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Chapter 4: Advanced Tuning Techniques
You can create your own custom alternate tuning presets, and store them in one of the three preset
tuning banks. Although this overwrites the factory preset in that location, you can always revert to the
factory defaults, as described in the Setup Mode section. Furthermore, you can choose a reference
pitch other than A=440.
Creating Custom Alternate Tuning Presets
To create a custom alternate tuning preset:
1. With the MCK pushed in, tune Dark Fire manually to the pitches you want (remember: all
Powerheads turn in the same direction). Caution: Make sure the guitar is in tune—if you
happen to save this as the default "Instantly Activated Tuning," then the default guitar
tuning will be out of tune. If this happens, refer to the Setup section for information on
restoring the factory presets.
2. Pull the MCK out and turn it clockwise to the Peg symbol.
3. Press on the MCK's Display Matrix and hold it in the pressed state until the Peg LED shines
cyan (I.e., greenish-blue). Symbols E, A, D, G, B and e will shine red.
4. Strum each string individually, one by one (don't strum too hard!); when each string's
frequency has been measured and registered, its LED will turn green. If necessary, re-pluck
any strings that remain red until they are measured and turn green.
5. When all string LEDs have turned green, they will turn off and the Peg LED will start flashing,
indicating your Custom Altered Tuning is ready to store.
6. To store a preset in the Blue Bank: As Dark Fire is currently in the Blue Bank, storing to the
Blue Bank is easy. Select a string LED position, then press the Display Matrix momentarily and
the string LEDs will flash red 4 times, indicating your custom alternate tuning is now stored in
that position.
7. To store a preset in the Green or Red Bank: As Dark Fire is currently in the Blue Bank,
rotate the MCK until the b# symbol shines blue. Press momentarily on the Display Matrix to
select the Green Bank, and press again to select the Red Bank. After selecting the desired
bank, select a string LED position, then press the Display Matrix momentarily. The string LEDs
will flash red 4 times, indicating your custom alternate tuning is now stored in that position.
Tuning to Pitch References Other Than A=440Hz
Although the most common tuning reference is A=440Hz, some orchestras tune to A=442 or
A=445Hz; Baroque ensembles often tune to A=435Hz. You may also be at a session where a piano
is in tune with itself, but not turned exactly to A=440Hz. For these and similar situations, Dark Fire
allows tuning to any arbitrary reference, within reason; here's how.
1. Select the desired Preset to hold the custom tuning, and tune to standard pitch by strumming
the strings.
2. Select one string and manually tune it to the desired reference pitch.
3. Pull the MCK out and turn it counter-clockwise until the b# symbol shines blue. The Display
Matrix dots will also shine blue, because you are in the Blue Bank.
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