Korg CA-30 Chromatic Tuner - why wouldn’t you buy one?

When beginning instrumentalists get their new instruments, they make sure they have the latest looking “slick” case, a “cool” neck strap, even a music stand and an accessory kit. But for a now “cheap” price, they could own an equally important piece of equipment–an electronic tuner.

The early electronic tuners, like the Conn strobes, used tubes and cost hundreds (even thousands if you wanted the big unit that showed all of the pitches). These units converted the varying voltages from a microphone to flashes of light in gas tube. When the spinning translucent tuning wheel was placed in front of the flashing light, the familiar “strobe” pattern would indicate flat or sharp. The larger unit nearly required a truck to move it around.

I remember my first electronic tuner. It cost several hundred dollars, but I was excited to have a portable tuning device. Since I played guitar and trombone, professionally, it was valuable to have a quality tuning device. Before the advent of electronic tuners, guitar players kept tuning “up”. If they went out of tune, they tuned “up”. It drove me crazy, because combo pitch was a moving target. I always insisted on playing in groups with keyboard players, because those instruments provided a solid reference.

Now for around $20.00 to $30.00, students can have a high quality electronic tuning device. As a teacher of music for over 30 years, I have learned that people learn to hear certain pitch distortions on their instrument as being “correct”. I have sat next to trumpet players who hear everything sharp as being correct, and played with low brass players who accepted the construction problems inherent in their instruments. They accepted the faulty intonation and “learned” those pitches, incorrectly. The electronic tuners will solve this.

As soon as the instrument and the player is warmed-up, turn on the tuner. Set-up the horn correctly and check problem notes. Keep the tuner handy during the practice session. Understand that tuning is a “learned” process, and the tuners will set you on the right course. I know that playing “in tune” is playing “in tune” with an ensemble. But, tuners do allow for standardization and help to eliminate the serious tuning distortions that befall some beginning instrumentalists.

Buy a Korg CA-30. It has a needle that is calibrated in “cents”. Since 100 cents equals a semitone or musical half step, musicians can get an idea how high or low they are. Two red LED’s on either side a green LED show when the pitch is flat or sharp. The green LED lights when the pitch is correct. (Great in dimly lit rooms). The unit utilizes “auto-sensing” and locks onto the strongest tone. There is no need to spin a dial to the correct pitch. There is a 1/4 inch phone plug input for electric guitars or a remote microphone. This input is an option, however, because the built-in microphone is ample for most applications.

When the Korg CA-30 is first turned on, it is calibrated to A=440, the international pitch standard. There is a calibration adjustment, so the user can change the reference pitch and resulting needle display. The reference pitch is displayed in the window. Two audible tones (A or Bb) are available. Sounding through the built-in speaker, these are reference pitches for audible tuning. The unit is very compact and will fit in the instrument case.

The Korg-CA30 is a winner, and I recommend it to all of my students. I can’t believe that anyone would try to study music without having a tuner like this. In my opinion (formed after 30+ years of teaching), a Korg CA-30 tuner and a metronome should be sold with every instrument as part of the accessory kit. Pitch and time are two essential elements of music. Modern electronics has provided us with these quality accessories at an affordable price. The following description is from Musician’s Friend. The Buy Now link takes you to their online store.

Korg CA-30 Chromatic Tuner The Korg CA-30 Chromatic Tuner gives you a high-precision LCD needle-type meter. Wide range of pitch detection covers C1-C8. Calibration function lets you specify concert pitch. Built-in high-sensitivity mic. Produces reference tone on internal speaker and has marks for pure major thirds and minor thirds. . Auto power off. Low draw gets up to 100 hours of battery life in continuous use. Wide Range of Pitch Detection This compact chromatic tuner supports a broad range of C1 (32.70 Hz)-C8 (4186.01 Hz) allowing speedy and high-precision tuning of wind string keyboard and other instruments. This tuner is ideal for tuning even low-register notes containing numerous overtones that are often difficult to tune. A high-sensitivity mic is built-in allowing easy and accurate tuning of acoustic instruments such as ukuleles. A separately sold CM-100 contact mic can also be used to send the vibrations directly to the tuner for even more accurate tuning.Ultra-compact body with a “Tilt Slit” Although the CA-30 is small thin and light don’t let its pocket-sized body fool you. The CA-30 packs the functionality needed for tuning a wide range of instruments. From studio to stage tuning is easy and convenient. The back of the unit includes a unique arc-shaped “tilt slit” that lets you insert a plastic card for use as a handy stand.High-precision LCD Meter The meter section uses a LCD needle combining the accuracy of an LCD with the easy visibility of a needle and providing a stable display. Additional visual feedback is provided by LEDs that indicate pitch deviation.Sound Out - Internal Speaker Provides a Reference Pitch In addition to visual tuning via meter the CA-30 can play reference pitches from its internal speaker (Sound Out) for tuning by ear. Each press of the Sound switch will cycle through the A4-Bb4 notes commonly used for tuning wind instruments. Or you can hold down the Sound switch to change the cycle to the semitone intervals from C4 through C5 (one octave) allowing reference pitches for any instrument to be sounded quickly.Calibration Function The Calibration function (410-480 Hz) supports a wide range of standard pitches and can be adjusted in 1 Hz steps for accurate and flexible tuning to any song or key. Thanks to the Memory Backup function the Calibration and reference pitch are remembered even when the power is turned off. (However these settings will be initialized when the batteries are replaced.)Auto Power Off Function If you leave the unit powered-on for 20 minutes without performing any operation the Auto Power Off function will turn the power off automatically avoiding unnecessary battery consumption.Approximately 100 hours of Continuous Use Low-power consumption design allows an amazing 100 hours (approximate) of continuous battery life (A4 continuous input Meter mode zinc-carbon batteries).

Several second hand or discounted units are available on Ebay. The following links will take you there.