Can anyone suggest an electronic tuner that actually works for a sitar - I have tried my clip on which I use for my guitar, banjo and mandolin but it dosen't seem to work with the sitar - a specific reference to a chromatic tuner which I can use when I want to tune up and when I want to change the tuning on my sympathetic strings for a specific raga would be helpful???
I have had a similar problem using an old Casio tuner when tuning harmoniums for my customers. Luckily - it had a input jack for direct. I plugged in a Sure SM 58 and the tuner now works fine. I expect it's because the diaphram on the built-in mic is too small and inflexible to respond to subtle sounds. For a sitar - I think a SM 57 would be a better choice.
That is quite the microphone at $156! I use a $10 clip that plugs into my $30 seiko chromatic tuner. I think it works fine. I clamp it to the bridge (I also double check with a digital tanpura). It is great for quick tune ups and learning.
Strangely enough, I also use it for tabla, since I am new to tabla, I was curious to see if it would work. My instructor tuned it up to my sa, and it registered C# --
without the clip or course.
Pb
Keshav Das (Dec 15, 2003 08:21 a.m.):
I have had a similar problem using an old Casio tuner when tuning harmoniums for my customers. Luckily - it had a input jack for direct. I plugged in a Sure SM 58 and the tuner now works fine. I expect it's because the diaphram on the built-in mic is too small and inflexible to respond to subtle sounds. For a sitar - I think a SM 57 would be a better choice.
Not at all. I guess I forget sometimes that here in NYC there's so much competition that prices for mics are much cheaper than in rural areas and such. In NY a Sure SM57 generally goes for about $68.00. Companies like Samson make excellent lookalike mics with identical acoustic properties for less than half the price. They can be found on the net at places like ZZounds at greatly discounted prices. I play out all the time so having a stable of mics is something I take for granted. Unless someone says they are a total newcomer I tend to think they will be serious amateurs or semipro musicians, who would naturally be interested in having a mic that can serve dual purposes, as the SM57 is the mic most commonly used by sitar and tabla players or live performance.
