Story

In 2022, I decided to give myself a chance and start learning the piano, an instrument that had attracted and intimidated me for at least 15 years.

I had always been fascinated not only by the music, but by the instrument itself. Wanting to understand how it worked, I began looking into piano tuning. The fact that tuning pianos was considered a difficult job made it all the more interesting to me, and it didn’t take long to discover that it is far from simple.

So, out of pure curiosity, I started using my scientific background to build a tuning app. It began as a simple Python project in early 2024.

Encouraged by the fact that it actually seemed to work, I decided to turn it into an Android app toward the end of 2025. I soon realized that a smartphone was much more practical than a laptop: it was easier to handle, its built-in microphone wouldn’t pick up noise from a cooling fan, and its battery lasted longer.

At first, I wasn’t sure whether to make it a commercial project. But however modest it was, it clearly worked well, and I felt it would be fairer not to give it away for free when others had spent years bringing their own expertise and hard work to the products they sell.

I did decide to keep the project lean, without elaborate interface features or historical temperaments, which are useful to only a small minority of users. On the other hand, I’m proud of what I achieved in measuring the higher-order partials of piano strings.

The final stage—testing the app and making sure it was ready for release on the Play Store—was quite a challenge. I especially want to thank Andrew Kraus, a remarkable pianist who responded to my post on Piano World. He helped me identify weaknesses in the workflow, the interface, and the user manual—which, as I learned, should never be an afterthought!

The app has been available on the Google Play Store since September 27, 2026.

Thank you in advance to everyone willing to give my app a try, including those who use only the free version. Enjoy!

Sergio De Gasperi