Making Microtonal Music is Easier Than You’d Think: Difference between revisions

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'''---''' '''Microtonal Polyphonic Shiny Dirt '''has a cool frequency meter. This is a diagnostic tool used while making a VST, but usually removed before outputting for the public. I like it, so left it in. It's stoney and groovy. But they also teach you a bit about how this all works, and what audio synthesis actually ''is''. The mod wheel on '''Microtonal Polyphonic Shiny Dirt '''is unique. It controls a combination of sustain, phase mod, and pulse width. It's somewhat more subtle than many expect from a usual mod wheel, but very useful in creating a shimmer or vibrato by hand. The mod wheel will do more on some presets and patches than on others. And will do more in some octaves than on others. We recommend you try patches and tunings you like in different octaves as well. And with single notes, two- and three-note chords, and also try chords with more notes. This synth will also produce very interesting results with an arpeggiator. Try it! The pitch wheel on your MIDI controller will control pitch. The amount you can bend with it is different on some presets, and can be changed manually with the 'Pitch Wheel' switch. Alright! Make some music then let's get into some maths and a free tool for visualizing said maths.  

Note: My VSTs use .MTS tuning files, not .scl files. But in Scala, you can convert .scl to .MTS, but not the other way around. It can export .MTS files, but cannot import them. [http://www.huygens-fokker.org/scala/ Get Scala here.] Scala is free software (that's also zero cost) for making and analyzing tunings. Also good for making machine-readable tuning files, and converting one format of tuning files to another. Scala is GUI but also command line with some features. Make sure you follow the directions on the website when installing it. There are some dependencies you will likely have to download and install ''before'' you install Scala. Scala is also great for analyzing microtonal tuning systems, if you want to delve into the maths. Just create or import a scale file, then try the different options from the choice at the top of the menu file. Or you can just hit F7, F8, and F9 keys on your computer keyboard. [https://biptunia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/scala-features-1.jpg][[undefined|link=]][[:File:Scala-features-1-450x185.jpg|[[Image:scala-features-1-450x185.jpg|link=|300x300px]]]] Note that you can play a scale in Scala with your mouse, to get a feel for it. You can do this in Chromatic Clavier (F4 key), or Tonality Diamond (CTRL + F9) + sound button. Also in Triad Player (F9) and a few other of the functions. Sounds are basic, Piano, Organ, etc, but are not bad sounding, and you can pick from a few sounds. There are whispered tales that you can actually use Scala to re-tune some hardware or software synths live on the fly, but I've never seen it done, and the description of the process is daunting. If someone can put that into a no-brainer VST, they'll make dozens of dollars. At least. Hey, I might pay 24 dollars for that if it existed. Text and pix tutorial by Sevish: How to create a .tun file in Scala ([http://sevish.com/2014/how-to-create-a-tun-file-in-scala/ also has info on exporting to other scale formats].) Video tutorial by Sevish: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QNnVndGLmw&t=4s How to make and export microtonal tuning files using Scala] [https://en.xen.wiki/w/SoftwareOddsAndSods Scala Tutorial on bulk conversions in from .scl to .MTS (or .scl to .tun, etc.)] This is something I wrote after having to figure out how to do that for making the .MTS files for my VST synths. Below is a small amount of the info Scala returns on one scale. Before I scare you off with math you don't need to know in order to play microtonal music (though it helps), here is some very useful info:

'''While eventually learning the math is good, and we included resources for that. And with this VST, no math is even needed to start making cool microtonal music. '''