• Blog
  • About
  • Our Music Gear
    • Roland JP-08 Stand
    • Roland System-1m Stand
  • Downloads
    • Synthesizer Information
  Infinity

​

Digital Scale

4/27/2018

0 Comments

 

  • Note: So you, the Reader, won't be frustrated after reading this, what I discovered (below) didn't work. I'm simply explaining the details of what I went through, in order to find an "alternative", hopefully "better", Music Scale… but I didn't.


I had been thinking about Alternative Tunings for Music for several weeks. I even did a lot of research to see if any of the current Eurorack, Modular Synthesizer Modules would allow me to actually pick my own "Frequencies".
  • There are lots of Oscillators and Sequencers, which allow you to "manually" set their "Frequencies" but getting them to produce those same exact Frequencies every time, is not something I found while doing my research.
  • Yes, there are Modules called: "Quantizers", which will align every Pitch, Voltage and MIDI Note, coming into it, to the closest "Note" in its Scale. However, in "my" research, "most" force you into selecting from a list of Pitches which aren't broken down smaller than quarter-tones.
  • I only discovered 2 Quantizers which allow you to select your own Frequencies but they seemed to be a bit difficult to program. One is the "Disting Mk4" ($189), by "Expert Sleepers", and the other is the "µTune" ($299), by "Tubbutec".


Several weeks ago, I was thinking about the "A equals 440Hz" (Cycles-Per-Second, Frequency) and that some say "A" should really be set to 432-Hz.

As I was looking at those numbers, I noticed that they are "8" numbers apart from each other. Since I used to do some very basic programming, a few decades ago, my mind instantly thought there might be something to that relationship…
  • Since "Society" has been lied to in so many different aspects of this "Reality", what if those "liars" knew the core Frequency for Music should be "448Hz" and, in order to mislead everyone, moved the number "down" 8 Cycles-Per-Second (making it "432"), to throw us off track, instead of "up" 8 Cycles where it should be (making it "448")?


From there, I did something "thinking" and some "math" and settled on the number "32". Computers are based on multiples of "2", which are "zeros" and "ones". Home computers in the early 80s had 8-bit Processors, which is a multiple of "2". I settled on "32" because "2", "4", "8" and "16" Cycles were too close to each other for my note-building exercise. 32 seemed to be the smallest number of Cycles-Per-Second which the Human ear could distinguish a difference in Pitch AND it would take-up an entire Music Keyboard, just to have at least 2 "Octaves".

I left "A" at 448, as a starting point. I then "added" 32, to find higher Notes or "subtracted" 32, to find lower Notes. This gave me these Frequencies:
  • 128, 160, 192, 224, 256, 288, 320, 352, 384, 416, 448, 480, 512


Since I couldn't find any "easy-to-use" Synthesizer Modules, which would allow me to enter the "Frequencies" I wanted, I did some testing. A few days ago, I used "Audacity" (audio manipulation software) to produce those 13-Tones. I was going to load them into Apple's "GarageBand" software, in order to move them around and stretch them, just to see if this new "Scale" would sound good… or not.

That quickly became a bit complicated so I stopped.

Today, Sylvia reminded me that our Korg Krome Keyboard offers Tunings and Scale creation. So I checked the Manual and turned it ON. It was a bit tricky and did take me a few hours but I was able to set those Frequencies.
  • The "tricky" part was that I had to use "Audacity" to play each Pitch in a loop, while I found the closest "key" on the Keyboard to that particular Pitch. Then I adjusted its "Semitone" setting until they sounded the same.
  • When I was done, that "Scale" was spread across 2, standard Octaves on the Keyboard and used both the "black" and "white" keys but not all of them were next to each other.
  • I marked them with small pieces of Post-It Notes, so I could see which "physical" keys were part of that "Scale". I even recorded a low-to-high "run" of Notes into the Krome, in order to hear it played back smoothly at different Tempos.
  • I then tested this "Scale's" Chord capability. It was difficult listening to the "run" of Notes, because they weren't too pleasing, but the Chord possibilities were even worse. I found 3, maybe 4 combinations of Notes which sounded "ok" together.


So, other than "I just wasn't happy with what I was hearing", I began to wonder… "why"? Is it because those are simply Frequencies which work against each other or is it that my brain is programmed to identify certain sound combinations as "good" and others as "bad"?

Here's the link to the "Disting Mk4":
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/expert-sleepers-disting-mk4

Here's the link to the "µTune":
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/tubbutec-µtune-

Here's the link to the "Audacity" software:
https://www.audacityteam.org

In doing my 1st calculations, I took used the "Note-to-Frequency" Chart on this page:
https://pages.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html

I then plugged those numbers into the Frequency-Semitone calculator on this page:
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-centsratio.htm
​
0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Note:

    If you'd like to "Follow", "Like" or "Comment" on our Blogs, please visit our mirrored Blogsite:
    infinitysong.wordpress

    Archives

    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015

    Categories

    All
    A-143-2
    Acrylic
    Album
    Ambient
    Analog
    Aric Improta
    ARP 2500
    ARP 2600
    ARP Odyssey
    Audio
    Audio Mixer
    Back Flip
    Bamboo
    Band
    BandCamp
    Bass Drum Pedal
    Beater
    Beater Head
    BeatStep Pro
    Behringer
    Blank
    Bonus
    Cable
    Cables
    CB90F
    Chart
    Chrome
    Chrome Stand
    Classical
    Clear
    Coatings
    Composer
    Composition
    Concept Album
    Creative
    Creativity
    Crossed Over
    Crowd Funding
    Cv
    Cyber Diva
    Dance Music
    Deepmind
    Digital
    DIY
    Doepfer
    Double Helix
    Drawing
    Drummer
    Drums
    Drumstick Holder
    Drumsticks
    Earring Display
    Electronic Drums
    Electronic Music
    Envelope Generator
    Eurorack
    Felt
    Filter
    Free
    Frequencies
    GarageBand
    Grid
    Grippy
    Guitar Center
    Harmonic
    IConnectivity
    Infinity
    Instructions
    Karp
    Korg
    Korg ARP
    Korg Krome
    Korg Volca FM
    Leakseal
    Leak Seal
    Lifeforms
    Lighting
    Lip Balm
    Love Across The Veil
    Manual
    Melodic
    MIDI
    MIDI3
    MIDI Router
    Midi To Cv
    Minimoog
    Mini Moog
    MIO 10
    Model D
    Moduar
    Modular
    Module
    Moog
    Multiple
    Music
    Music Gear
    Musician
    Neutron
    Notes
    Novation
    Orchestra
    Orchestral
    Orchestron
    Oscillator
    Participation
    Patch
    Patch Chart
    Performance
    Pittsburgh Modular
    Pivot
    Plasti-dip
    Plexiglass
    Printout
    Quad ADSR
    Quantizer
    Raffle
    Review
    Rhythm
    Roland
    Roland Jp-08
    Rotating
    Rubberized
    Rustoleum
    Rust-o-leum
    Samson SM10
    Scale
    Sequencer
    Shelves
    Shelving Unit
    Slipping
    Song
    SonicState
    Sonic State
    Sound Module
    Speedcobra
    Speed Cobra
    Spray Paint
    Structure
    Synth
    Synthesizer
    Synthesizers
    Synths
    System-1m
    Tacky
    Talent Scout
    Tama
    Time Machine
    Tips
    Track
    Troubleshooting
    Ultranova
    VCA
    VCF
    Veil
    Vermona
    Vic Firth
    Volca FM
    Voltage Control
    Warna
    Xaoc
    Yamaha

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • About
  • Our Music Gear
    • Roland JP-08 Stand
    • Roland System-1m Stand
  • Downloads
    • Synthesizer Information