AP Guitar Tuner Help File

 

            Thank you for downloading AP Guitar Tuner. We are proud to present to you the worlds most advanced guitar tuner. We hope you enjoy using it.

 

Tuning Your Guitar

            Connections – Your guitar should be connected to your sound card’s microphone input jack. You may need a quarter-inch to eighth-inch adapter plug to get your instrument cable to fit the soundcard input jack. If you are not using an electric guitar, or an acoustic pickup, a regular desktop microphone will also work. If using a desktop microphone you will probably need the soundboard to be within 12 inches of the microphone head for best results.

 

            Input Level – the center column shows an input energy indicator. Your input levels should be set so that a strong pluck will send the colored bar very near the top, but without hitting it. For more help with input level issues see “Troubleshooting Input Levels

 

            Fine Tuning Indicator – the box on the right hand side of the window is the Fine tuning indicator. The current note being played will show up in the upper left corner, and the current percent error will be shown in the upper right corner. The needle will display the current percent error as well.

 

            Global Tuning indicator – the horizontal bar at the bottom of the screen shows the position of the current note in relation to all the other notes in the tuning. This can be very useful when stringing your guitar. Make certain that you have both the correct note and the correct octave when stringing.

 

Modifying Your Current Tuning

 

            Type Of Tuning – AP Guitar Tuner Supports alternate tunings for the six string guitar. We have provided a list of popular tunings that can be selected from the Preset List. To add your own tuning manipulate the strings by right clicking on them. When the tuning is complete you can add it to the list for later use with the Add button.

 

            Listening To Tunings – You can hear a MIDI representation of your current tuning by clicking the “Play” button. You can hear any individual string by left clicking that string.

 

            A 440 Modification – Most instruments tune their “Concert A” to 440 Hz. Sometimes the need arises to slightly adjust this frequency. Clicking on the A: 440 Hz Button will bring up a screen to adjust the base frequency. The Frequency can be adjusted with the white textbox or the gray slider control. Hitting the reset button will restore the frequency to its default 440 Hz.

 

User Options

          Clicking “Options” will bring up a dialog box with two tabs: Colors and Devices. Click the tab to switch between them.

 

        Options: Colors - Clicking on the colored box you wish to change and selecting a new color can adjust colors. Click “Restore Default Colors” to return to the standard color scheme.

 

        Options: Devices - Most users will not need to use this tab. Setting the devices to “Prefered recording device” and “Preferred Midi Output Device” should always work. If you have a more complicated recording or MIDI setup on your machine, you can choose one of those devices. If your system does not have a MIDI device you will be able to tune normally. If your system does not have a recording device, the tuning process won’t get very far.

 

Troubleshooting Input Levels

            The most common problem users of AP Guitar Tuner encounter is an incorrect level setting. If the level is correctly set, the Energy Gauge in the center of the window should jump near the top with each strong pluck.

 

 What if the gauge does not follow what I am doing?

 

            If the gauge is not responsive, i.e. you pluck a note and the gauge does not register the energy, you need to adjust your windows settings.

 

1)            Open the Windows volume control utility from Start > Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Volume Control. You can also open it by clicking on the little icon of a yellow speaker in your system tray in the lower right hand corner of your screen.

 

2)            Switch to the recording settings page by selecting menu item Options > Properties, and then choosing the option “Recording” in the group “Adjust Volume for…” Make sure that the volume control “Microphone” has a check next to it in the list labeled “Show the following volume controls:”.

 

3)            Make sure that the box labeled “Select” under “Microphone” is checked, and that the vertical slider bar is set all the way to the top.

 

4)            When this is done AP Guitar Tuner will respond to any input connected to the microphone input of your soundcard.

 

 What if the gauge does not jump very high?

 

            If the gauge seems to not be rising high enough then there are a few things to check. First of all open the windows volume control utility, in the manner described in steps one through 3 above. Make certain that the recording volume control is set to its maximum level.

 

            If the level still seems insufficient, try increasing the actual signal strength going into the sound card. Increasing the volume knob on your electric guitar or acoustic pickup will help. If using a desktop microphone, make certain that the guitar soundboard is as close as possible to the microphone.

 

 Other Problems

 

            If you have other problems or just wish to contact us please send e-mail to apguitartuner@audio-phonics.com or visit us on the web at www.audio-phonics.com.