Practical Microtonal Music Making

[jancivil]

as per using scala files in a virtual instrument, the Vienna Instruments Pro engine will display and use any 12 per octave scala file so long as it's in the proper directory. in addition, you can create a scala file by making a basic text file in the scala format and saving as .scl.

so as a substitute for the .tun ('microtonality' in many if not most vis and hosts without say .tun implementation is going to be an intonation set based on C), say, this thing lets you set a root tonic for your scala file. of course the engine is just for their libraries, but if you are using these or have a use for these, this is an extremely simple implementation of scala.

[snigelx]

Thanks for the wealth of info contained and linked here. Appreciate your time! I may leap out and implement some of this during the weekend if I find myself in songmode

[carrieres]

anyone with some ableton, orion or energyXT example ?

[splitnotes]

Thanks for making this thread... I think you've helped out and inspired a few people to start working with microtones. For the casual musician who still sees the 12-tone equal scale as a sacred construct, microtonality seems a dark art shrouded in mystery.

I've been composing with microtonal scales for almost 5 years now, and these days mainly use Xen-Arts VSTis such as Ivor and XenFont. They're free but of immense value as the developer is a talented microtonal composer in his own right. These plugs just work for the serious microtonalist. But they're Windows only (I hear they run in WINE too).

To export a Scala tuning in the correct format for Xen-Arts VSTi, follow JarJar's instructions on page 1 but use "set synth 107" instead of "set synth 112". This will create a tuning file in MTS format (.mid) which can be loaded into Ivor, XenFont or FMTS.

[annode]

First section is micro-tonal constructed with Scala.

http://soundcloud.com/annode-1/annode-m ... eidledadle

[memyselfandus]

cool

[Michael L]

I just found your great thread on simplifying microtuning. To compose microtonal music in my DAW (MuLab) I just open a track with Alchemy. I choose among its tunings or import a .tun file (I like Wendy Carlos' Super Just). My keyboard is retuned and so is the MIDI piano roll (e.g. with 24ET an octave spans 24 keys). I just play or enter MIDI notes and record audio. Simple. I'm sure it works with other DAWs and synths.

[carrieres]

I just found your great thread on simplifying microtuning. To compose microtonal music in my DAW (MuLab) I just open a track with Alchemy. I choose among its tunings or import a .tun file (I like Wendy Carlos' Super Just). My keyboard is retuned and so is the MIDI piano roll (e.g. with 24ET an octave spans 24 keys). I just play or enter MIDI notes and record audio. Simple. I'm sure it works with other DAWs and synths.

can you post a link to this thread ?

[Michael L]

Sorry, I meant THIS thread.

[carrieres]

we are ok, great thread

[John [Humanoid Sound Sys]]

One other synth that supports tun files is Enzyme: http://www.humanoidsoundsystems.com/enzyme

[Teezdalien]

This is a great thread. A few other points regarding microtonality, it's actually only a fairly recently developed concept (say in the last 50-100 years), many of the Eastern scales existed before microtonality truly existed as a concept in it's own right.
The human ear on average detects a difference in pitch between two tones at around 6 cents, that's 6/100ths of a semi-tone.
The western 12 tone equal temperament isn't exactly in tune to the true harmonic series. The perfect 5th isn't a true perfect 5th. The third harmonic is out by +2 cents, the 5th harmonic by -14 cents, the seventh by -31 cents and it goes on. Most peoples ears have just become so accustomed to the western tempered scale that any deviations/divisions are thought to be out of tune.

Microtonality was developed to facilitate exact harmonics and a precise series of overtones.
- Different equal temperaments (7, 19, 22 and 31 notes per octave are interesting),
- Just intonations with prepared instruments (having more consonant in-tunes and more dissonant out-of-tunes.)
- Bent Driven/Determined, where tunings are strategically placed to facilitate beatings that become rhythmic, or take on other functional musical roles.
- Aleatoric Music and other numerical systems with interesting mathematical divisions plotted over the frequency spectrum.

The biggest trade off when using microtonal derived scales and tunings is practicality. Often the playability of the instrument becomes constrained to the key the instrument is tuned to. That's why the western tempered scale is so widely used.

Some interesting microtonal pieces,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB1_YUXgivE
(Just Intonation)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvVKw-Uh8RE
(Bent Determined)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n36eCAoIa4Y
(Other Numerical)

[memyselfandus]

Nice! ^^^^

[memyselfandus]

https://kinggizzard.bandcamp.com/album/ ... nal-banana

[sprnva]

http://micropangaea.com