StreetPunk2jazz
Junior Member
Is anyone fimilliar with the Tune-Bot app for the iPhone and/or the actually store bought product? If so, what are your thoughts?
Tune-Bot
- Thread starter StreetPunk2jazz
- Start date
I've never used it, but I understand its workings, and im sure it does what it says, but mind as well get used to actually tuning drums, in my opinion.
itll tell you what you can discern for yourself, if a pitch is higher or lower relative to another pitch. It just shifts the responsibilities to the eyes, away from the ears.
But it seems interesting, if you like the idea, im sure it's worth a try.
itll tell you what you can discern for yourself, if a pitch is higher or lower relative to another pitch. It just shifts the responsibilities to the eyes, away from the ears.
But it seems interesting, if you like the idea, im sure it's worth a try.
StreetPunk2jazz
Junior Member
Fair enough - thanks!
BradGunnerSGT
Silver Member
The app is just library of tunings available to use with the Tune-bot, it isn't useful by itself. You need to buy the actual device or use a different tuning app. Tune-bot has sued a bunch of tuning apps out of existence, unfortunately.
I use the 682Drums tuning app on Android and it seems to work pretty well, although I plan to get a real Tune-bot at some point. I just wish the company wasn't so lawsuit happy.
I use the 682Drums tuning app on Android and it seems to work pretty well, although I plan to get a real Tune-bot at some point. I just wish the company wasn't so lawsuit happy.
Larry
"Uncle Larry"
I got one. It didn't take me but 5 minutes to realize I prefer my ears and my own senses. I haven't used it since. A lot of people like them though. So it's kind of an individual decision.
I picked up the iPhone app and have used it a couple times.
Ultimately, it doesn't even come close to replacing tuning by ear. They're problematic and a bit of a PITA to use.
That said, it complements my tuning ability when I want 'exact' pitch matching and 'exact' intervals, which is rare, but entertaining enough to justify the $4 I paid for the app.
I also grabbed a cheap torque key just to try it out. Same result. Not anywhere as good as by-ear tuning, but very fast and "not horrible". I'd recommend one to anyone that just picked up their first $200 kit with ZBT/B8's that has no idea how to tune a drum.
Ultimately, it doesn't even come close to replacing tuning by ear. They're problematic and a bit of a PITA to use.
That said, it complements my tuning ability when I want 'exact' pitch matching and 'exact' intervals, which is rare, but entertaining enough to justify the $4 I paid for the app.
I also grabbed a cheap torque key just to try it out. Same result. Not anywhere as good as by-ear tuning, but very fast and "not horrible". I'd recommend one to anyone that just picked up their first $200 kit with ZBT/B8's that has no idea how to tune a drum.
gconyers
Senior Member
Tune bot is a great device in my opinion. As has been pointed out previously, it gets your drum heads in tune with themselves and their guide/app has suggested tunings.
The handy thing is that you can store your settings in the device and tune your drums to them almost instantly when you change heads. Used it at a gig yesterday to retune my kick/toms after transporting them from a hot car into A/C'd hall. My kit was in tune within 5 mins.
The handy thing is that you can store your settings in the device and tune your drums to them almost instantly when you change heads. Used it at a gig yesterday to retune my kick/toms after transporting them from a hot car into A/C'd hall. My kit was in tune within 5 mins.
alcibiades74
Junior Member
I found the Tune-Bot to be very useful for a few reasons:
First, it really helped me to "get to know" a recent kit I bought (Sonor Delite, 2003-ish). I tuned each of the toms (8,10,12,14) to specific notes and then varied the interval ratio between the top and bottom heads. Do the drums sing more at higher tunings? How high/low before they sound choked/dead? It was a fun exercise to try those variations and now I have a list of tuning to employ in different situations (e.g., higher for jazz tunings/lower for rock tunings).
Second, it's been useful in exploring what tunings work best in different rooms.
Finally, I recently did a session at Ardent here in Memphis and the drums they had set up sounded awful. I was able to quickly re-tune the toms while under pressure to get in-and-out of the session because I had a set of tunings that I thought would work on most quality drums. I was ready to track before the engineer had the mics set up.
Hope this helps!
First, it really helped me to "get to know" a recent kit I bought (Sonor Delite, 2003-ish). I tuned each of the toms (8,10,12,14) to specific notes and then varied the interval ratio between the top and bottom heads. Do the drums sing more at higher tunings? How high/low before they sound choked/dead? It was a fun exercise to try those variations and now I have a list of tuning to employ in different situations (e.g., higher for jazz tunings/lower for rock tunings).
Second, it's been useful in exploring what tunings work best in different rooms.
Finally, I recently did a session at Ardent here in Memphis and the drums they had set up sounded awful. I was able to quickly re-tune the toms while under pressure to get in-and-out of the session because I had a set of tunings that I thought would work on most quality drums. I was ready to track before the engineer had the mics set up.
Hope this helps!
whiteknightx
Silver Member
I'm a fan. For me it's repeatability. Once you find the settings that sound best, you can get them back really fast. I wrote the pitches on my heads with a sharpie, so it takes just a couple minutes to get everything back to optimal. Here in Canada, we can have some wild temperature variations, so the tuning goes all over the place.
Tommy_D
Platinum Member
I just picked up a tune bot last weekend. For 20 years I have tuned by ear, but that doesn't mean I was good at tuning. I just tuned the drums to what I thought sounded good. After attaching the tune bot I found out that my ears are pretty good/accurate to hearing the slight variations in frequencies, so hooray for that! However, my understanding of tuning is/was pretty minimal. Again, tuning to what you think sounds good gives you only a small spectrum of how a drum can be tuned. Having the tune bot, and tinkering with the app on my phone, I am realizing that I can vary the sound my drums pretty drastically by adjusting the top and bottom head relative to each other. Since I never knew that I could get these different effects on the sound by only using my ear, I never explored different tuning methods. If I got the drum in tune, I just moved on to the next one. Now that I can find a spot I like, save that setting (so I can always come back to it with relative ease), and test out other tuning to explore other possibilities, I am really finding how much more versatile my one kit can be.
Bonzo_CR
Silver Member
This is exactly why I like it too. You still need your ears, but the Tune-Bot allows you to calibrate and quickly reproduce tunings you like.
Larry
"Uncle Larry"
I didn't even get a drum tuned with it. I couldn't figure it out or get consistent readings. I didn't really spend time with it, because it was too hard waaa lol.
If someone showed me how they use theirs...in the same room....I'd grasp it. I want to see someone who knows how to work one do it.
If someone showed me how they use theirs...in the same room....I'd grasp it. I want to see someone who knows how to work one do it.
Tommy_D
Platinum Member
Did you hold the drum off the ground when tuning, or did you have it sitting on some sort of surface? If it's on a surface the readings will be all off.
I will admit that when the readings all are the same you will still notice some harmonic differences. Its usually just a 1/8 to a 1/16 of a turn to get them all to sound correct.
I will admit that when the readings all are the same you will still notice some harmonic differences. Its usually just a 1/8 to a 1/16 of a turn to get them all to sound correct.
FreDrummer
Silver Member
Yes! Thankfully, I have one of the iphone apps on my phone that, apparently, is "Grandfathered" in -- the app still works, but the developer was forced to discontinue the app (apparently, that means he can no longer offer or sell the app. But, mine continues to work...there is simply no support or updates available).
The whole TuneBot concept (my app is similar) really does work well, and has helped me with my "ear" tuning. I can now easily lug-tune a head into tune myself, then fine tune with the app. The real help is getting the overall fundamental tone of the drum where I want it to have precise, pleasing intervals between drums.
IMO, TuneBot went the wrong way by insisting on basing their product on a specific piece of hardware (the TuneBot, itself). With the overall prevalence of smartphones, a specific tuning app on a smartphone is really the way to go. I'm really wondering why TuneBot doesn't offer an app for $19.95 or so -- they'd probably make a killing with all the drummers who balk at the $100 TuneBot price...
It's because they can sell you a $5 piece of hardware for $100 and make $45 after the revenue distribution split, whereas they'd only make a small fraction of that doing $20 on the iTunes store. They would also have to support everyone with software updates rather than charging customers 'again' for TuneBot 2.0.
It's all about the benjamins.
FreDrummer
Silver Member
Well, I thought of that, but what about the volume aspect? If only 2000 drummers per year are willing to shell out $100 for the TuneBot, what if 10000 were willing to take a chance on a $20 app? Same revenue, and now you don't even have to deal with suppliers, chinese manufacturers, inventory control/storage, distribution, etc... They could run a much smaller operation with fewer employees and less overhead.