Abstract:
A computerized system, method and device for assisting in the tuning of a musical instrument to a user identified reference pitch comprising, a vibration sensor attachable to a musical instrument wirelessly connected to a computer device such as an iPhone, Android tablet, Windows phone, or other such smart devices (SD) having a display screen and software for receiving vibration data and computing and displaying the difference between the user input pitch and the instrument vibration frequency computed from the vibration data as, sharp, flat, or in tune, to tune the instrument. The system further provides a choice of either an audio or vibration alert signals for directing the user to increase or decrease the tone of the musical instrument matching the reference pitch enabling even visually impaired musicians who may not be able to visualize the data on a touch screen display of the smart device, to tune their instruments.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention is generally related to devices, systems and methods for tuning a musical instrument. More particularly, the invention relates to a musical instrument tuning device capable of sensing and converting musical instrument vibrations to digital data and displaying the processed data on the screen of a smart device for assisting a musician in tuning their instruments to a reference pitch. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Tuning is the process of adjusting the pitch of one or many tones generated from a musical instrument until these tones form a desired arrangement. Two musical instruments playing the same pitch in unison are void of a beat frequency and therefore need to be tuned to the same beat frequency. Instruments such as the piano or organ have to be tuned by people who are specialists in tuning. For most instruments, however, the players themselves need to tune their instruments before they play. Players of string instruments can turn the pegs at the top of their instruments to change the tension (tightness) of the string. Players of wind instruments can change their instrument&#39;s tone very slightly by adjusting the length longer or shorter by pushing out or pulling in, one of the joints. Timpanists turn the taps which are around the top of their instruments to change the tension of the drum head and thus the tone. 
         [0003]    In general, tuning any instrument requires the generation of a reference pitch to compare with the pitch of the instrument. This is accomplished by a number of methods from comparing the pitch of the instrument played with the use of a tuning fork resonator at 440 Hertz (Hz) or an electronic pitch generator outputting a 440 Hz pitch through a speaker. The player of the installment matches the tone of the instrument with the 440 Hz tone heard from the tuning fork or electronic pitch generator and adjusts the tone of the “A” pitch of the instrument to the reference frequency of 440 Hz. An orchestra composed of several different instruments, is generally tuned to the frequency of the standard pitch, A above middle C on a piano, defined as 440 Hz endorsed in 1955 by the International Standards Organization (ISO) and reaffirmed by ISO in 1975 as ISO 16:1975 Acoustics Standard tuning frequency (Standard musical pitch). Some orchestras and music organizations deviate a few Hz above or below the ISO standard. 
         [0004]    More recently, an electronic instrument with an audio pickup such as a microphone, commonly referred to as the Microphone (MIC) tuner, has been used to listen to the target instrument playing the reference A pitch, comparing the received audio signal with the reference 440 Hz tone and presenting the difference in the tones between the reference pitch generator and that of the instrument to the instrument player, so that the player can adjust the tone of the instrument to reach the reference A pitch. 
         [0005]    A tuner used for tuning an electronic instrument plugs into the electrical signal emanating out of the electronic instrument and operates in the same manner as the MIC tuner by comparing the output of the electronic instrument to the reference A pitch and directing the user to adjust the tone output from the electronic instrument to match the reference A pitch. U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2014/0345440 (Harvey) operates in conjunction with a wireless amplifier system where the audio signal output of the electric guitars, violins or other instruments is converted to a radio frequency (RF) signal and transmitted to an amplifier with an RF receiver replacing the cable connection between the instrument and amplifier. Harvey (&#39;440) adds a plug-tuning element in parallel to the amplifier input for use in tuning the electric instrument. Plug tuners, including the Harvey (&#39;440) tuner are problematic due to them having to be placed in line with a cable input to an amplifier (s) restricting the placement of the tuner on the floor and operated by the entertainer&#39;s foot (foot switch on/off). 
         [0006]    The Microphone (MIC) tuners for use with non-electric instruments works well in an environment where one instrument player is tuning only one instrument. Environments where many instruments are played together such as, trios, bands, and orchestras, tuning with a MIC tuner is problematic due to the difficulty in maneuvering the tuner to discriminate the instrument being tuned from the other instruments close by that create similar tones. Clip-on tuners were invented to overcome the problems of the MIC tuner by clipping a tuner on to the body of the instrument and sensing the vibrations in the instrument associated with the tone generation, thus eliminating the problems associated with tuning an instrument among a number of similar instruments playing similar tones. 
         [0007]    Clip-on tuners incorporate a mechanical clamp, battery, electronics, a display window and operating keys or buttons to at least power-on and off the tuner. Clip-on tuners attach to the instruments and are held securely in place by the pressure and associated friction of the clamp attached to the instrument. The size and pressure of the clamp is directly related to the weight of the tuner encompassing the battery or batteries and the readable display. Scarred finishes such as dents and scratches are a few reported problems identified with the use of clip-on tuners attached to expensive instruments. U.S. Pat. No. 7,655,851 (Negakura) receives the tone of a musical instrument with the use of a microphone like a MIC tuner or through vibrations like a clip on tuner where the user selects microphone or vibration using a switch on the apparatus containing the microphone and piezoelectric vibration sensor. In this device, the sensor apparatus switched for vibration mode needs to be attached to the guitar or instrument with an adhesive, clamp or screws which would lead to instrument damage. As a result of the reported damages caused to the instruments by the prior art tuner devices and to minimize the associated weight and pressure of these devices on the instruments, the sizes of the clip-on tuners continue to get smaller with less readable displays and smaller batteries, resulting in related reduction in operating time. 
         [0008]    More recently, tuner applications have been implemented in software programs on electronic computing devices such as Personal Computers (PC&#39;s), Tablets, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA&#39;s), Smartphones and similar computing devices referred to generally hereinafter as Smart Devices (SD) using the embedded microphone (MIC) of the SD for receiving the tone from the instrument being tuned and matching the instrument tone with a reference pitch and displaying the results to the user with instructions on how to tune the instrument to the reference pitch. Many free tuner Applications (Apps) are available for download from Smartphone suppliers such as Apple, Microsoft and Google. The Smartphone tuner Apps provide the user with a tuner in an electronic device they carry and use for other tasks, thus avoiding the need to have dedicated tuners. However, these smartphone tuner Apps exhibit the problems MIC tuners show in environments where more than one instrument is being tuned. 
         [0009]    Accordingly, there exists a need for a musical instrument tuner device that is considerably small and lightweight so as not to damage and scar a musical instrument as a result of attaching the tuner to the instrument, while at the same time, providing the user the benefit of a separate large display screen found on Smartphones, Tablets and other smart devices to display the data generated by the tuner, to assist musicians to tune their instruments The present invention provides such a device and a system and method for tuning a musical instrument using the device. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    The present invention is a musical instrument tuner having a sensor that when attached to an instrument, senses the instrument vibrations, converts them into digital data, processes that data into a frequency value, compares the results to a reference pitch, and transmits the data to a smart device such as a Smart Phone, Tablet, PDA or a similar smart device (SD) programmed to communicate with the sensor on the instrument tuner by means of a wireless standard such as Bluetooth, Near Field Communications (NFC) or WIFI direct and displays the data on the screen of a Smart device (SD) as one of, flat, sharp, or in tune. The invention method and system responds to the user tuning the instrument indicating to the tuner if the tuning process is increasing or decreasing the instrument tone output compared to the reference pitch and displaying the results on the SD screen to enable the user to match the tone output from the instrument to the reference pitch and thereby achieving a tuned instrument. The invention tuner software application (App) is developed and made available to the users through the Application Stores such as Google, Apple and Microsoft to mention a few of the most popular distributors of computer device application software for Smart phones, Tablets, Personal Computers (PC&#39;s) and Personal Digital Assistants (PDA&#39;s). Users identify the invention tuner software application and download and install the application software on their SD&#39;s using WiFi, Internet, or cellular networks. The SD&#39;s as described herein are not limited to Smart Phones, Tablets, PC&#39;s and PDA&#39;s but to any computing device with a means for communicating to the user, visually, audibly or through touch. 
         [0011]    An exemplary embodiment of the present invention, has a vibration sensor such as an accelerometer, or piezoelectric vibration sensor connected to a Microcomputer powered by a single button battery or small rechargeable battery. The Microcomputer has programming memory, and processing capability for converting the vibration information into digital data. The Microcomputer, using an embedded industry standard Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver, sends the digital data to a computer device having a compatible industry standard RF frequency transceiver. The compatible computer device is programmed with computer instructions to accept user inputs; receive the digital data; process the data identifying the associated frequency; display the data for the user to use in tuning the instrument; and indicate to the user if the instruments tone is above, below, or matches the desired, input reference pitch. 
         [0012]    The objects, embodiments, and features of the present invention as described in this summary of the invention will be further appreciated and will become obvious to one skilled in the art when viewed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, detailed description of the invention, and the appended claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the system configuration of the present invention illustrating a smart device such as a smartphone connected to servers via the Internet and to the tuner sensor through an industry standard wireless communication. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the sensor device and smartphone with an application screen shot on the smartphone. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  shows a block diagram of the components used to fabricate the sensor device. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of the sensor device fabricated with the System on a Chip (SoC) component for minimal power and size. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a flow diagram of the system process for installing the application software on the smartphone. 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a flow diagram of the paring of the smartphone with the sensor and establishing a wireless communications between the two devices. 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is a flow diagram showing the processing of the vibration sensed at the musical instrument and digitized for transmitting to the smartphone. 
           [0020]      FIG. 8  is a flow diagram of processing the digitized data for guiding the user to match the tone of the musical instrument to the reference tone. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0021]    The present invention is a musical instrument tuning device and a system and method for assisting a musician in tuning their instrument to a reference pitch by means of a wireless standard such as Bluetooth, Near Field Communications (NFC) or WIFI direct. The device of the invention is a tuner having a sensor that is capable of sensing and converting instrument vibrations to digital data and displaying the processed data on the screen of a Smart Device such as a Smartphone, PC Tablet, or other such smart devices (SD&#39;s) to apprise the musician whether the tone of the instrument is sharp, flat, or in tune. 
         [0022]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , the figure illustrates a perspective view of the system configuration of the invention comprising, a Smart device (SD) such as a Smartphone  10  connected to a Sensor  30  of the instrument tuner by means of an industry standard wireless  40  transceiver in the Sensor  30  and a compatible wireless  50  transceiver in the Smartphone  10 . Smartphone  10  is connected to the internet  70  by means of a wireless connection  60  and communicates with a server  90  by means of a wireless connection  80  through the Internet  70 . Server  90  can be an application store such as Google, Apple, Microsoft or other third party application providers for computer devices. The system of the invention has its software application residing on server  90  available for the user to transmit and install (download) on their Smartphone  10 . The invention application software includes a wireless protocol for identifying Sensor  30  and establishing a communications channel between the Sensor  30  wireless  40  connection and the Smartphone  10  wireless  50  connection, thereby paring the Smartphone  10  and Sensor  30 . 
         [0023]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the implementation of the present invention showing the Smartphone  10  touchscreen display  200  with the invention application software installed and the Sensor  202  programmed to convert the instrument vibration to a digital format for transmission to the Smartphone  10 . Sensor  202  is clamped to an instrument with a clip arm  206  fashioned with a spring  204  attached to Sensor  202 . Inserting the instrument between the base  208  of the Sensor  202  and the clip arm  206  with the spring  204  firmly holds the base  208  against the instrument for sensing the vibration of the instrument. Clip arm  206  and the sensor base  208  are coated with a stiction elastomer void of abrasion and chemicals to avoid discoloring or marring the instrument the sensor is attached to. Enclosed within Sensor  202  are electronics for sensing the mechanical vibration; converting the mechanical vibration into an electrical signal; and transmitting  210  the digital data to the Smartphone  10 . 
         [0024]    In this embodiment of the invention, the Smartphone  10  paired with the Sensor  202  receives digital data transmitted  210  from the Sensor  202 &#39;s embedded Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver. The Smartphone screen shot  200  indicates to the user, the reference pitch nearest in value to the received frequency value from Sensor  202  and displays the reference pitch named G  214  while simultaneously indicating if the instrument tone is flat by flashing one or more arrows or chevrons  216 ,  218 , and  220  displayed to the left of the reference pitch named G  214  or sharp by flashing one or more arrows or chevrons  222 ,  224 , and  226  displayed to the right of the reference pitch named G  214 . 
         [0025]    Smartphone  10  displays a reference pitch G  214  indicating that the instrument tone  228  received from Sensor  202  is between 190.418 Hz and 201.7409 Hz and that the instrument is being tuned to reference Pitch G 3  at 195.9977 Hertz based upon ISO 16:1975 displayed on the Smartphone screen shot  200  screen as, A=440  212 . Chevrons  216 ,  218 , and/or  220  indicate the installment tone is flat relative to the reference pitch (instrument vibration frequency is less than the reference pitch frequency). The Smartphone screen shot  200  invention software application illuminates chevron  216  when the magnitude of the difference between the reference pitch and the instrument tone is greater than 10 cents (a logarithmic unit of measure used for musical intervals between semi-tones) in terms of frequency less than 194.8688 Hz. Chevron  218  is illuminated for frequencies received less than 10 cents flat (greater than 194.8688 and less than the reference pitch); and chevron  120  is illuminated for frequencies received less than 5 cents flat (greater than 195.4325 and less than the reference pitch). The chevrons  216 ,  218  and  220  illuminate from right to left as the instrument is tuned from flat to the reference pitch G  214 . The reference pitch G  214  and the chevrons  216 ,  218 ,  220 ,  222 ,  224 , and  226  are illuminated with a different color and/or flashing, indicating the instrument is in tune. Tuning an instrument with a tone frequency higher than the reference pitch, defined as sharp, is similar with chevron  226  illuminated for frequencies greater than 10 cents above the reference pitch. Chevron  224  is illuminated for frequencies received less than 10 cents sharp and chevron  220  is illuminated for frequencies received less than 5 cents sharp. The chevrons  226 ,  224  and  222  illuminate from right to left as the instrument is tuned from sharp to the reference pitch G  214 . The reference pitch G  214  and the chevrons  216 ,  218 ,  220 ,  222 ,  224 , and  226  are illuminated with a different color and/or flashing indicating the instrument is in tune. 
         [0026]    In this embodiment of the invention, the software system of the invention within the Smartphone  10  enables the user to change the concert pitch A4 from the ISO:16 440 Hz  212  to a range from 410 Hz to 480 Hz and the A=440  212  would be updated to the new concert A. For example, Austria&#39;s orchestra tunes to A=432 Hz  212 , resulting in G 3  192.4341 Hz, about 3.5 Hz below G 3  at the ISO:16. The tuning operation with a concert reference frequency of 432 Hz is the same as described for the 440 reference. The parameters are adjusted relative to the change in the reference as described with G 3  reduced by about 3.5 Hz for a concert A equal to 432 Hz. 
         [0027]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the electronics in Sensor  202  showing a vibration sensor  300  used to pick up or sense the instruments tone vibrations and continuously output a current or voltage proportional to the amplitude of the vibration. The output of the vibration sensor  300  can be voltage or current depending upon the technology used in the vibration sensor  300 . Vibration sensor  300  is connected to the Analog to Digital Converter (ADC)  310  where the output of the vibration sensor  300  is converted to a digital value to send to the transceiver  330 . The ADC  310  samples the output of vibration sensor  300  precisely at a defined frequency interval programmed in the Microcomputer  320  sent to the ADC  310  when activated. The ADC  310  may have a memory buffer for storing the sampled values and signaling mechanisms to indicate to the Microcomputer  320  when converted data is available to be read or sent to the Microcomputer  320 . 
         [0028]    Microcomputer  320  has program memory, storage memory, timers and processors to control the setup of the ADC  310 ; receive or read and store the digital data representing the amplitude of the instrument vibrations during tuning; and analyze the digital data determining the instrument&#39;s tone frequency in a digital Hertz (Hz) format. Microcomputer  320  activates the Radio Frequency (RF) transmitter in the transceiver  330  and sends the digital frequency value to the transceiver for formatting and subsequent transmission to the Antenna  340  for the Smartphone  10  reception and use. 
         [0029]    Continuing with the  FIG. 3  block diagram description of the exemplary embodiment of the invention, a battery  350  is connected to a Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC)  370  component through a power on/off switch  360 . PMIC  370  converts the input voltage from battery  350  to the voltages required for operating the various comments in Sensor  202 , Microcomputer  320 , ADC  310 , vibration sensor  300 , and transceiver  330 . Different voltages are supplied by the PMIC  370  for different implementations and technology. The PMIC  370  also receives commands from the Microcomputer  320  to turn power-on or off to the vibration sensor  300  and ADC  310  to reduce power consumptions to the minimal, for achieving the maximum battery life. 
         [0030]    Sensor  202  paired with a Smartphone  10  will enter a sleep state defined as the state in which minimal power is consumed by the Sensor  202 . The RF receiver portion of the transceiver  330  is powered on and listens for a command signal from the Smartphone  10 . Once the receiver in the transceiver  330  detects a signal from the Smartphone  10 , the receiver sends a signal to the Microcomputer  320  starting a process to sequence the Microcomputer  320  to communicate with the Smartphone  10  sending a status to the Smartphone  10  and receiving operating commands from the Smartphone  10 . 
         [0031]    A Light Emitting Diode (LED)  380  indicates to the user, the status of the sensor, such as power on, pairing, low battery and other meaningful sensor states. A pressing switch  360  applies power to the vibration sensor  300  illuminating LED  380  and indicating to the user that the sensor  300  is powered on and the transceiver  330  is active, receiving a RF signal at antenna  340  to identify the sensor to the Smartphone  10 . Some embodiments of the invention will not have an LED  380  status indicator and in those embodiments, the status function will be programmed in the smart device to indicate to the user, the sensor status on the smart device display. 
         [0032]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram depicting an implementation of the invention using the System on a Chip (SoC) is an Integrated Circuit (IC)  400  integrating the analog and digital functions into a single chip. Advances in technology will add the vibration sensor  300  to the SOC  400  thereby reducing the size, weight and cost of the Sensor  202  for integrating the sensor with the instruments during the instrument manufacturing process. 
         [0033]      FIG. 5  depicts the steps and the process involved for installing the invention software on a Smartphone  10 . The invention software is stored on one or more application servers  90  and made available to the Internet  70  described in  FIG. 1 . The Flow chart in  FIG. 5  box  502  starts with the identification of the invention software on the Internet  70 . The user identifies the invention software on the Internet  70  and moves to step  504  where the transfer of the software from the server  90  to the Smart Device (SD) such as a Smartphone  10  by means of the wireless connections  60  and  80  described in  FIG. 1  starts. Once the down load of the software to the SD is completed by the application server  90  the process moves to step  506  which is installing the application software on the SD. Once the installation of the software application on the SD is complete in step  508  the invention software icon appears on the SD display in block  510 . The invention application rests at block  512  waiting for a user to touch the invention application icon and move to block  514  to launch the invention application and turn on the transceiver. The SD maybe running other application programs while the invention application is idle in block  512 . Once the process moves to block  514 , the SD launches the application, turning on the wireless transceiver and moves to block  516  to transmit an inquiry RF signal at its antenna to discover, Sensor  30 . 
         [0034]      FIG. 6  is a flow diagram depicting the paring of the Smartphone  10  with the Sensor  30  and establishing a wireless communication between the two devices. The flow diagram starts with the process of paring the Sensor  30  to the Smartphone  10 . The Sensor  30  receives an inquiry from Smartphone  10  in the inquiry box  604  and transmits a reply with a Device Access Code (DAC) which the Smartphone  10  receives in box  606 . The Smartphone  10  transmits a page in box  608  to the active Sensor  30  which receives the page indicating to the Sensor  30  the Radio Frequency (RF) channel to transmit to the Smartphone  10  in box  610 . The Sensor  30  responds with a Device Access Code (DAC) in box  612 . The Device Access Code (DAC) is a 48 bit code unique to each product similar to a MAC address for Internet/WiFi connected products, with the MAC and DAC being assigned by the IEEE Registration Authority. (The DAC is also referred to as BD_ADDR in Bluetooth literature.). The Smartphone  10  confirms the Sensor  30  DAC and responds with Frequency Hopping Synchronization (FHS) in box  614 . At this point, the pairing of the two devices is completed and the Smartphone  10  illuminates an icon on the application screen in box  616 . The Smartphone  10  and Sensor  30  are now considered as having bonded, with each device having a link-key stored in memory for subsequent authentications without pairing for a musical instrument tuning procedure. 
         [0035]      FIG. 7  is a flow diagram showing the processing of the vibration sensed on the musical instrument and digitized for transmitting to the smartphone. The diagram starts with box  702  where the Sensor  30  having bonded and pared with the Smartphone  10  remains idle in the sleep mode and the Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC)  370  has powered off all the nonessential components in Sensor  30  that are not required for listening for a Smartphone  10  broadcast signal. Transceiver  330  turns the receiver on, listening for an inquiry signal from the Smartphone  10  and after receiving that signal in box  704  powers up the Sensor  30  components and transmits the status of Sensor  30  to the Smartphone  10  in box  706 . The vibration sensor  300  is powered on and detects the musical instruments acoustic vibrations and the ADC  310  is powered on and converts the analog data received from the vibration sensor  300  at a 440,000 Hertz rate, more than ten times the musical instruments fundamental frequency (Percussion, Brass, Woodwinds and String fundamental frequencies are less than 4,000 hertz) in box  708 . The Microcomputer  320  reads the digitized data from the ADC  310  and processes the digitized data in box  710 . The microcomputer  320  could apply digital signal filters such as band pass or other routines to reduce the data to be transmitted to the Smartphone  10 . Microcomputer  320  formats the digitized data and processes the data for transmission to the Smartphone  10  via the transceiver  330  in box  712 . The Sensor  30  continues to process the instrument vibration data until either the application sends a stop command indicating the instrument tuning process is completed or the sensor  30  times out in box  714 . The Sensor  30  then returns to a sleep mode, waking frequently listening (sniffing) for a broadcast from the Smartphone  10  in box  716 . 
         [0036]      FIG. 8  is a flow diagram depicting the processing of the digitized data for guiding the user to match the tone of the musical instrument to the reference tone. The diagram starts with box  802  with the invention software getting launched and transmitting an inquiry. Sensor  30  acknowledges the inquiry in box  804  and transmits the Device Access Code (DAC) in response to the inquiry. The invention application sends a page (clock synchronization and frequency) establishing a communications channel with the Sensor  10  and once that communications channel is established, the Smartphone  10  receives status from the Sensor  30  and sends required software updates or parameters as required to Sensor  30  in box  806 . Communications channel having been established and the Sensor  30  transmitting data, the Smartphone  10  receives the digitized data and starts processing the data with application software algorithms square difference function (SDF), auto correlation function (ACF), Fourier Transform and a combination of all the fore mentioned algorithms to determine the frequency of the digitized vibration data in box  806 . The Smartphone  10  computes the difference between the reference pitch and the instruments computed frequency indicating the instrument is sharp with a computed frequency higher than the reference frequency and flat for frequency commuted lower than the reference frequency or in tune in box  808 . The Smartphone  10  display chevrons are updated and any errors indicated to the user as to whether the instrument is sharp, flat or in tune in box  810 . The user adjusts the tuning of the musical instrument and the Smartphone  10  continuously computes the difference as in box  808  and displays the difference as in box  810  on the smartphone  10  display. The process terminates when the application is closed or the application terminates at the end of a predetermined time of operation in box  812 . Application termination sends a command to the Sensor  30  to power down and enter the sleep/sniff mode of operation in box  814 . 
         [0037]    In addition to the graphical output of the application presented to the user on the Smartphone  10  display, the smartphone audio output and vibration alert output can be programmed to indicate whether the musical instrument tone output is above or below the reference pitch. The audio output of the Smartphone  10  can be programmed to produce an audio output varying the output frequency relative to the computed difference between the Sensor  30  vibration frequency and the reference pitch. For example, when the vibration frequency computed by the Smartphone  10  is lower than the frequency of the reference pitch, the Smartphone  10  outputs an audio frequency ascending as the computed vibration frequency nears the reference pitch and descends as the computed frequency widens the difference between the computed vibration frequency in response to the change in the musical instrument that is tuned. Smartphone  10  would beep or otherwise signal the user when the musical instrument matches the reference pitch. 
         [0038]    The Smartphone  10  vibration alert will be similar to the audio output, with the Smartphone  10  increasing or decreasing the vibration of the Smartphone  10  relative to the computed vibration frequency&#39;s difference from the reference pitch. Both the audio and vibration alert signals for directing the user to increase or decrease the tone of the musical instrument matching the reference pitch can be used by visually impaired musicians as well as musicians that do not want to use the display of the Smartphone  10 . A musician can leave the Smartphone  10  in a pocket and feel the vibration for tuning the instrument or wear an earpiece or Bluetooth earpiece to receive audio clues for tuning the instrument. 
         [0039]    While the present invention has thus been described in connection with its exemplary embodiments, it should be understood and obvious to one skilled in the art that alternatives, modifications, and variations of the embodiment of the present invention may be construed as being within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.