The British manufacturer with an ear for precision

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The tuning fork was invented in 1711 in London by John Shore, trumpeter and lutenist to composers Henry Purcell and Georges Frideric Händel. 130 years later, the Ragg family started manufacturing the highest-quality musical tuning forks in England. For more than 180 years these essential tools for the industry have continued to be made in Sheffield, the steel city, to the highest standards by Ragg Tuning Forks.

Tuning forks have come a long way since Shore’s original A 422.5Hz musical fork. The accuracy of tuning forks has allowed the tool to be used in many different fields, such as medicine, science, sound therapy and of course music. At one time every “eyeball” telephone exchange would have had a fork supplied to calibrate the device. Nowadays it is likely to be police forces that rely on this simple but precision-made instrument. This is because Ragg produces the tuning forks that are used to calibrate speed cameras across the globe, ensuring they are accurate and, therefore, functioning correctly.

One of Ragg’s most popular tuning forks is named after its inventor, as they all tend to be: the Gardiner Brown. The Gardiner Brown is a beautiful chrome-plated tuning fork used by doctors throughout the world to perform diagnostic tests such as the Rinnie test, which gauges a patient’s hearing. The Ragg fork is a favourite with doctors because they know it has been made to a very high standard, ensuring precision and accuracy when emitting the frequency they require.

A diagnostic device produced by Ragg is the modern Rydel-Seiffer, a fork that has a black triangle on one prong and a white triangle on the second prong. The degree of intersection of the two triangles is used to assist the physician with his diagnoses in diabetic neuropathy.

It’s not only doctors and policemen that trust Ragg Tuning Forks. While they have been used in medicine for centuries, one application that has emerged in recent years is the use of tuning forks in the field of sound therapy, occasionally with acupuncture. Ragg Tuning Forks are also being used to assist in the field of weight loss, and one of Ragg’s most popular forks, the OM 136.1Hz, is often used while meditating or practising yoga, as the vibrations help maintain concentration and are believed to cleanse the mind, thus ensuring complete relaxation. Users choose Ragg tuning forks because of the quality of the manufacturing process and the use of only the highest grades of steel or aluminium, ensuring longer sustain and purer tones, which is essential during sound therapy sessions.

It is probably the John Walker Tuning Fork, however, that is the most recognisable product in the Ragg musical range. This fork has been used by musicians for decades to ensure the accuracy of their instruments and is seen as the gold standard throughout the industry. While digital tuners and tuning apps have long been available, classical musicians and piano tuners will still use a tuning fork for the complete accuracy they provide. Despite the design being around for hundreds of years, Ragg Tuning Forks are still developing new tuning forks for the music industry. The latest addition is a beautiful, hand-crafted, gold-plated John Walker tuning fork, a perfect gift for the passionate musician that can be made to any frequency desired.

Click here to check out the highest quality medical, musical and sound therapy tuning forks

Originally published on Business Reporter