source file: mills3.txt Date: Sun, 27 Jul 1997 11:40:01 +0200 Subject: Blueprint for World Domination From: gbreed@cix.compulink.co.uk (Graham Breed) What with all the theoretical stuff I've been putting up here lately, some of you may like to know what it's all working towards. As well as dabbling with theory and composition, I'm working on various pieces of software that could be of use to the microtuning community . . . Firstly, I've got a Windows program that can relay notes from a keyboard to a synth module, adding pitch bends to produce the desired scale. I've also got a program that can convert from my own 31tet files into standard MIDI files. I plan to add a GUI to this, so that normal people can use it, and generalise it to work with any scales. Plus I've got a MIDI to MIDI file convertor. All these can/will work with the same tuning files. When I get around to writing the routines for editing tunings, they will be based on my matrix ideas. Each note will be specified as a number of steps on the chosen basis -- which could be tones and semitones, ratio space axes, or an orthonormal basis defined on either. This is the simplest way I can think of of getting just or tempered scales into the computer. As much of the maths as possible will be hidden from the user. As there doesn't seem to be a standard way of notating note matrices, I'll use my own H notation. The editing program will be able to work out the note name from its definition. This will be more useful if I can get it to work with a staff view, but that sounds difficult. I also plan to add functionality for real-time retuning. This means, firstly, that the computer will need to have a dissonance function to minimise. Secondly, there will have to be a facility for retuning a scale. A 2-D scale approximating a 4-D scale can be defined by 2 intervals and 2 commas -- that is, intervals equal to a unison in this scale. You can then define the scale in terms of these intervals, and allow the computer to add or subtract a specific number of commas to get the tuning right. All this can be put in the tuning files. This general method includes meantone scales as a subset. I'll add routines for generating these with minimum fuss. Scales can also be defined in terms of millioctaves/c*nts/etc, with note names also specified in the tuning file, but these scales will not work with the automatic retuning functions. That's my plan, then. I'm not making much progress at the moment, partly because I'm far more interested in the theory. I'll get back to it before long, though, and most of the stuff I'm thinking about will be shockingly relevant. SMTPOriginator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu From: Denis.Atadan@mvs.udel.edu Subject: More Tape Swap Stuff PostedDate: 27-07-97 20:55:29 SendTo: CN=coul1358/OU=AT/O=EZH ReplyTo: tuning@eartha.mills.edu $UpdatedBy: CN=notesrv2/OU=Server/O=EZH,CN=coul1358/OU=AT/O=EZH,CN=Manuel op de Coul/OU=AT/O=EZH RouteServers: CN=notesrv2/OU=Server/O=EZH,CN=notesrv1/OU=Server/O=EZH RouteTimes: 27-07-97 20:55:28-27-07-97 20:55:29,27-07-97 20:54:30-27-07-97 20:54:30 DeliveredDate: 27-07-97 20:54:30 Categories: $Revisions: Received: from ns.ezh.nl by notesrv2.ezh.nl (Lotus SMTP MTA v1.1 (385.6 5-6-1997)) with SMTP id C12564E1.0067F2C1; Sun, 27 Jul 1997 20:55:23 +0200 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA20873; Sun, 27 Jul 1997 20:55:29 +0200 Date: Sun, 27 Jul 1997 20:55:29 +0200 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA20866 Received: (qmail 13553 invoked from network); 27 Jul 1997 18:55:13 -0000 Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 27 Jul 1997 18:55:13 -0000 Message-Id: <199707271853.OAA23194@copland.udel.edu> Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu