Stohrer Sax Shop Companion

A cross-platform desktop app for saxophone repair shops and saxophonists by Matt Stohrer. Generates SVG and G-code files for laser-cutting pad materials for the Phil Noy padmaking method, provides reference databases for key heights, serial numbers, and screw specifications, includes tooling generation for Noy-style pad-making die inserts and holders, a 12 wheel chromatic strobe tuner, and a harmonic tone analyzer for studying your sound.

Features

Pad Maker

Generate laser-cutting files for felt, card, leather, and exact-size pad materials. G-code generation can be exported directly to your laser — LightBurn is no longer required, though SVG output is still available if you prefer that workflow.

Output Formats

• G-code for Grbl-based lasers with per-material speed, power, and passes
• SVG for LightBurn or other laser software (color layers map to operations)
• Generate felt, card, leather, and exact size patterns

Nesting & Layout

• Smart circle-packing algorithm to maximize material usage
• Edge bias d-pad to direct packing toward a specific edge or corner
  • Cardinal directions scan from the edge inward
  • Corner directions radiate outward — small pads nestle in the corner, larger ones fan out
• Nesting preview — see the layout before generating, adjust and retry
• Custom polygon shapes for irregular leather skins and scrap pieces
• Scrap mode — place pads across multiple pieces, tracking remaining between sheets
  • Preview, edge bias, and custom polygons all work together in scrap mode
• Max fill mode — use 18.0 x max to fill remaining space with a size

Sizing & Engraving

• Per-size-range settings for sizing rules, dart/star cuts, engraving, and placement
• Pad size labels on each disc, with per-material font size and position
• Line mode (single-stroke) or filled mode (scan-line raster fill with overscan)
• Auto-fit — shifts text toward center on small pads, scales only as last resort
• Sizing Rules Presets — save the entire Sizing Rules dialog as a named preset, load presets from a dropdown, import/export to share with other techs

G-code Options

• Air assist toggles (M8/M9) per layer
• Cut grouping: by layer or by pad
• Kerf compensation (enter full kerf, app splits in half automatically)
• Auto-eject SD card after export (Windows)

Pad Presets & Data

• Save and load pad size lists organized into libraries
• Notes field for annotating presets
• Import Matt's Pad Sets from stohrermusic.com
• Import/export for sharing with colleagues

Key Height Library

• Store and organize key height measurements by instrument
• Import Matt's Key Heights from stohrermusic.com
• Import/export libraries for backup or sharing

Serial Number Lookup

• Reference database for saxophone serial numbers by manufacturer

Screw Specifications

• OEM screw and rod specifications database
• Import Matt's Specs from stohrermusic.com
• Import/export for sharing specs

Tooling — Die Inserts & Die Holders

• Generate SVG/G-code for laser-cut acrylic pad die inserts (small: 50mm OD, large: 70mm OD)
• Die holders: 85mm OD, 6-layer stack (solid base, magnet disc, three pin discs, retaining ring)
• Enter individual sizes, ranges, or generate full sets
• Kerf test pattern for calibrating your laser
• Scrap mode for spreading dies across multiple sheets

Chromatic Strobe Tuner

• 12-wheel stroboscopic chromatic tuner
• GPU-accelerated rendering via Rust/wgpu — 60-120 fps strobe wheels
  • Automatic fallback to CPU canvas rendering if GPU unavailable
• Per-ring octave brightness from real spectral data
• Grouped slider panel (display, pitch, bias) and vintage backlit VU meter
• Per-pitch-class phase tracking with temporal smoothing
• Transposition support (Concert, Bb, Eb, F)
• Configurable frame rate (60/90/120 fps), backlight color, and faceplate color
• A quality microphone is recommended (e.g. Audio-Technica AT2020 USB)

Harmonic Tone Analyzer (beta)

A real-time harmonic spectrum analyzer for saxophone. Captures the fundamental and overtones of your sound and lets you compare setups (horn, mouthpiece, reed, mic, mic placement, embouchure) over time. A quality microphone is essential — laptop mics do not provide reliable results.

Live Display

• Detects fundamental pitch, extracts up to 20 harmonics
• Spectrum view (full FFT) and Bars view (per-harmonic), linear or dB scale
• Intonation gauge with cents readout and ±4¢ "in tune" lamp
• Auto-transposition by saxophone type (alto/tenor/soprano/baritone/etc.) with concert pitch toggle
• Spectrum overlay: load any preset as a ghost overlay on the live spectrum

Tone Presets

• Capture harmonic fingerprints of individual horns and setups
• Free capture (continuous micro-captures while playing naturally) and guided calibration modes
• WAV file import for offline analysis (16/24/32-bit)
• WAV recording on by default — captures are automatically re-analyzed offline for ~2× the harmonic resolution of live capture
• Mic type, model, and position stored per preset for reproducibility
• Mutate Preset — duplicate a preset with one variable changed (mouthpiece, mic, reed) for A/B testing
• Sandbox mode — relaxes field requirements for non-sax instruments, contact mics, effects chains, or experimental setups
• All captures stored in concert pitch for cross-instrument comparison
• Organized into libraries, with import/export for sharing
• Coverage summary after capture sessions — note distribution chart and gap detection

Analyze Tool

• Compare two presets, view a single preset in detail, or analyze multi-preset spreads
• Difference charts and harmonic-range interpretation: H1-H4 shifts ≈ bore, H7-H13 ≈ neck/mouthpiece, broadband ≈ mouthpiece/player
• Population percentiles — see where your captures rank within all presets of the same sax type
• User-configurable comparison descriptors: harmonic complexity, warmth, even/odd harmonic ratio, rolloff shape, evenness
• Filter by make, model, mic type, search; multi-select; same-player and cross-player context notes
• Recording-quality tracking (harmonic rolloff rate) with live warnings and cross-mismatch detection

Why beta?

Descriptors are still being calibrated as we gather more data from different horns, mouthpieces, mics, and players. Live descriptor gauges have been removed for now because mic position alone shifts complexity 10–20% on the same horn — we want to ground the formulas in more recordings before promoting any back to live readouts. Raw harmonic measurements are always saved, so future formula improvements apply retroactively to your historical captures. The first-run dialog (File > Feature Set > Toner) explains how to contribute recordings and presets.

General

• Feature Set (File > Feature Set) — choose which tabs to show
• Tab-aware User Guide (Help > User Guide)
• Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux
• macOS dark mode support
• Platform-appropriate config storage with automatic migration
• Import Settings from Folder for moving between machines
• Error logging with Help > Open Log File for diagnostics

Installation

From Release (Recommended)

Download the latest release for your platform from the Releases page.

macOS users: Two builds are available — Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) with full features, and Intel with all features except the Tuner and Tone Analyzer (which require audio libraries not available on Intel Macs).

The app is not signed with an Apple Developer certificate (they charge $100 a year for that), so macOS will block it on first launch with either an "unidentified developer" warning or a "damaged and can't be opened" error. To unblock it:

1. Double-click the downloaded .zip to unzip it.
2. Drag SaxShopCompanion.app into your Applications folder.
3. Open Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities/) and paste this one command:

   xattr -cr /Applications/SaxShopCompanion.app
   

4. Open the app normally. You only need to do this once.

This strips the quarantine flag that macOS adds to downloaded files, which is what triggers both warnings. The same command works on every macOS version.

Linux users: The tuner and toner require PortAudio. Install it with:

sudo apt install libportaudio2

The app works without it, but the audio tabs will be unavailable.

From Source

pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.py

Building

# Build for current platform
python build.py

# Clean and rebuild
python build.py --clean

# macOS: create .dmg
python build.py --dmg

Config Location

Settings and presets are stored in platform-appropriate locations:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\StohrerSaxShopCompanion\
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/StohrerSaxShopCompanion/
• Linux: ~/.config/StohrerSaxShopCompanion/

Questions or Feedback

Email: stohrermusic@gmail.com

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