What you can do with a tone generator
- Tune by ear to a steady A4 = 440 Hz, or any other reference note.
- Practise intonation against a drone. Hold the tonic of your scale and listen for beating when your note is out of tune.
- Test speakers and headphones by sweeping from low bass to high treble.
- Check your hearing range. Most adults stop hearing somewhere between 14 and 17 kHz.
Waveforms
A sine wave is a pure tone with no overtones, best for tuning and tests. Triangle is soft and flute-like. Square and sawtooth are bright and buzzy because they contain many harmonics, which makes them easier to hear on small speakers.
Fine control
Type an exact frequency into the box, use the semitone and octave buttons to move in musical steps, or drag the slider, which works on a logarithmic scale so every octave gets the same amount of room.