Quiztones: A Look at the Frequency Identification Ear Trainer for iOS
Have you ever been on a sound check and the singer or one of the house sound guys asks the monitor guy to “lower 1k about 2db” in this wedge, or something like that?
I’ve long marveled at those who could so quickly identify a problem frequency and eliminate feedback or simply make the mix sound better. While I studied this at Berklee, I obviously didn’t pay enough attention.
So I decided to check out Quiztones by Audiofile Engineering, especially after being so blown away by the last app I reviewed, FiRe2.
Turns out, this app offers everything offered in that Berklee class of mine… in an app!
The app works like this: put on your headphones, launch the app, and it trains you to identify different frequencies. Version 1 of the app features frequency identification via exercises using:
- Tones
- Pink Noise
- Drums
- Acoustic Guitar
- Female Vocals
There’s an add-on available that adds bass and electric guitar too.
The app will allow you to browse frequency altered tones, noise and/or musical loops to train yourself and then also has a series of multiple choice quizzes where the app plays a loop and you have to identify the problem frequency.
If we all got even just a little bit better at frequency identification, sound checks and mixes would improve exponentially!
This is definitely recommended for anyone who aspires to improve their own ability to identify problem frequencies. The app is available for $2.99 in the app store.
