Your Harmonica, Your Signature
The Signature Harmonica Tuner

Tuning a harmonica shouldn’t be that difficult, right? If you strip away the theory and terminology, and the unstructured advice found on the internet, it's not that complicated. The Signature Harmonica tuning app removes the complexity and ambiguity and presents you with only the information you need, so you can tune your harmonica with confidence and ease.

Grab a 10-hole Richter-tuned diatonic harmonica and try it today.

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Introducing Signature

Why Signature

Do you need Signature?

The current state of the art in harmonica tuners are simple chromatic devices and apps that can be used for a range of instruments and require you to measure each chamber individually at a specified reference frequency. Many diatonic harmonica models have an adjustment applied to each note, called a temperament, so the harmonica sounds good when playing chords and single notes.

The Signature Harmonica Tuner is the first and only tuner designed for Harmonicas. You don’t need to know about reference frequencies or temperaments to get started. All the notes are measured and logged automatically, one after another to make the capture process fast, easy, and less prone to error. You can switch reference frequencies and temperaments after the measurement step and quickly see the effects it has on the tuning adjustment required, features that help beginners learn the art of harmonica tuning awhile providing professional harmonica technicians the flexibility they require.

Features

The first and only tuner designed specifically for Harmonicas
Includes a catalogue of the most popular Harmonica Brands and Models and a default temperament for each.
The Capture screen guides you the measurement of each note
The Results page displays a visual representation of the reed plates and a comprehensive table that shows in detail how the tuning was calculated. Just tap the reed you need to tune. The Results page can be printed for your reference.
* The Reed Wizard is an easy to use visual guide to tune your reed. You tune until the reed turns green, or choose to accept its current tuning as the new default.

Benefits

Makes tuning very fast and easy
Requires no experience to get started
Helps clarify confusing terminology
Supports professional technicians by design
Improves the accuracy of the pitch measurement
Produces a comprehensive illustration of the state of your harmonica before and after tuning.
Allows you to easily tune each reed, as well as generate your own custom temperaments when desired.
Easily to keep your entire harmonica collection in tune and performance ready.
You can use Signature to quickly determine the tuning of a harmonica

System Requirements

Works on smart phones, tablets and computers with a modern browser
Requires a device with a built-in or external microphone
Designed to work online or offline
An email address to register
A valid Credit/Debit Card or Paypal account

Getting Started

The capture screen is the first screen of the Tuning Wizard, that guides you through the measurement of the notes in every chamber of the harmonica. First you select the Harmonica set, and the Key of the Harmonica you’d like to measure, then click on Start. A Blue blinking triangle will point up on the first chamber indicating you should use a blow breath to play that chamber. The note you are Expected to play is displayed above the horizontally scrolling Indicator display, which will display the note you play.

Once you play and hold the correct note for 1 second, the blinking triangle will turn Gold and point downwards, indicating you should use a draw breath to achieve that note. Next, the blinking triangle pointer will move to the next chamber, and the first chamber will be coloured a solid Green, indicating that chambers notes are complete. You’ll notice that after you finish the 6th chambers draw note, the blinking arrow will indicate you should draw from the 7th chamber. By default, we follow a chromatic progression of notes when we capture. On the settings page guide, we’ll explain the other progression options available. You can also Pause at any time, or Restart from the beginning.

On the Reedplate Results screen if you click on any of the reeds coloured Red, the third Tuning Wizard screen is displayed, the Reed Wizard screen. The Reed Wizard gives you a visual representation that helps you understand how much material you need to remove from, or add to, a reed, and from where on the reed. The reed itself is coloured Red at either the Tip or the Base of the reed. The base of the reed is towards the top of the screen, at the rivet pad edge. The Tip of reed is towards the bottom of the screen.

If the Tip is coloured Red, the pitch of the reed too flat, and removing material from the tip will sharpen the pitch. Conversely, if the base of the reed is coloured Red, the pitch produced by the reed is too sharp, and removing material from the base of the reed will flatten the pitch produced by the reed. Instead of removing material from the base, you can also add material to the tip of the reed, but Signature doesn’t guide you or recommend the physical aspects of tuning the reed; that aspect of tuning is intentionally not addressed with Signature, and is a skill best learned by hands-on experience.

After removing or adding a small amount of material from the reed, blow or draw the reed again and note the visual change. Repeat until the reed and Set button turns green. Clicking on the Set button will return you to the Reedplate Results screen, where you’ll now see the reed you tuned has also turned Green. Now you can move on to the next reed and repeat, until all the reeds are green, and your harmonica is in tune. While on the Reed Wizard screen, if you click on Set button before it and the reed turn Green, a dialog will ask you if you’d like to go back and continue tuning that reed, or if you’d like to ‘update the results with the current tuning’ of this reed. If you update the results like this for one or more reeds, the results table on the Reedplate Results table will include two new rows; a blow and draw Normalised Tuning value.

When a tuning is normalised, the reed will appear Green on the Reedplate even though it never turned Green in the Reed Wizard.

Once you’ve finished capturing all the notes, you’ll automatically be taken to the Reedplate Results screen, the second screen in the Tuning Wizard. The Reedplate Results screen displays an exploded view of the blow (top) and draw (bottom) reedplates, with every reed coloured either Red or Green. Above the Reedplates the number of reeds to tune is displayed, as well the harmonica set name, the Temperament used and the optimised reference frequency.

The optimised reference frequency is a system developed by John Cook, the renowned UK harmonica technician and co-inventor of Signature, that determines the base frequency that results in the fewest reeds that need to be tuned. There is more about the optimised reference frequency in the FAQ section.

You can override this and select any reference frequency you desire, and Signature will immediately recalculate the number of reeds that need to be tuned. You can also change the temperament used and see the same. Experimenting with these values can be very enlightening.

Below the reedplates, you’ll see a table that display the change in Cents required for each of the reeds. You’ll notice that by default, if the change value is between 4 and -4, the reed will be Green, otherwise it will be Red. In Settings, you can also change the default tolerance from +/-4 to +/-2.

Clicking on the chamber hole number row expands this table to display all the factors used to determine amount change each reed. See the FAQ section for a description of what each of these values mean. If you expand the table and print this page before you start tuning and once you are finished, you end up with a very comprehensive report of the state of the harmonica before and after tuning.

When you first join Signature, you’ll be taken directly to the Harmonicas screen, where you’ll be able to enter the details of your harmonica you would like to measure and tune. Select your Harmonica Brand, select the Model, select one or more keys from the dropdown and click on ‘Add Harmonica Set’. A Harmonica Set is a collection of Harmonicas of the same brand and model with multiple keys. Once a Harmonica Set has been added, you’ll notice that the Tuning Wizard link has become enabled.

The settings screen currently has only two settings: Progression and Tolerance. The Progression setting controls the order that the Capture screen progresses through the capture of pitches. The default is ‘Chromatic’; the pitches will be capture in order of their pitch. For example, on a Richter Tuned diatonic harmonica, the order will be Blow then Draw from chambers 1-6, then from chambers 7-10, the order changes to Draw then Blow. Choose Reedplate Progression if you are using a tuning table. The Blow pitches will be captured first, then the Draw pitches. The Blow-Draw progression can use used if you prefer to capture the pitches in strict Blow, then Draw order, without regard to their musical sequence.

The Tolerance setting allows you to adjust how close to the exact value is close enough. The default is +/- 4 cents. The human ear can decern a pitch difference roughly between 4-8 cents depending on various factors. Professional Harp technicians often measure and tune a harmonica to a wider tolerance, then let it ‘rest’ for a few or more days, then measure and tune again to a closer tolerance. They may repeat this a few times.

Finally on the settings screen you can see the details of your subscription. If you have a subscription with a reoccurring payment, you can cancel your subscription here, and it will finish at the end of the subscription period. Until the end of the subscription period, you’ll also be able to restore the subscription if it was cancelled.

Purchase and Pay

Two Ways to Purchase, Two Ways to Pay

For a very low one-time cost, you can use Signature for 24 hours. You’ll only be able to store a single harmonica set. You can pay by either the Try Before You Buy or the Premium Subscription with either a Credit or Debit card, or by PayPal, in US Dollars, Great British Pounds, or Euros. If you have a promotion code for discount, you’ll be enter it once the payment screen is displayed, on the left-hand side, under the subtotal amount.

If you prefer to have unlimited access to Signature, the Premium subscription is a great choice. You’ll be able to store 12 harmonica sets; as the average harmonica model has more than 12 keys available, you’ll be able to store more than 144 harmonicas. Please show your support and consider a Premium Subscription. You’ll also have our guaranteed not to increase the price of this level for the next three years. During the first 3 months after Signature in launched, we’ll be releasing weekly bug fixes and new features. After that period, we’ll be releasing at least every three months.

Purchase and Pay

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

I have a harmonica that’s not a 10-hole Richter-tuned diatonic, can I use the Signature Tuner?

We’re only launching with 10-hole Richter-tuned diatonic harmonicas. But every week for the first three months we’ll be adding new harmonica models, some of which will have fewer and more than 10 chambers and new tunings. We’ll also be letting you create your own tunings and temperaments and share them if you’d like. After that, we’ll be adding support for Chromatic harmonicas, and if there is a demand, Tremolo, Bass and Chord harmonicas in due course.
Does the Signature tuner work on Smart Phones?

Yes, although at launch we’re limiting the use to Tablets and Laptop/Desktop computers. Support for Smart Phones is one of the first releases we have planned after launch.
When starting tuning process, I first played a wrong note, then slurred the note at first when I played it. Should I start over?

Signature has a patent-pending algorithm that eliminates the bad and slurred notes. Have you ever used a simple tuner and noticed that when you play a note, the pitch changes slightly at the start and finish, and have you wondered when exactly is the best point to take the reading? Signature eliminates the guess work, eliminating the attack and decay pitches of the played note.
Does Signature help me physically tune reeds?

No. Signature won’t tell you what tools to use and how to use them.
Now that I have Signature, why would I need to use a professional harmonica technician?

Technicians do a lot more than just tune you harmonica. This app does not replace the need for good gapping, reed alignment and profiling. These are skills honed over many years by expect harmonica technicians. Tuning a harmonica is not for everyone. It requires patience, precision, special tool and skills. Even you don’t want to work on the harmonica yourself, making the capture and then sharing this with your favourite harmonica technician will help them do a better job of tuning your harmonica.
The Signature Tuner has indicated to my optimsied reference frequency is 443 hz, but I’ve been told I should tune my harmonica to 442 hz. Should I set the reference frequency to 442 hz?

John Cook, a renown UK harmonica technician, has for a long time used and taught a system of determining the fewest number of reeds that needs to be tuned, superb engineering practise. Signature takes John’s optimisation to the next level and suggests the optimised reference frequency of a harmonica. But of course, if you insist on tuning your harmonica precisely to a specific reference frequency, you certainly can.
Does background noise effect the tuning measurement process?

Yes, for the best results, you should tune your harmonicas somewhere that is relatively quiet.
Can someone demonstrate Signature over Zoom or other messaging application?

No. Some computer will not let you share the audio system between two devices. We have found on those that do the reading readings are not accurate.
I have a good idea for a new feature / I’ve found a problem / I have a question, what should I do?

Email us at support@signaturetuner.com

Get in Touch

Please get in touch if you have a question, a problem, would like to request a feature, or just to say hello

Your Harmonica, Your Signature The Signature Harmonica Tuner

Introducing Signature

Do you need Signature?

Features

Benefits

System Requirements

Getting Started

Purchase and Pay

Two Ways to Purchase, Two Ways to Pay

Frequently Asked Questions

​Get in Touch

Your Harmonica, Your Signature
The Signature Harmonica Tuner

Get in Touch