Akort+
A tuner for makam music
Tunes to the 53-comma Arel-Ezgi-Uzdilek system of Turkish makam music as well as standard chromatic. No string to pick — it finds the note you play.
iPhone and iPad · Browser version, nothing to install · Android in beta
What it does
Everything you expect from a tuner, plus what makam music actually needs.
Microtonal tuning
Nearly every tuner on the market works only in twelve-tone equal temperament. The comma pitches used on the bağlama, oud, kanun, ney and tanbur simply do not exist in that system. In makam mode, Akort+ names them directly — “F#+3” is a pitch it can show you.
No string to select
You do not tell it which string you are tuning. It hears what you play, finds the nearest pitch, and shows how flat or sharp you are to the cent. Non-standard tunings work the same way.
See where you are
The note strip under the dial marks your pitch within its octave. Seeing which notes sit either side makes tuning markedly easier for players who do not yet recognise notes by ear.
Transposition
If you have retuned your instrument but still think in your usual positions, pick the note you play and the pitch it now sounds as. Only the names change — the cents reading still measures the pitch you are actually sounding.
Reference pitch
The A4 reference is adjustable from 415 to 466 Hz. If your ensemble tunes away from 440, the app measures against what you actually use. In-tune range of ±3, ±5 or ±10 cents.
Turkish or Western note names
Do-Re-Mi or C-D-E, remembered between sessions. Screen readers (VoiceOver, TalkBack) speak the tuning state, the direction and the amount of deviation; being in tune is carried by the needle position and a status glyph as well as colour.
Where it runs
The same measurement core, the same reading on all three platforms.
iPhone and iPad
On the App Store, free. App page
Browser
Nothing to install, no account. Allow the microphone and play. app.akortplus.com
Android
In closed beta, heading for Google Play. If you would like to test it, get in touch.
Privacy
Akort+ collects nothing. The microphone is used only to measure frequency; audio never leaves your device, is never recorded, and is never sent anywhere. The mobile apps need no internet connection. See the privacy policy for details.