Baseline Tuning Forks

A tuning fork is a two-pronged fork of various widths and lengths to achieve specific, clear tones when struck against a surface or with another object. Once struck, the fork prongs vibrate at a frequency that, once the high overtones dissipate, produce a specific note that lasts until the prongs stop vibrating or are placed against a surface that dampens them.

They are used, as their name suggests, for tuning instruments. But tuning forks also have a long history of being used in the medical world in addition to the musical world. Physicians can assess a patient’s hearing by using multiple tuning forks of different frequencies to perform a Weber or Rinne test.

Tuning forks can also be used in testing the peripheral nervous system, where physicians press the freshly struck and strongly vibrating fork to the patient’s skin and record whether or not the patient felt the vibrations. This is a common practice to test for signs of potential neuropathy associated with diabetes.

Tuning forks that feature a rounded weight at the end of each prong are called Otto Tuners, short for Osteophonic. These forks create a stronger, heavier vibration that can be used to relieve joint pain and muscle or nerve tension. Though there is no formal research to substantiate this, patients that have used tuning forks to relieve these kinds of pains and tensions have reported that they love the sensation and swear by its efficacy.

Tuning forks can also have a variable frequency, achieved by one weight on each prong that can be moved up or down to respectively raise or lower the pitch as needed or desired. The prongs are marked to indicate frequency levels to make adjusting the weights and therefore the pitch quick and easy.

Baseline tuning forks come with or without weights, in student and standard grade, with adjustable weights for variable frequency, in bulk quantities, and in sets of 6 tuning forks of different frequencies.