source file: m1515.txt
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 22:45:36 -0500

Subject: Re: synth tuning

From: "John Loffink" <jloffink@pdq.net>

>From: Drew Skyfyre <steele@bom2.vsnl.net.in>

>
>I'm happy to anounce I'm now the  owner
>of a Yamaha PSR-530, XG compatible keyboard. It's limited
>to twelve note scales (-63 to +64), 1200/768 (100cent/64) resolution.
>The range and number of tweakable parameters is terrific, making it
>possible to obtain very professional results. Comes with a built
>in computer interface (Mac & PC). Also, a 5-octave keyboard (with one
>split point), pitch-wheel, & decent sounding 12 Watt stereo speaker
>system.
>
>You do however have to use a computer to do any tweaking, and turn
>off local control, run the keyboard through a MIDI thru (hardware or
>software,


And I'm happy to report that the higher end Yamaha and Technics personal
keyboards have one octave based user tuning table available from the front
panel, not just sysex.  So does Technics' higher end digital piano line.  I
just checked them out at MARS last weekend and have updated my web site.

>>yamaha and roland synths both have sysex messages for
>>scale tuning, which allows you to change the tuning of all
>>tones in one pitch class (all c's, all c#'s ..) in increments of 1 cent.
>
>Actually, I believe Yamaha has fudged the terminology in the
>manual for the PSR-530. The MIDI Master tuning can in fact be  tuned
>-100 cent to -100 cent. But for microtonal tuning ("Scale Tuning" in
>Yamaha speak), they could potentially confuse users with little
>microtonal technical knowledge, because this is what they say :
>
>"...alows each individual note of the octave to be tuned over the
>range from -64 to +64 cents in 1 -cent increments (1 cent = 1/100th
>of a semitone)."
>
>These are actually 64ths of a semitone, aren't they ?


I think they actually are 1 cent increments, though possibly mapped to some
non-1 cent interval like 1200/768.

>
>Just using a keyboard with atleast one split point, it is possible to
>fool around with many equal temperaments. I've been giving it a bit of
>thought and it should handle equal temps of upto 24 notes per octave.
>All it entails is transposing both left & right sides to the same
>"octave" range,
>then tuning the both parts to the odd numbered pitches of an ET, and
>shifting
>the channel master tune so the pitches on the right hand become the even
>numbered pitches of the scale.
>

You could do quartertone scales this way, but not any other nTETs.

One more note, I checked out Emu's ESynth with the latest operating system,
EOS 3.20e, common to the EIV, e64, e6400 samplers.  It did not contain a
user tuning table, contrary to what was published in Keyboard's letter
column.  I have notified the editors at Keyboard.

John Loffink
jloffink@pdq.net
http://freeweb.pdq.net/jloffink