tune-bot Clip-On Digital Drum Tuner with LCD Display

Tuning by ear is an art that takes time to perfect and using tools to assist in the process is both useful and, in my opinion, helps train your ears. I have tried the tension gauge devices and found them useful but limited in tuning to a desired sound from my kit. I had previously been put off by the price of the original Tune-Bot but this scaled-down version is cheaper (it lacks the memory features of the Cadillac model). The fact that this measures sound frequency makes it a great tool in locating a desired sound. I have also found it very useful in tuning the drum to itself in order to get rid of unwanted overtones. The suggested setting provided by the manufacturer on-line were a useful starting point for experimentation. I have found it difficult to clip the device on to smaller drums but, in the main, it works very well and I recommend it as a tool to anyone who’s ear does not yet have its doctorate in tuning.

It truly is amazing how good a well tuned but cheap kit can sound.

UPDATE:
I just changed all the heads on eight drums in about 30 minutes. It doesn’t get any easier than that, and the results were dead on as always. This is one of the best gadgets I’ve ever purchased!

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
As a new drummer, I have really struggled with tuning. The DrumDial lets you get even tension on the head at all lug positions, but if you blindly follow the needle on the dial, you can merrily over-torque your lugs to the point of warping your hoops. The Evans torque key lets you get even torque on all the lugs, but discovering the correct target torque is fiddly, and imprecise. Neither of these tuning aids really has anything to do with the pitch of the drum, and neither one can help you get your drums in tune with each other. After using both of these devices along with my ear, I finally got my drums in some kind of tune.

When I heard about the Tune-Bot Gig, I was skeptical about dropping more money on yet another tuning gadget, but I was also intrigued. I let the thing sit around for a few days before I finally tried it, and then I struggled briefly figuring out how to use it correctly. I really wasn’t set up to be a fan of this gadget, but then I worked through the issues. I started by finding the one tom I liked the best, and determining what pitch it played. Next, I used the Android app to generate a tuning for my set of toms with something close to that pitch in that position. Finally, I tuned all five toms to that scheme, moving some a lot more than others, and then I tuned my snare to a note exactly halfway between the two highest toms. Basically the trick to this is to ignore the fundamental pitch, and tune each head to the specified lug pitch individually, then check your work afterwards by letting both heads resonate. You will find the tunings they suggest are spot on for producing a desired fundamental pitch, even if you are doing something apparently weird with the lug pitch.

In maybe 30 minutes of work with the Tune-Bot, I really dialed in the focus knob on my kit. WOW! The toms are still highly resonant, the way I prefer them, but I have solved at least 75% of my snare buzz resonance problems by positioning the snare on a different note from any of the toms. The intervals between the toms have smoothed out, and it is suddenly apparent how much worse they sounded before. My lowest tom came up a lot in pitch, but it still thunders nicely, while my nice high tom came down just a hair to sit on a note that works better with the rest of the toms. That definitely made a positive difference, and it didn’t take very much work to get there. I am highly amused with this gadget!

If Amazon had half stars, I would deduct half a star, because the Tune-Bot really had some serious problems with the higher pitched drums. The target is 258 Hz, for example, and you’re tuning 220, 230, 240, 250, 253, 375. Wait, what? How did I go all the way to 375 with that tiny adjustment? The answer is that I didn’t. I know from my experience building tuned wind chimes that it is very hard to tune percussive things with a conventional chromatic auto tuner. The apparent fundamental frequency you hear is made up of a very complex mixture of different overtones, which is also how you can tune each head to some apparently ludicrous pitch, and end up yielding a much lower fundamental once both heads are free to resonate. What happens with the Tune-Bot is that sometimes it picks out the wrong overtone, and it shows you that pitch, instead of the pitch of the overtone you are working on tuning. Working through that aspect of things was the most fiddly part of using the Tune-Bot, but by moving the unit to the opposite side of the drum from the lug I was tuning, and by relying on my ear to tell me that I hadn’t really jumped 100 Hz in pitch, I was finally able to muddle through and get everything tuned quite impressively well.

Even the Tune-Bot doesn’t replace your ears, but it helps a great deal, and combined with the app or the tuning builder on the website, the complete system really helps you target and achieve a tuning that works very well. Considering how poorly a standard chromatic auto-tuner performs at this kind of task, what they have achieved with this gadget is truly impressive.

has slight accuracy/repeatability issues but nothing to be concerned about. Its a great tool really and has had impressive results on the toms. Struggles a bit with high tensions on the snare reso but overall its a handy thing to have even if just for confirmation that your ears are working fine. If it is truly for gigs, it needs a case as the grip on the back is too easily broken to leave it loose in a hardware bag. A broken clip would be a pain as the hands off aspect of it makes it very convenient. If you had to hold it, well there are smartphone apps that do a similar job but cost much less….