctuating humidity, including extreme dryness here, means rarely staying in tune. I recently purchased an electronic chromatic tuner that clips onto the headstock of the guitar and uses a small sensor to detect string vibrations and assist with tuning. Calibrated to 440 Hz, it is small and powered by one AAA battery; it makes keeping my guitar in tune a breeze. Its size also makes it easy to lose under couch cushions, in the pockets of guitar cases, or, in one instance, sitting where I left it on top of the thermostat in my living room. And, today, I have no clue where it is hiding. As I resign my unproductive search for it, but not for a song free of sour notes, I remember a great iPhone app [mobile web application] I purchased: the chromatic tuner app! A couple of years ago I bought a Boss chromatic tuner for approximately $100. I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 for the same functionality, but as a part of my cell phone and not some bulky foot pedal. The approximate size of a tuning fork, but far more versatile, my cell phone is my go-to back-up. I reach for my phone, tap on the screen until I arrive at the tuner app, and proceed to remedy the slightly sour B and D strings that tend to go fl at on my beautifully built and now perfectly in tune classical guitar.
