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    <p>You're looking for a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_estimation" rel="noreferrer">frequency estimation</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_detection_algorithm" rel="noreferrer">pitch-detection</a> algorithm. Most people suggest finding the maximum value of the FFT, but this is overly simplistic and doesn't work as well as you might think. If the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_fundamental" rel="noreferrer">fundamental is missing</a> (a timpani, for instance), or one of the harmonics is larger than the fundamental (a trumpet, for instance), it won't detect the correct frequency. Trumpet spectrum:</p> <p><a href="http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/DesignOffice/mdp/electric_web/AC/02284.jpg" rel="noreferrer">Trumpet spectrum http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/DesignOffice/mdp/electric_web/AC/02284.jpg</a></p> <p>Also, you're wasting processor cycles calculating the FFT if you're only looking for a specific frequency. You can use things like the <a href="http://www.embedded.com/story/OEG20020819S0057" rel="noreferrer">Goertzel algorithm</a> to find tones in a specific frequency band more efficiently.</p> <p>You really need to find "the first significant frequency" or "the first frequency with strong harmonic components", which is more ambiguous than just finding the maximum.</p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autocorrelation" rel="noreferrer">Autocorrelation</a> or the <a href="http://cnx.org/content/m11714/latest/" rel="noreferrer">harmonic product spectrum</a> is better at finding the true fundamental for real instruments, but if the instrument is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inharmonicity" rel="noreferrer">inharmonic</a> (most are), then the wave shape is changing over time, and I suspect it won't work as well if you try to measure more than a few cycles at a time, which decreases your accuracy.</p>
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