Nocturnal Fire Guitar Tuner
Magick. Will. Power. & Purpose. Music & Art.
Pro Chromatic • Strobe + Needle
Number = cents off pitch. ♭ left means tighten up, ♯ right means ease off. Dead center — it ticks green.
Standard Tuning
Tap a note to hear that string and lock onto it. AUTO finds the string you're playing.
Pluck one string at a time, close to your phone or laptop. When a string locks in, its peg checks off green — work through all of them and you're tuned.
Chord Library
Every diagram is drawn for standard tuning, low string on the left. Tap any chord to see it big and hear it strummed. ✕ above a string = don't play it; ○ = play it open.
C
Notes: C · E · G
Metronome
30–252 BPM — the pro combo range (Korg TM-50). Tap tempo works too: tap the button in rhythm.
Practice tip: set the metronome slow and tune each string to the beat — a note plucked on the click settles faster and reads cleaner.
Pro Displays — Needle & Strobe
Pros run both displays: needle for a fast check, strobe for final intonation work. The strobe compares your pitch continuously — no averaging, no dead zone.
DETECTED NOTE + OCTAVE
Display mode
Cents resolution
In-tune tolerance — ±3 cents
Mic & Detection
Noise cancellation for loud rooms: raise the gate so only a real pluck registers, and add boost for a quiet guitar. Your audio never leaves this device — pitch is detected locally in your browser. No recording, no upload.
Noise gate — Standard
Input boost
Detection Mode & Sweetened Tunings
AUTO finds the nearest string as you play. Lock to String pins the readout to the string you tapped on the headstock.
Sweetened tuning
Per-string cent offsets that compensate for how a real guitar behaves. GTR: low E −2.3¢, G −0.4¢, B −2.1¢, high E −2.3¢. Buzz Feiten open strings: E 0, B +1, G −2, D −2, A −2, low E −2¢. Sweeteners apply to 6-string guitar tunings.
Strum check — polyphonic
Start the mic, strum all six strings once, then hit Strum Check. It reads the spectrum and calls every string flat, sharp, in tune, or not heard — the PolyTune idea, done with the mic.
Calibration — A4 Reference
Standard is 440 Hz. Pro range here runs 400–480 Hz — the span research found across pro gear (Korg TM-50: 410–480 Hz; Peterson desktop: 340–540 Hz) — for matching an old piano, a backing track, or a bandmate who's off standard.
Capo / transpose targets
Shifts every string target — drop and capo work without retuning your reference. Pro tuners cover −6 semitones (Boss flat mode) up to a full octave (Peterson).
Custom Tuning Creator
Set any note + octave per string, low string first. Picking any value switches the tuner to your custom tuning and updates the headstock.
Tone Generator
Any reference pitch from A0 to C8 — tune by ear, check a piano, or find your vocal range.
If you're sharp, drop below the note first, then tune up into it. It holds pitch longer on stage.
Hit the string too hard and it reads sharp for a second. Pluck gently near the 12th fret and let it settle.
New set? Tune, gently pull each string up, tune again. Repeat 2–3 times and it'll stop drifting mid-song.
The Pro Standard — What the Research Found
“Pro” vs “toy” is mostly a number: strobe-grade tuners claim ±0.1 cent, standard needle/chromatic tuners claim ±1 cent. Your ear catches about 5 cents on a single note — but six strings each 1–2 cents off in different directions stack into chords that sound sour. That's why guitar techs tune with strobes. Every figure below is carried from the research with its source and its caveats.
| Tuner | Known for | Accuracy | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peterson iStroboSoft (app, $9.99) | The pro-reference software strobe: 65+ sweetened tunings, Buzz Feiten presets, spectrum analyzer, drop/capo transpose, noise filter, A = 340–540 Hz on the desktop version | ±0.1 cent — detection and display; Peterson notes rivals often quote detection only | petersontuners.com/support/istrobosoft · petersontuners.com/products/strobosoft/ |
| TC Electronic PolyTune 3 (pedal — hardware, not an app) | Invented polyphonic tuning: strum all strings, see each string's status at once; auto-switches to needle chromatic on a single pluck | ±0.5 cent chromatic · ±0.02 cent strobe | sweetwater.com — PolyTune 3 |
| Savior Guitar Tuner: Pro (app) | Built by touring guitar tech Aron Robbins (Bruno Mars, J. Cole, D'Angelo); strobe display with per-string cent offsets like a bench tech dials in | ±0.1 cent | saviorguitar.com/app |
| Boss Tuner app / TU-3 | The stage standard: app mirrors the TU-3 pedal, with audible reference pitch for tuning by ear | ±1 cent | play.google.com — Boss Tuner |
| Korg TM-50 (hardware) | The lesson-room tuner + metronome combo; metronome 30–252 BPM, Sound Back ear-training reference | ±1 cent; calibration A4 410–480 Hz | korg.com — TMR-50 specs |
| GuitarTuna / Fender Tune (apps) | The mass-market leaders — GuitarTuna is the most-installed tuner; Fender Tune is free with no ads and auto/manual/chromatic modes | No published cents spec — treat as “good enough for practice,” not a measured claim | americansongwriter.com — best tuner apps |
| Snark (clip-on) | The ubiquitous cheap clip-on — vibration sensor, so it's immune to room noise | Disputed: sources list ±0.5 cent, ±1 cent, and ~±2.5 cents in practice; owners report a “dead zone” | Retailer and forum sources disagree — see research summary |
| WaveTuner (app) | Markets 95 instruments and 4 display modes (Gauge, Strobe, Orb, Retro VU) | ±0.1 cent claimed — marketing only, unverified; no independent test found | App-listing copy only (appbrain.com) |
Built into this tuner, straight off the pro checklist
- INStrobe + needle displays — the defining pro pairing (Peterson, TC, Savior all ship both).
- INYIN pitch detection — the time-domain algorithm family pro web tuners use (GuitarTunePro, DaTuner), with parabolic interpolation for sub-cent resolution. Raw FFT bins can't do it: at 48 kHz a 4096-sample window makes one bin ≈230 cents wide at low E.
- INCents + Hz + note/octave readouts at 0.1¢ resolution, adjustable in-tune tolerance, pitch-history graph, detection-confidence meter, noise gate, and input boost.
- INPreset tunings + a custom creator for guitar, bass, ukulele and violin, Peterson GTR and Buzz Feiten sweeteners, capo/transpose, A4 calibration 400–480 Hz, metronome (30–252 BPM, tap tempo), reference tones for every string, a full A0–C8 tone generator, a chord library, and a polyphonic strum check.
Tuned Up? Now Sound Like a Record
This tuner is free — the gift. The sound comes from the Nocturnal Fire plugin line by Kaspa Killa: the same blue-and-orange bench this tuner came off of, built for vocals, guitar, and full mixes in your DAW. Every plugin carries a 7-day free trial — card required at checkout, $0 charged — try them on your own tracks before you spend a dollar.
Full bundle: all 13 plugins for $279 ($627 bought separately). Sold direct from KaspaKilla.com — 7-day free trial on every plugin (card required, $0 charged), no subscription.