User:Mousemambo/Document draft: Difference between revisions

Just want to start playing? You can skip ahead to the section "[[User:Mousemambo/Document draft#Method 2: Set a tuning with a Scala tuning file and keyboard mapping file|Set a tuning with a Scala tuning file and keyboard mapping file]]."

This guide describes alternative methods for making music set in microtonal or other uncommon tuning systems with a [[List of microtonal software plugins#Instrument plugins with microtonal support|software synthesizer]] running inside a [[DAWs|digital audio workstation (DAW)]]. It will describe scenarios in which each of those methods are effective, and procedures for configuring the software using that method. The examples will use the Surge XT synth running inside the Reaper DAW, but similar procedures and reasoning will apply to other synths and DAWs. Therefore this guide will go into some detail to help give you the understanding needed to use these tuning methods with other synth-DAW combinations.

There are many other ways to create music with alternative tuning, like using [[List of music software|other software]], your voice, or a [[Instruments|physical music instrument]]. This guide only explores one: a synth in a DAW.

This tutorial's instructions assume you have Surge XT and Reaper installed on your computer. They also assume that you know how to create an instrument track in Reaper and load a plugin instrument like Surge XT onto it, but if you don't then instructions can be found below in the Appendix section "[[User:Mousemambo/Document draft#Create an instrument track in the Reaper DAW|Create an instrument track in the Reaper DAW]]."

However, Surge XT can also run in standalone mode, without any DAW. A significant drawback to that configuration is you won't be able to record your playing as MIDI notes, unless you have some additional component doing the recording. The common use cases for running Surge XT in standalone mode are for live performance where you don't want the extra complexity of running a DAW, or when you're just playing casually and don't need to record MIDI. In standalone mode, Methods 1 or Method 2 given below can be used to re-tune Surge XT.

[Briefly: Use Surge's tuning editor to recreate a custom tuning, perhaps using the example of Ptolemy's Intense Diatonic.]

===Method 2: Set a tuning with a Scala tuning file and keyboard mapping file===

===Method 3: Set a tuning with a tuning plugin===

There is no convincing case for using this tuning method with Surge XT, AFAIK. If you want to set a custom tuning, or load a tuning file, or respond to an MTS-ESP tuning source, you can do all those in Surge XT without any need for an additional plugin to provide those functionalities. [Rather than provide instructions for using a tuning plugin here, I could instead do that in a different Guide for using a synth that requires it like Vital, which can load a Scala tuning file but not a keyboard mapping file, and supports MPE tuning. If I expand this doc to include another synth, I might need to split this Method into 3a ... using MPE, and 3b ... using pitch bend]

[Briefly: If you're familiar enough with the tuning to recognize its correctness by ear, play the scale. Otherwise, test the frequency of played notes using the tuner that comes with Reaper, or an external (e.g. phone-based) tuner. This may require using a prepared data sheet or making one using an appropriate utility like Scala or the simpler [https://sevish.com/scaleworkshop/ Scale Workshop].]

[How to create an instrument track in Reaper.]

==See Also==

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