[sdiy] Cheap frequency counter for oscillator calibration

[cheater cheater]

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:12, Florian Anwander
<fanwander at mnet-online.de> wrote:
> Hello Terry
>
>> Just for fun, Ever try using a tuning fork and your ears? It is a bit of a
>> work but the voicing is so much better on a piano.
>
> The tune fork comes in when you want to setup the absolute tuning of the
> oscillator.
>
> But in regard of the workflow of setting the octave width a tune fork has
> the same problem as the frequency counter. David Brown described it very
> well as "you're just chasing your tail as both frequencies shift". While
> setting the ocatve spread you have to concentrate on the relative tuning in
> the (multi-)octave jump. This can be controlled very good by a trained ear.
>
> Though I have a really good hearing (I can tune a piano by ear quite well),
> my experience is that adjusting the octave width a polyphonic synth is
> extremely much faster with the described method using a chromatic guitar
> tuner.
>
> While a piano basically is already at the right coarse tune, the VCO can
> slip through three or four notes when setting the octave spread. This is a
> completely different strain to the hearing than listening to a detuned
> piano.

I just call it post-modernism

D.