New Dusty Key with Tuner

[Affeltranger@att.net]

Has anyone tried this new tuning key with tuner attached? Looks fantastic but will it work as well as my old clunky Korg “box?”

[Donna O]

Sharon, I have a Snark tuner which is the same thing that is on the new dusty key.(less expensive, $15) If you do not need a new key, order the Snark and attach it to bottom of your key. I leave it attached to my key all the time. It works better than either of my Korgs. No pick up needed. It picks up those difficult high 1st octave strings. Also it works on sound or vibrations . Make sure to get the orange one if you go with the Snark. It is readily available on the internet. I didn’t want to give up my rubber coated key. Hope this helps.
DonnaO

[Affeltranger@att.net]

Thanks Donna, never considered that route but much less expensive….. Sharon

[mae-mcallister]

I have one…I love it because so far I have been using a regular tuning key with a Korg metronome balanced precariously in my mouth, which is inconvenient as well as noisy! So having everything in one hand is awesome. But it’s basically an regular Dusty tuning key with the tuner mounted, you can’t even take the tuner off of it. So if you already have a tuning key, just get the tuner and attach it.

[Bonnie Shaljean]

I just bought one of these, based on what I’ve read here, and agree with the others – I love it! Very easy to use, and it makes tuning go much quicker because you can see everything at one glance. It works both as a contact and via a tiny acoustic mic.

I also like the built-in metronome (which only displays a visual pulse and doesn’t sound) because being able to monitor a tempo without anyone hearing it has some great advantages; particularly when – under pressure of nerves – you’re in danger of starting a difficult piece too fast. Stress can distort our perceptions of speed and time, so it’s a useful “reining-in” device as well as a tuner. The risk of starting pieces too fast is one of the main bugbears a nervous or inexperienced performer faces, so it’s a great boon to have this. I always warn my kids to set their “tempostat” internally before they begin, and having a silent metronome on your key is a great aid.

I see that Dusty have affixed it to the end of their key, which you can do with the clip-on Snarks as well because its face rotates. But I just attach it to the shank of the key, so it sits right next to the pin, faces the correct way around, and is clearly visible.

The model that harpists will want to get is the large-range “SN2 Chromatic All-Instruments Tuner” (the red one).

Thanks for the heads-up everybody! I’m now passing the info around to all my students and harp buddies.

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