Tuning difficulties...

[Graham]

I have a a 36 string concert zither, with Munich tuning, and a Korg CA-50 chromatic tuner. The strings are all Optima Bergfee Gruene

Tuning down to C# (cis) 23 is straightforward, but lower than that the tuner fails to recognise the note and doesn't light up. Any tips? Do I need to get a contact mike to supplement the tuner perhaps?

Also I've noticed that when I try to tune the contrabasses by ear, working downwards from my G 17 which I CAN tune, the strings seem very slack and do not vibrate well. Should they actually be tuned to sound an octave higher?

Vielen dank.

[kenbloom]

For those lower strings, where you pluck the string can make a difference to the tuner. If you use your nail and pluck closer to the bridge, it adds highs that the tuner can find easier to read.It sounds like you have an older and smaller zither. The string length on these older instruments was designed for a different type of string. Modern zither have a fingerboard string length of around 17". If your's is shorter than you might need different strings to get a good sound. I use the Bergfe Green on all my zithers with good results but they are all that longer string length. Let me know what the string length on the fingerboard is and we can figure it out from there.

Ken Bloom
http://www.boweddulcimer.org

[Andy]

Hey Graham,

I use the same same strings, and a very similar tuner (Korg-CA2) and never have any troubles with the Bass strings. I start to have difficulties once I get deeper into the Contrabass, but it never just stops picking up the tone. Also I wouldn’t describe any of the strings as slack. The contra bass are a bit of a soft pull but not slack. They should be only one octave lower than the bass (which is one octave lower than the accompaniment).

- Andy

[Rudy Mueller]

Getting back to basics, you may want to try an A440 tuning fork, tune the two A griff strings, and go forward (actually backward) from there. (See Kabatek, Darr) Not much affects a tuning fork.....almost as stable as the atomic clock?

When starting my zither journey, the tuning fork was all that was available; yes, I have broken a few strings by tightening an octave high. Schmaarn!

Good "tuning fortune" has followed since purchasing a "KLIO" guitar tuner off of amazon. This has usable range through the usual zither tones down to zither contra G. It did, however, fail to respond to the lower range of Kurt's kontra guitar.....fortunately, Ludwig was there, and we (Ludwig) finished the kontra guitar tuning vis a vis Kurt's piano.

rudi

p.s. check out the zither "tuning" videos available.....

.....AND NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD ZITHER PLAYERS TO START PRACTICING CHRISTMAS MUSIC !

[Carmen]

Hi Graham,

a) I sometimes also tend to have difficulties tuning the contra-strings, bc my tuner is not able to pick up those notes.
b) tuning by ear in octavs is a good idea
c) I sometimes use the app called "GStrings" for tuning. Mostly when I am in music school and forgot my tuner at home maybe "gstrings" (which is for free) might be able to pick up those deep tones
d) sometimes the strings are too old and sound very damp and renewing those contrastrings might be helpful. Sometimes... I haven't changed my contrastrings since University and am not sure when they were ever changed. But mine still sound good.

Hope I was able to help a bit.

[attila57]

I have a a 36 string concert zither, with Munich tuning, and a Korg CA-50 chromatic tuner. The strings are all Optima Bergfee Gruene

Tuning down to C# (cis) 23 is straightforward, but lower than that the tuner fails to recognise the note and doesn't light up. Any tips? Do I need to get a contact mike to supplement the tuner perhaps?

Also I've noticed that when I try to tune the contrabasses by ear, working downwards from my G 17 which I CAN tune, the strings seem very slack and do not vibrate well. Should they actually be tuned to sound an octave higher?

Vielen dank.

Hello Graham,

I have two Korg tuners. One of them is a cheaper model with an LCD display, and it sometimes shows the same symptoms as yours. Sometimes it just doesn't want to respond, and sometimes it shows a different tone from the one plucked, most often the fifth. I've found that if I place the tuner on the soundboard, or to a nearby resonating surface, it can pick up the tone much more easily and correctly. Sometimes changing the battery helps, too. My other tuner is a Korg with an analogue display instrument that has a hand showing the frequency values etc. It is a more expensive model and it always reacts to the plucked tone, although sometimes it takes some time and practice to actually find the exact reading, due to the delay of the analogue instrument.
I hope I was able to help a little.
Attila