A microphone tuner that shows the note and how many cents sharp or flat you are. Chromatic by default, with guitar, bass, ukulele and violin presets. Nothing is recorded.
Play one string, let it ring, and watch the needle settle before you turn the peg. Plucking harder makes the pitch jump up for a moment, so tune at the volume you actually play at. Always tune up to the note — if you are sharp, drop below and come back up — so the string holds its tuning under tension.
The presets show the target strings for common tunings: guitar E A D G B E (low to high), bass E A D G, ukulele G C E A, violin G D A E. Tap a string circle to focus on it, or leave it on auto and the tuner picks the nearest.
Once you are in tune, the Fretboard Trainer and the Scale & Chord Finder help you learn what to play. The physics of why a vibrating string produces a pitch is covered in the Cloud Atelier guides, and you can look up the instruments your favourite players actually use in the gear database.
1. Press Start tuner and allow microphone access when your browser asks. The sound is analysed on your device and never recorded.
2. Pick Chromatic to tune any note, or a preset — Guitar, Bass, Ukulele or Violin — to see the target strings.
3. Play one string and let it ring. The display shows the nearest note and how many cents sharp or flat it is.
4. Turn the peg until the reading sits in the centre. If you overshoot, go below the note and come back up to it — strings hold their pitch better when tuned upward.
Your low E string reads E, −18 cents: slightly flat. Tighten the peg slowly until the reading reaches 0. If the display shows D♯ instead, the string is nearly a semitone flat — tighten until it reads E, then fine-tune the cents. A gap of 100 cents is a full semitone.
How does the online tuner work?
It listens through your microphone, measures the repeating period of the sound with an
autocorrelation, and converts that to a note and a cents value — how far sharp or flat you
are from the nearest equal-tempered pitch. Green means within five cents, which is in tune
for practical purposes.
Do I need to allow microphone access?
Yes. The tuner has to hear your instrument, so your browser will ask for microphone
permission when you press Start. Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere — the audio is
analysed in your browser and discarded.
What is a cent?
A cent is one hundredth of a semitone. There are 1200 cents in an octave. Most people cannot
hear an error smaller than about five cents on a sustained note, so that is the target the
tuner marks as in tune.
Can I change the reference pitch from A440?
Yes. The A4 reference can be set between 430 and 450 Hz for playing with ensembles or older
instruments that tune to a different standard.
Why does the reading jump around?
A plucked string is unstable for the first instant and fades at the end. Pluck firmly but
not hard and read the display once the note has settled. Mute the strings you are not tuning
— other strings ringing, and background noise, confuse the reading.
My guitar is in tune but chords still sound off. Why?
Check the intonation: compare the 12th-fret harmonic with the note fretted at the 12th fret.
If they differ, the string length at the saddle needs adjusting. Old strings also go dull
and stop holding true pitch — a fresh set often fixes it.
Can I use it for singing?
Yes. In Chromatic mode it shows whatever note you sing and how far off it is, which makes it
a useful pitch-matching check. Sing a steady vowel close to the microphone.