"Tuning" your organ/keyboard

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"Tuning" your organ/keyboard

Postby PeterA » 07 Jul 2019 22:00

(The comments below refer to the AR organ, but I am sure you can do something the same with other organs and keyboards)

If you wish to accompany, say your grandchild playing their flute, you should tune your AR to their instrument using something like a clarinet or oboe Voice on the Lower Keyboard - Voice 1. Obviously both of you should play the same note, but you may have to adjust the Transpose if they are playing a Transposing instrument. Do not use the Upper Keyboard. The reason for this (on the AR anyway) is because only the Lower Organ and Lower 1 are tuned to 'zero' (Standard 440Hz). Everything else is tuned slightly above or below by 'default'. See this post:

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http://www.tierce-de-picardie.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=322&t=6144

Peter
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Re: "Tuning" your organ/keyboard

Postby Hugh-AR » 07 Jul 2019 22:05

Of course there may be another reason why you would wish to tune your organ or keyboard to match the pitch of another instrument ??. Not another instrument as such, but some music you are listening to from a CD or an MP3 from a Memory Stick. As I 'play by ear' I do this frequently, either when listening to something on headphones or the speakers from a CD player. I can even decide what key I am going to play the piece in and 'Transpose' the organ so the key I wish to play in matches what I am listening to. But unlike a 'proper' musical instrument, a recording is quite often just a little bit 'out of tune' with the organ. So one needs to do a bit of 'fine tuning' as well doing the TRANSPOSE.

On the AR organ, if you press the PITCH/MIDI button to the right of the screen you will see this:

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You can do the TRANSPOSE by pressing the DATA CONTROL buttons under the screen (ie. you don't have to use the TRANSPOSE buttons over to the right). And you can also adjust the PITCH either UP or DOWN in increments of 0.2 by pressing the appropriate DATA CONTROL buttons under the screen. The change in pitch is very slight, but if you keep pressing the button you can get the organ and what you are listening to to be exactly in tune (by listening). Well, near enough for it to be acceptable for your 'ear'.

How do you go about doing some 'fine tuning' on a keyboard?

Hugh
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Re: "Tuning" your organ/keyboard

Postby Rev Tony Newnham » 08 Jul 2019 06:39

Hi

Sadly, you can't re-pitch pipe organs quite so easily! That's to be a real problem when trying to play organ with other instruments - especially woodwind that can't be sharpened very much, if at all.

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Re: "Tuning" your organ/keyboard

Postby dentyr » 25 Jul 2019 07:51

A lady came up to me whilst I was playing a gig and said that she had permission to sing and would I accompany her. Reluctantly I agreed. She handed me 4 sheets of music.
I knew all the pieces but her script was in 3 flats, a key I never play. I had these songs in my music in F, so I transposed on my T4.
She said “Give me a note” so I pressed the Eb key. Too high she said. I pressed the D. Too low she said. Again I pressed the Eb. Too high.
Pressed the function button and retuned the keyboard to 425 (from 440).
Pressed the Eb key and she looked in surprise
She sang for about 15 minutes then whilst she was waving to the audience I reset the keyboard to 440.
She came over and said “How did you do that?”
I told her that my Tyros4 could do anything.
She smiled and was not sure. I then said that I was not quite truthful about that, it just could not poach eggs just the way I like them.
As she walked off past my right speaker (stage PA 300) I played the true Eb. She stopped, listened, turned to me with a smile and said “Too high.”
I knew then that she had perfect pitch.
den
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