Tuning instruments can be both difficult and annoying, especially for beginners. AP Tuner is a useful little utility that can be used to tune to any note.

Rather than playing notes and demanding the instrumentalist to match them, AP Tuner recognises the note being picked up by a microphone connected to the computer and shows how close it is to the correct tuning.

AP Tuner also shows a list of strings on the right-hand side of the window, which is a useful reference. Again, this is very helpful for beginners or when experimenting with alternative tunings. There are presets for guitar, bass, violin, viola and cello. New presets can be created but the notes must be in order, which is a minor irritation with instruments such as the ukulele.

This is a very minor problem with an otherwise excellent utility that will be very useful to anyone making music with their computer. Although shareware, there are no restrictions on use.

Other tools include a harmonics graph and a basic recording facility.