You need a set (fixed) value where the LEDs light.
I need to know what the voltage value is.

The set value will be coming from whatever frequency the microphone will be reading at that time, this needs then to be captured and used as the reference, this will change every time, you have to forgive me, as im not understanding what voltages you require. sorry

 

as im not understanding what voltages you require

Obviously I'm confused also.
So exactly how do you use the device now, and how do you expect to use it after the LEDs are added?

 

at the moment, a set of bagpipes are tuned by ear,(this result can vary due to weather conditions etc) then the tuner takes a reading from his pipes, he then walks around the other 20 sets and tunes to the master reading. what I was hoping for was additional functionality, even 1 led would do, the tuner would press a button to save the reading and the led would show when that result has been reached on the other sets. it would speed things up as using the needle can have discrepancies depending on what angle you are looking at the needle. this would need to have a reset function as well

 

Okay.
So what does the meter indicate? Does it have any numbers?
Does it indicate the frequency different to some internal reference frequency?
What does a zero reading and full-scale reading indicate?

So I need the meter readings indicated for a zero meter reading, and some reading when you are checking a bagpipe with the approximate position of the meter at that point (ideally for a half full-scale indication or greater).

How long with the meter need to remember a setting?

 

Why aren't all players tuning to a specific pitch? It would be much easier to have everyone tune to an absolute reference instead of matching whatever the leader does.

I'm assuming the first option is a no go for whatever reason, so why not use a reasonably modern digital tuner with an adjustable reference. The traditional default j is A=440Hz, but countless tuners these days allow you to choose the reference pitch for A. So, you could simply adjust the reference pitch on your tuner (make A=439 or 441, etc.) until it thought your lead player was in tune, then use it to tune everyone else. Plenty of modern tuners also have the high/lo LEDs you were asking about too.

I suppose this plan would fail if the desired tuning was too far off from the traditional values. I don't remember exactly how far you can adjust the digital tuners, and I don't know how far out of the norm your tunings are. Still, it's worth a little research if you haven't already looked into this.

 

This tuner, literally my first Google hit, chosen at random, lets you adjust A from 410-480 Hz, more than a half-step in each direction. I assume that should be enough range?

https://www.amazon.com/Korg-TM40-Display-Digital-Metronome/dp/B000AAGM0M

 

This tuner, literally my first Google hit, chosen at random, lets you adjust A from 410-480 Hz, more than a half-step in each direction. I assume that should be enough range?

https://www.amazon.com/Korg-TM40-Display-Digital-Metronome/dp/B000AAGM0M

Not accurate enough, it’s hard to explain how precise you need to be. The meter I have is custom built for the job, not looking to buy a new one

 

Not accurate enough, it’s hard to explain how precise you need to be. The meter I have is custom built for the job, not looking to buy a new one

How accurate do you need to be? The analog meter you showed earlier in this thread only has marks every 2Hz. It must be difficult to tune with great precision on that. Many digital tuners are accurate to 1-1.5 cents (less than 0.4Hz at A440) and allow calibration adjustment in 1 Hz increments.

Here's a short write up explaining a bagpipe tuning procedure almost precisely like I imagined:

http://www.kinnairdbagpipes.com/blog/posts/how_do_you_tune_your_bagpipes_using_a_tuner_

I have a hard time believing that you're going to end up with a better system by patching external reference circuits onto your existing tuner.

Nevertheless, you know your instrument better than I ever could (plenty of music and audio engineering background, but no bagpipe experience,) so I'll let the issue drop here. If you're sure you want to roll your own system, it sounds like @crutschow will probably be able to design a circuit for you.

Best of luck whichever way you go!

 

Rennieaj.......a 500 hz tone has a period of .002 sec. What if I told you, I had a stop watch that can count off or tic off... 1000 clicks during that .002 sec. period?

So.....if the new period is more than 1000 tics....the period is longer and therefore the frequency is lower. Vice-versa.....if tic count is less than 1000......the period is shorter and the frequency is higher.

A microprocessor has many stop watches or timers, and it can remember many counts.

One inputs and measures the count(sound) of a tuned instrument. All we have to do now......is input the period(sound) of the un-tuned instrument. The software program will simply subtract the un-tuned count from the tuned count and display the difference of high or low or same count.

This is just an overall strategy....You still need an input path.

A directional non-sensitive mic. A bandpass filter...a zero crossing detector....buffer to I/O input pin. And some of this is not needed on the newer chips. And of course 3 output LEDs. And I feel pretty sure you could find software close to your app. With a little ingenuity, one could mount mic and LEDs on your case. And small uP inside case....powered from case battery.

This is just an outlining idea. It takes experts like crutschow(there are many on this site)...to mate this stuff together. And it's impossible to design without component specs. Your selection of mic, LEDs and uP make all the difference.

Good luck with your pipes.

 

Okay.
So what does the meter indicate? Does it have any numbers?
Does it indicate the frequency different to some internal reference frequency?
What does a zero reading and full-scale reading indicate?

So I need the meter readings indicated for a zero meter reading, and some reading when you are checking a bagpipe with the approximate position of the meter at that point (ideally for a half full-scale indication or greater).

How long with the meter need to remember a setting?

im happy enough with how the meter operates and displays at the min, im assuming I can piggy back off the inputs for the needle display for additional circuitry.
the additional circuitry will read whatever the frequency is and hold it at the press of a button and light an led when that frequency is reached on the next pipers set (maybe with a very small tolerance) this will stay until a reset button is pressed.
hope this makes sense

 

hope this makes sense

It does.
But I need my other questions answered before I can suggest a solution.

 

It does.
But I need my other questions answered before I can suggest a solution.

What exactly do you need to know?
Thanks

 

What exactly do you need to know?

From post #24:
So I need the meter readings indicated for a zero meter reading, and some reading when you are checking a bagpipe with the approximate position of the meter at that point (ideally for a half full-scale indication or greater).

How long with the meter need to remember a setting?

 

After some thought about this, it would seem that this task would best be done by a microprocessor such as an Arduino. The problem of holding the reading for the length of time I assume it would take to tune all the pipes, pretty well requires digital storage of the value and that gets rather complicated using standard analog and digital parts.
The mico could take care of all the logic, while also reading the analog voltage and storing the peak value digitally so that it remains stable no matter long it takes to tune the rest of the pipes.
It could then also do the comparison and light the proper LEDs.

Does that sound like a feasible task that you could do (with possible help from a computer knowledgeable friend)?

 

After some thought about this, it would seem that this task would best be done by a microprocessor such as an Arduino. The problem of holding the reading for the length of time I assume it would take to tune all the pipes, pretty well requires digital storage of the value and that gets rather complicated using standard analog and digital parts.
The mico could take care of all the logic, while also reading the analog voltage and storing the peak value digitally so that it remains stable no matter long it takes to tune the rest of the pipes.
It could then also do the comparison and light the proper LEDs.

Does that sound like a feasible task that you could do (with possible help from a computer knowledgeable friend)?

Not really, I’ll keep looking then, thanks for your help

 

When I hear latches and I want to shoot myself. Why not a simple MCU with in-built EEPROM to record the values.

 

When I hear latches and I want to shoot myself. Why not a simple MCU with in-built EEPROM to record the values.

Hi arakel,
If you could elaborate that would be great
Thanks

 

When I hear latches and I want to shoot myself. Why not a simple MCU with in-built EEPROM to record the values.

That's exact what @crutschow suggested two posts ago, and the thread starter didn't think it was feasible (presumably because programming is required.)

 

Why not a simple MCU

Because programming a "simple" MCU is not simple if you don't know how to do it.
And it takes a significant amount of effort to learn.

 

Because programming a "simple" MCU is not simple if you don't know how to do it.
And it takes a significant amount of effort to learn.

In that case, it would be much better to use a simple potentiometer. The potentiometer will always remember the value, so to speak.