The tuning fork is ... The sound of a tuning fork. Tuning for tuning musical instruments

The sound of the tuning fork helps you to adjust the musical instruments, which allows you to play them correctly. You can, of course, rely on your own ears, but it will be more reliable to double-check.

About musical instruments

The need for creativity has appeared in people for a very long time. So began to appear and the first musical instruments. Of course, at first they were extremely primitive, but over time they became more complicated. And at some point it turned out that for convenience they should be brought to a certain standard, especially if they have a different design. So there was a need for a universal reference point. Knowing one note, you can build the rest, but where do you get it from? In search of a solution to this problem, a device was invented, which is sometimes also referred to as musical instruments. You can not do without it if you need tuning a piano or grand piano, so it's not easy to find a replacement.

What is a tuning fork?

Those who have piano houses sometimes call a tuner to make sure that the instrument is not faked. And then you can see in the hands of the master strange curved wand. In fact, this device may look different, but its purpose is always the same. The tuning fork is a device that publishes a note "la" of the first octave. Focusing on this sound, you can build all the other notes.

Each musical instrument has its own peculiarities and working principle. There are factors that disrupt the correct functioning - for brass and stringed brasses this can be a careless move, sudden temperature changes, etc. Therefore, the tuning fork is an indispensable thing for every musician, which allows you to quickly put everything in order. No wonder it was invented, because it was so badly needed. This gave impetus to the development of ideas for the performance of the same works by a large number of various musical instruments, because now it was easy to harmonize their sound.

By the way, "tuning fork" is a German word, although it does not mean exactly that. It is translated as "room sound", and the musical instrument in question is called Stimmgabel in Germany.

History of appearance and development

For the first time the tuning fork was invented by the English court musician John Shore. He was a trumpeter and obviously understood the laws of physics, in particular acoustics. The oscillation frequency of the plate for the "A" note at that time was 119.9 Hertz. So there was a tuning fork. Photos of old copies are very interesting, because today you do not often find such a device in life. He looked like a two-pronged metal plug, which had to be struck against something to make it start to sound.

Over time, the shape of the tuning fork changed, varieties appeared with a wooden box, which serves as a resonator. In addition, the frequency of oscillations of the device gradually increased. Today, for the note "la" of the first octave, it is 440 Hertz.

Modern varieties

Today, musicians can choose from a huge number of tuning forks. They can be made in the form of a metal plug, pipe or whistle. They can also make sounds of different heights, the most popular are "la", "mi" and "before". Sometimes it's even a few tones at a time - such instruments are often used by guitarists and violinists, because the classical system for each of these instruments is one.

In addition, in recent years, a large number of electronic tuning forks, which are called tuners, and applications and sites on this topic. So it's difficult for a modern musician not to be able to tune his musical instrument - there will always be an opportunity to push off from the main tone. By the way, the tuning fork - this is a serious help for the choir, especially if the singing takes place without music - "a cappella". Singers in this case are guided by the sound of the standard tone, but do not forget about the compatibility of their voices.

For each specific purpose, there is a tuning fork. For a guitar, it can contain all six notes for open strings, for a violin and cello - four, etc. This greatly facilitates the tuning process. But no matter how it looked and for what it was intended - in any case, the tuning fork works in accordance with the laws of physics.

Principle of operation

Probably most of the school's physics course remembers that sounds are caused by fluctuations. And this case, of course, is no exception. A tuning for a guitar, piano or any other instrument works on the same principle - some action drives the plate. She, in turn, hesitates and emits a tone of one height or another. The device creates harmonic waves, and this means that the resulting tuning fork sound is very clean. In addition, it is not affected by the ambient temperature.

By the way, most of the tuning forks are quite compact, and there is also a physical reason for this. The fact is that the more it is bigger, the lower the sound it produces, even if the other parameters are the same.

Species

There is another kind of tuning fork, which is important not to be confused with the rest, because they are used in completely different cases. This is a medical tuning fork, which is needed by otolaryngologists, orthopedists and neurologists to study the conductivity of sounds on the patient's bones.

This device also serves to determine the response to vibration. With its help, you can identify diseases such as pallisthesis or polyneuropathy, which occurs, for example, in diabetes mellitus. This device is called a tuning fork not only for a similar appearance, but, of course, for a similar principle of operation.

In a figurative sense, this word is also used, for example, by psychologists. They sometimes suggest to their patients to find an "inner tuning fork", that is, a pivot, support, the basis of the personality.

About interesting

In symphonic orchestras, where the number of different musical instruments is huge, the tuning fork is not such a frequent visitor. Usually the setting is in accordance with the oboe - its sound is not affected by almost nothing. However, if a grand piano is used in a performance, it is first tuned in accordance with A tuning fork, and already on it are regulated other instruments. Even if some mistake occurs, the entire orchestra will sound harmonious, and, perhaps, the audience will not even notice a flaw.

Guitar tuning

This musical instrument remains extremely widespread among those who are not engaged in performing profession professionally. Of course, this is a classical six-string guitar. When it is new or on it strings have been recently replaced, it is necessary to adjust it often. And later, after a careless move and as a result of temperature changes, it may be necessary to correct its sound.

If at hand there is a special tuning fork for the guitar, the task is seriously simplified, because each published note corresponds to a separate string. But if there is only a classical version available, you will have to work a little and strain your ears. The sound, issued by the tuning fork, must correspond to the tone of the first string, squeezed on the fifth fret. When this is achieved, you can continue. To do this, each subsequent string is clamped on the fifth fret, tuned in unison with the previous one. This is not difficult, but requires some practice. The exception is only the third, for which the third mode is used.

By the way, if the guitar player does not have a tuning fork, then you can listen to ordinary phone rings, they also correspond to the note "la". You can also independently control the strings of a violin, cello and similar instruments. Well, setting up a piano or grand piano is so complicated that it's better to entrust this business to professionals.